The author is an ex-submariner, questioner of authority, cigar smoking fly-fishing fanatic who wants to live to be 103.
Improved Clinch
Friday, February 28, 2003
Education Quote
"A general State education is a mere contrivance for molding people to be exactly like one another; and as the mold in which it casts them is that which pleases the predominant power in the government--whether this be a monarch, a priesthood, an aristocracy, or the majority of the the existing generation--in proportion as it is efficient and successful, it establishes a despotism over the mind, leading by natural tendency to one over the body."
John Stuart Mill
On Liberty edited with an introduction, by Currin V. Shields
pg. 129
John Venlet - 9:12:00 AM |
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Ronald Dixon Watch
Russell Whitaker, over at Survival Arts, has been keeping up with developments in the Dixon case. If you haven't been following the case, Dixon shot an intruder in his home with an unregistered handgun. Or, more accurately, as Russell mentions in his post, Dixon "honorably defended his family." The Brooklyn DA doesn't care about honor though, they want to imprison Mr. Dixon because the handgun was unregistered. Russell also provides a link to the Brooklyn DA's office so you can voice your displeasure at their travesty.
John Venlet - 8:38:00 AM |
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Thursday, February 27, 2003
It's For Our Own Good
Last August, when Jennifer Granholm was still Attorney General for the state of Michigan, The Grand Rapids Press published this op-ed of mine where I took issue with Granholm's interference in free markets, specifically the retailing of gasoline. Unfortunately, the op-ed had negative effect on Granholm's election because the photogenic one is now the state of Michigan's governor and as such is wielding additional power and influence.
Today, Granholm signed an Executive Order directing the Michigan Department of Agriculture, in conjuction with the Michigan Public Service Commission (a mere euphemism for socialism) to monitor gas prices. To many people these will seem rather innocuous things, they'll shrug their shoulders and go on about their day. Well, read further into this article, via MSNBC, and you will see that there is nothing innoucuous about this at all. It's not only Granholm. Her minions, Rep. Kathleen Law (D-Gibraltor) and Sen. Ray Basham (D-Taylor), are introducing "companion" bills for legal action if they, meaning the people's committee for control of gasoline prices and equitable distribution of said commodity, determine a gasoline retailer is gouging.
Here's a priceless gem from Granholm as justification for these actions,
"The anxiety felt by consumers in those difficult days has begun to reappear in recent weeks as gas prices have increased dramatically. Our state departments are doing their part to ensure that we're prepared to protect our citizens in times of uncertainty. We need to pass this important legislation quickly to protect them in the future."
As long as the law is only to relieve anxiety, couldn't the state stay away from legislating and just recommend a nice cup of tea late in the afternoon instead?
John Venlet - 2:30:00 PM |
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"These children will be incinerated, blown as dust in the wind. Their parents will never know what happened to them in the end. And they'll never admit to what happened to them in the beginning--when they failed to teach their children to think."
John Venlet - 12:18:00 PM |
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Church Talk
I prefer calling myself a believer rather than a Christian. Why? Because the word Christian seems as vacuous as the true meaning of the word gentleman, as dicussed by C.S. Lewis in the preface of his book Mere Christianity. Be that as it may, I came across this post today at the Samizdata site. In the post, David Carr references an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, printed in the Telegraph, written by a young woman by the name of Erin Baker. In the letter, Erin proposes some changes in marketing the church to people, specifically the Church of England, to the Archbishop. It's an interesting proposal. David's comments, at the Samizdata site, and the comments appended to his post, are also intersting reads.
Like the young lady who penned the letter, I have no compunctions about not attending an organized church. Like David, I think the church, no matter what denomination or dogma, can be an inspiration for personal betterment. Unfortunately, I think many churches and faiths have misinterpreted and are misguiding people who walk through their doors. Rather than assisting people to personal realizations about God and SELF control, churches tend to form the believers and converts attending into a collective of unthinking Bible thumpers who think the adage of turning the other cheek means allowing themselves to be trampled on.
As the The Raving Atheist so frequently points out, there are many Godidiots out and about in the world. And though at times when reading his posts, I cringe at his hyperbole, I admire his rationality in presenting his views.
Faith in God is a funny thing, but don't for a minute think that all believers, or Christians if you prefer, are irrational, unthinking dupes.
John Venlet - 9:45:00 AM |
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Reading a Theodore Dalrymple essay can be a rollicking good time. His wry, British, prison doctor wit skewers some of the insanities around us while at the same time guiding us straight into a wall of sensibilities. This piece offers all of that. What follows are a few quotes from the essay, but read the whole thing, it's not terribly long and is thoroughly enjoyable.
"Here, once again, we see the triumph of the Therapeutic State. Come unto me, says the State, and I will make you whole.
or
"If only there were enough counsellors of every kind, social problems would disappear as snow in sunshine. The ideal of the Therapeutic State is for half the population to be in permanent counselling with the other half."
or
"Oddly enough, the more therapists there are, the more people are discovered to need therapy to solve the problems of daily living. This is an instance of the law first enunciated by my psychiatrist colleague, Dr Colin Brewer: misery increases to meet the means available for its alleviation. The alleviation, is of course, bogus."
It is Better to Feel Good Than to Actually Learn Something
I cannot improve on the comments by John Hawkins in regards to a story dealing with grading of childrens' school work which he links in his comments.
John Venlet - 2:34:00 PM |
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Dead Thief Nets Family 75K
We've all heard of this type of story where some common thief injures himself or gets killed and the family sues and wins big bucks for the thief's nefariousness. The linked story is no exception. What irked me the most about this story is the following comment by John Winters, attorney for the family,
"You can't set these type of traps because property isn't worth a human life,"
The online edition of The Atlantic has published an article by David Brooks titled Kicking the Secularist Habit, A Six Step Program where he confesses that he is a recovering secularist. As one who is a believer, I say good on him, but, I would caution him, and the rising tide of Christianity which he mentions in his article, that just because one has found God does not mean one has found all the correct answers. With this in mind, I'd like to add six additional steps for recovering secularists.
1. Loving your neighbor as yourself doesn't mean forcing your neighbor to believe in the manner that you do.
2. Remember you have a board in your eye, not just a speck of sawdust.
3. Remember there is nothing worse than a reformed smoker, only substitute secularist for the word smoker.
4. Actions speak louder than the words you speak.
5. The church is not the final say, remember to think for yourself.
6. Most importantly, you cannot legislate morality.
All countries seem to have them, do-gooders that is, and Canada is no exception. Colby Cosh has a few words on a Canadian do-gooder who wants to raise the drop out age. Colby sums up this do-gooder initiative with these words,
"If people really need to complete Grade 11 to have a decent life, surely they will go back for their high-school equivalency after a few years of languishing in the workforce, or the gutter, as the case may be. As it happens, in the real world you can train for a lot of jobs without finishing Grade 11--but perhaps McFarland doesn't think Alberta needs bakers, janitors, hairdressers, or garbagemen. Pshaw! Those occupations are so... twentieth-century, dontcha know."
John Venlet - 1:00:00 PM |
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Political Competition or Sucess Envy
I was directed to an interesting series of articles this AM on the rising level of Hispanic populations here in the USA written by Steve Miller and published in The Washington Times. Though the series seems to view this rise in a political sense, between Blacks and Hispanics, I think the political competition referenced within the articles has a more base reason. The business success of Hispanics is viewed enviously by the Blacks that have been displaced by the Hispanics. The first article is titled Welcome to the neighborhood, the second, Mutual mistrust and the third, Suspicious minds.
Many of the trends mentioned within the articles have taken place here in Western Michigan, and, I would wager, in many other cities throughout the country. Interesting reads.
John Venlet - 12:48:00 PM |
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Tuesday, February 25, 2003
"The Jacksonian Tradition"
The title to this post, referenced above, is an interesting, albeit lengthy read, written by Walter Russell Mead, which looks at the influence of Andrew Jackson on American policy, with a distinct emphasis on war policy.
The Arts, They're for the People, in a Collective Sense That Is
Arthur Silber links to an article from a British paper that looks at some problems in funding the arts here in the United States. It's interesting to note that just last evening, NBC had a news story about Tulsa, OK's arts funding problems. Coincidence? Anyway, Arthur's post on this issue, and in particular the following quote from the post, sums it up nicely.
"If these "cultural organisations" can't find an audience that will support their efforts, fine; let them close up shop -- and perhaps better artists will come along who can find one. Allow all of us to voluntarily choose to support those artists and those institutions we wish to, and the government should abandon these efforts altogether."
John Venlet - 8:48:00 AM |
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"Piltdown Education" Redux
Juan Gato, of Juan Gato's Bucket o' Rants, has a few things to say about this FOX News article which discusses children's feelings getting hurt in competitive environments, you know, school. Juan mentions sports and FOX mentions academics while Billy Beck, and the links embedded in this post, cover the frauds being perpetrated.
John Venlet - 8:18:00 AM |
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Talking Out of Both Sides of Their Mouth
From the Washington Post comes this story of Dean Kamen and Segway LLC. Most of us recall the hoopla surrounding the unveiling of this two wheeled invention and how it would revolutionize individual transportation at almost 5000 bucks a pop. I was skepitcal of this claim at the Segway's introduction and still am today. In the Post's article we are treated to these comments by one of Kamen's VPs by the name of Brian Toohey,
"One of the reasons Dean moved to New Hampshire was he loved the 'live free or die' motto. Keep government out,"
while with his next breath Toohey has this to say,
"But to make this technology widely available, we need government help."
Okay, let me see if I have the facts straight. Segway LLC, a private enterprise, has invented/created a Segway scooter that, per the company, would revolutionize personal/individual transportation. Unfortunately, the Segway scooter is not turning a profit because the market, the free market of individuals buying and selling, is not buying the revolutionary benefit of the scooter. So, since Segway LLC can't sell their scooters, the company wants the government to support their development and marketing errors by having big brother tell us how good the scooter is by forcing the American people to support Segway LLC via tax credits or funding projects to build Segway paths in various cities.
Mr. Kamen please standup and exhibit some integrity and honor by living free or letting your company die.
I typically eschew watching television news, because I much prefer the written word, but since Melissa is in town rather than traveling today, I happened to hear of an upcoming NBC story about submarines which is supposed to be on the nightly news this evening and tomorrow evening. The Today Show had a brief intro piece on this this A.M., the story is being reported by Brian Willliams, as a teaser for tonight and tomorrow night. Anyway, if you have any interest in submarines, this story is on the USS MEMPHIS, a 688 class sub, the same type of boat I sailed on, you might want to catch NBC Nightly News tonight and tomorrow. At a minimum you'll see that the interior of submarines are not much like the interiors you may have seen in various sub movies on the big screen. I plan on watching the news for a change.
John Venlet - 11:01:00 AM |
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Journalists vs Bloggers
Donald Sensing, who runs the blog One Hand Clapping, has a few words on journalists versus bloggers which were inspired by a recent interview he did with Teddy Bart and Karlen Evins on a Nashville, TN morning radio show. It appears that Teddy and Karlen believe that bloggers are not in the same league as journalists, which to some extent is true, because journalists must adhere to "accountability" standards. Donald's post on this is titled "Ambush Journalism."
John Venlet - 8:26:00 AM |
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Go Forth, Read and Learn
I was first introduced to the writings of Billy Beck some months ago and I was immediately drawn to the clarity of Billy's thought. After devouring what writings I could find of Billy's on the net, I wrote Billy and inquired if there were other pieces gathered somewhere that I could delve into. At that particular moment in time, there was not. This has now been remedied. John T. Kennedy, of No Treason, has graciously provided links to a compilation of Billy's writings for the Lassiez Faire City Times and the Union Square Journal under this post titled "Beckstravaganza." Enjoy.
John Venlet - 8:11:00 AM |
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Saturday, February 22, 2003
A Blind, Unthinking Ph.D
When I was a naive child, I tended to believe that people of higher education had more intelligence than myself. I was brought up in a manner where respect for your elders and deference to learned individuals was a given. Time, and my own experiences, have shown me that blind obedience to these adages of my upbringing are not necessarily justifiable. I mention this because of a guest commentary in our local paper, The Grand Rapids Press. The commentary was written by Glenn Barkan, Ph.D., a political science professor at Aquinas College here in Grand Rapids. The title of Dr. Barkan's commentary is "Politicians lack courage to erase huge deficit with small tax increase." In the commentary, Dr. Barkan chastises Jennifer Granholm for pledging, during her recent campaign, to not increase taxes. He also bemoans the fact that the state will be unable to continue handing out the peoples' money to fund growth in the economy, as if the state is our economic savior, rather than acknowledging the fact that the state is merely an avarice consumer of economic freedom.
Further into the commentary, Dr. Barkan plays the "guilt" card by stating,
"Can any thoughtful person argue that our prisons and schools and parks and health care for the poor are not worth a bottle of pop a day?"
implying that people who desire their own bottle of pop, rather than paying more taxes, are thoughtless, coldblooded cretins rather than rational, self reliant individuals. But of course, Dr. Barkan does not recognize this individuality, he much prefers the collective "we."
"If each one of us were willing to contribute an additional 46 cents a day, we could fund the programs we have already said were necessary but cannot afford to finance."
Politicians do lack courage Dr. Barkan, but the courage they lack is the courage to cut spending and promote self reliance rather than acting as shills for a nanny state.
John Venlet - 1:03:00 PM |
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Friday, February 21, 2003
Stealth Socialism
Government, if it must exist, most emphatically should not be involved in our day to day affairs, which, unfortunately, it is. Currently, the two most despicable rallying cries for the United States' continued slide into socialism are terrorism and health care, supported by large doses of irrational thought and do gooder mentality from statists of both the left and the right. Arthur Silber has some comments on the health care rallying cry for socialism titled "WHY THE WORLD IS BEING DELIVERED TO HELL" that are worth taking the time to read. Within Arthur's post he links to an article by Dr. Sydney Smith which, by all appearances, as Arthur notes, seems to pick apart the plan and socialized medicine; well except for one small line, which follows below,
"The goals of the group are admirable"
This statement, admiring goals of proponents of socialized medicine, is incongruous with the body of the article and should be stricken from the record. I cannot admire any goal that will lump me in with the collective.
John Venlet - 11:03:00 AM |
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A Quote
"If a person possesses any tolerable amount of common sense and experience, his own mode of laying out his existence is the best, not because it is the best in itself, but because it is his own mode."
John Stuart Mill
On Liberty Edited with an introduction, by Currin V. Shields
pg. 82
John Venlet - 8:29:00 AM |
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Thursday, February 20, 2003
An Odius Reason
Blogs and bloggers come and go and there are numerous reasons for this. Tony Woodlief, of Sand in the Gears, is one of the most recent, that I've seen, to publicly state he is ending, or extremely curtailing his blogging. The main reason, posted below, is assuredly the most odious.
I won't always have the luxury of having my words here read only by people who respect independent thought. Having a website with my name on it, given the kind of writing to which I am prone, creates a vulnerability that I cannot allow if I want to keep my job.
John Venlet - 12:58:00 PM |
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"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
That seems straightforward doesn't it? So why is the man in the story, linked above, a current member of the armed services no less, being charged for having an unlicensed handgun after dispatching an armed intruder? Doesn't the requirement, dictated by the state, requiring a license to own a handgun, impinge on my rights and yours as stated in the second amendment?
Coming, as I do, from a very conservative background, where school dances were unheard of, at least during my time at the parochial schools I attended, this story, about Wheaton College allowing the student body to have dancing rights, beyond square dancing that is, gave me a chuckle. As the story informs us, the students may dance as long as
"students use caution and good judgment and avoid any behavior "which may be immodest, sinfully erotic, or harmfully violent."
The story brought to mind a old joke we passed around about dancing that goes like this. Why don't Christians have sex standing up? Because it might lead to dancing.
David Yeagley's blog, BadEagle.com, can offer, at times, thought provoking commentary. David writes from a unique, at least in my opinion, perspective, considering the fact that he is an American Indian, a conservative, and, based on what I've read at his site, a believer in God. David's most recent post, titled "The Curse of Modesto," is no exception. In the post, David considers recent murders of young girls and women and wonders who is to blame, men, parents or the church.
John Venlet - 8:13:00 AM |
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An Appropriate Headline
From The New York Post comes an accurate headline, "FRENCH PREZ TABBED FOR WEASEL PEACE PRIZE" I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count, as to what exact prize the headline refers to.
It used to be that only sticks and stones could break your bones. My how times have changed. Nowadays you can't say this and you can't say that for fear of offending some poor soul's eardrums, or possibly ending up in jail. It appears any dumb shmuck with a chip on his shoulder may take what you say and claim its derogatory or demeaning, and God help you if they can rally the PCers round their wounded cry. Grow up.
Thanks to a prolific poster at the Yahoo American Liberty group for the heads up on the first link in this post.
John Venlet - 5:11:00 PM |
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Tuesday, February 18, 2003
Noteworthy?
It appears, almost, that the state of Michigan's female, political darling, she does have that sweet dominatrix look, Jennifer Granholm, realizes that the one sure way to save money is to stop spending it. I mention this because while viewing our local FOX channel this evening, the one quick news sound bite I caught, you know the filler for air time they couldn't sell, was something along the line of "Govenor Granholm issues emergency executive order to cut state police funding by 4 million." I couldn't find a link with the exact quote, but there is this article from the South Bend Tribune which mentions the possibility of this happening. I think this is a good thing, especially if individuals will, instead of blathering on about their loss of "protection," stand up and accept their own responsibility for safety in their lives. If only. I can hear the terrorism cries of terror already, the "we" need more cops cry.
While searching for the article linked above, I also stumbled into this AP article posted at mlive.com. Almost unbelievably, another article about Granholm expounding cutting state spent funds, by, well here's the headline; "Granholm calls on lawmakers to consider cutting their pay." These calls for cutting pay, and actually cutting spending, are rather uncharecteristic for a statist Democrat. Of course, almost every state of Michigan lawmaker is lining up behind Granholm on this pay cut thing, while at the same time passing "their pain" on down the line. The old I will if you will argument. I say quit talking about it and quit spending my money. I'm sure there are others with similar sentiments.
Noteworthy? Only as a screening measure. Govenor Granholm and other state lawmakers have also called for "new programs." New programs either take funds from current programs, which call them cuts, or, the state dips a little deeper into your pocket, and tells me, you, us, that it is for our "benefit."
John Venlet - 8:38:00 PM |
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Europe's New Little Napolean
Ah, Jacques Chirac is freely expounding his views of glory for the "old Europe" by warning the "new Europe," as evidenced by this little blurb from The International Herald online addition.
Some enlightening Chirac commentary from Lynette Warren of No Treason.
John Venlet - 7:35:00 PM |
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An Emerson Excerpt
Alinas Stefanescu over at Totalitarianism Today has posted an excerpt from Emerson's "An American Scholar" that is enjoyable reading. Scroll down to the post as permalinks do not exist.
John Venlet - 8:29:00 AM |
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Monday, February 17, 2003
Embarrassed to Say I'm Christian
I just can't seem to understand this. The "this" I am referring to is a story at KnoxNews.com about a student, a straight "A" student, who has been harrassed, ridiculed and allegedly beaten for claiming as her faith, Paganism. On the other hand, I cannot say I don't understand it, the verbal abuse the student referred to in the story received from her peers, because peer acceptance or exclusion is part of life for kids, heck, adults too.
Coming from a deeply conservative background as I do, including attendance at parochial schools for the majority of my education, I must admit though that many Christians would condone, even encourage, their children in treating an "unbeliever," as they would say, the way described in the above article. One of those ridiculing children could have very well been, unfortunately, parentally encouraged, me. Fortunately, being an avid reader saved me from continuing this foolhardiness into adulthood. Unfortunately, many Christians are not open, or should I say amenable, to the fact that others may not believe the way they do, and because of this, willingly judge others prior to looking within themselves. They, myself included, seem to forget to check the plank in their own eye prior to pointing out the sawdust in another's.
Thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the link.
John Venlet - 4:35:00 PM |
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Protestors or Clueless?
Some interesting commentary on the recent anti-war get togethers held around the U.S. and other foreign countries. This first link is a post from Deb who runs the blog Insomnomaniac. This second link is a post by Daniel Medley who blogs Lobowalk out of the beehive state. No matter how many times I read the reasons for this state symbol of Utah, the beehive, I still scratch my head in wonder. There's so much more to Utah that would, in my opinion, be more symbolic.
Update: If you're interested in a mainstream writer's thoughts, read Fred Barnes, as published in The Weekly Standard. The link for this article dropped into my mailbox from the Yahoo online forum American Liberty.
John Venlet - 4:04:00 PM |
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Necrophilia
I would willingly pull the trigger on these two. The link is to a story about Donald Luis Cooper, Jr. and Chaunee Marie Helm, two employees of a transportation company in San Bernadino county, CA. Allegedly these two depraved individuals sexually amused themselves with the body of a 4 year old girl who had recently died of a seizure. They will only be charged with mutilation though because there doesn't seem to be a law against them having sex with a dead child. Sick and depraved almost seem lacking, descriptively, when I considered appropriate adjectives for these people.
I end this as I started, I would willingly pull the trigger on these two.
Reparations is Just Another Word for Wealth Redistribution
It confounds me that people still want to discuss slave reparations. I consider this to be nothing more than a desire to legitimize stealing by linking it to a past wrong. Arthur Silber doesn't think much of reparations either and takes to task one Dalton Conley, an associate professor of sociology, who argues, in The New York Times of course, and confounds me, for reparations.Arthur's post on this issue is worth reading.
For access to the NYT article linked under "for reparations," use nytimesoops as the login name and nytimes as the password.
Via Juan Gato's Bucket o'Rants we are pointed to a story about the (former) SeaTac Mayor, one Kathy Gehring-Waters. It seems that the good Mayor's intentions, in taking care of a 86 year old woman's finances, were only misunderstood, as her attorney Peter Mair states,
"In her heart, all she was trying to do is take care of someone."
Colby Cosh has intercepted a U.S. Department of Homeland Security memo that covers how U.S. citizens should respond to threat levels from green to red.
John Venlet - 8:28:00 AM |
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John T. Kennedy, over at No Treason, is asking the right question, based on the following statement from an anti-war demonstrator, as heard on the radio.
"I've never done anything like this before. My son joined the marines because he needed an education. And he's supposed to die for that?"
John Venlet - 8:53:00 AM |
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Observations from a Peace Rally
Leonard, who runs the blog Unruled, attended a peace rally and walked away with the same impression as illustrated in this Peter Bagge cartoon at the Reason website.
Unruled's permalinks are not functioning correctly, see Leonard's Friday post titled "Amen Brother."
John Venlet - 8:49:00 AM |
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The other day I posted the above and asked a rehetorical question of Salon while disparging a click through ad for the The Well at the Salon site in order to read an interview. An anonymous reader answered the question by providing a link to a site selling blog services, from Salon, for $39.95. In the above linked post I intimated that Salon and The Well were destined to fail.
Tonight, from Drudge, is this headline "Salon warns it may not survive beyond February," from the AP as posted at The Miami Herald'sHerald.com site.
I wasn't by any means prophetic.
John Venlet - 9:13:00 PM |
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Students or?
Samizdata'sslogan of the day, as posted by Brian Micklethwait, is a quote from Professor Mary Ann Swissler of Seton Hall.
"All I can say is that the comments confirmed to me what I had to keep to myself all semester: that most of you mental midgets are the most immature, sheltered, homophobic, sexist, racist, lying sacks of s—t I have ever met in my life. ... Seton Hall may be kissing you're a—es now, but out here in the real world, brats like you will be eaten for breakfast."
Click the link to the Brian's post and read some of the student comments if you need confirmation of the Professor's statement.
John Venlet - 11:27:00 AM |
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Some Thoughts on Genocide
Via Tony, at Trojan Horseshoes, comes a little discussion of genocide which was a result of Tony reading this post at Glenn, your everywhere, Reynold's MSNBC site. Glenn's post touches on the inadequacy of the UN in preventing genocide in the twentieth century. I'll add the comment that the UN is inadequate and irrelevant in preventing anything, but I digress. Further into Glenn's piece, we find this statement, which bears thoughtful consideration,
Though it is a long step between being disarmed and being murdered—one does not usually lead to the other—but it is nevertheless an arresting reality that not one of the principal genocides of the twentieth century, and there have been dozens, has been inflicted on a population that was armed. (Emphasis added).
Glenn's piece is worth reading, but the following quote, on Tony's site, from Mahatma Ghandi, is noteworthy,
"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
John Venlet - 11:12:00 AM |
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Update to The Shame, The Shame
Yesterday I posted a link to a David Post entry on shaming SUV owners over at The Volokh Conspiracy. Here are a couple of additional links that continued looking at this issue. The first is a post by Juan Non-Volokh titled "No Shame in SUVs" which is a rebuttal to David's first post, linked below under "The Shame, The Shame". The second post, by David Post, is a response to Juan Non-Volokh's rebuttal.
John Venlet - 10:52:00 AM |
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Thursday, February 13, 2003
As We Contemplate War
"Acts, of whatever kind, which without justifiable cause do harm to others may be, and in the more important cases absolutely require to be, controlled by unfavorable sentiments, and, when needful, by the active interference of mankind."
John Stuart Mill
On Liberty Edited with an introduction, by Currin V. Shields
pg. 68
John Venlet - 2:09:00 PM |
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Endorsing an Old Ideal
Johnathon Pearce's, of Samizdata, recommendation of carrots over sticks endorses an old ideal that was recently a quote of the day over at Survival Arts.
John Venlet - 12:04:00 PM |
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Wealth Redistribution is Not Self-interest
David Brooks, writing in The New York Times, wonders "Why don't people vote their own self-interest?" The short answer is the title to this post. The more nuanced answer would reference distaste for socialism, independence and what's mine is mine. I find it difficult to fathom his question as a serious inquiry.
Thanks to Alina Stefanescu for the link (no permanlinks so scroll down to the post "Your economic "self-interest" might be my economic suicide.")
Update: A timely post from Perry de Havilland titled "The morality of private property" that responds to some comments about wealth redistribution in an earlier Samizdata.net article.
John Venlet - 11:39:00 AM |
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The Shame, The Shame
I do not know David Post, but if he considers SUVs a "plague" on our streets and supports "artists" who print cute little books of tickets to shame SUV owners, I may not want to know David.
John Venlet - 10:57:00 AM |
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Ted Rall Making Sense
If you took the time to read the purported American success story mentioned below and Billy Beck's clarification of what the story actually represents, you may very well be interested in reading this Ted Rall column on student loans. The similarity of onerousness within the two stories is striking.
A cursory read of this story may leave you with the impression that it is one of those American success stories we like to fawn over, and, if you read the comments that accompany the story, you will see that many people consider it as such. The story does have many elements of individual success; hard work, perserverance and vision, but consider the expenses the individual incurred in time, money and working within the system that controls an individual's ability to be independent in this field as you do. After reading the story and the comments, read this post by Billy Beck and consider if the story represents success or servitude to the system.
After considering the above, I recommend reading two additional posts by Beck. This first post poses a question to Michael Moynihan who blogs The Politboro. See the post, "The End of American History" posted on 2.11.03. The second post, reveals Moynihan's response to the question and, more importantly, Billy's clarification.
John Venlet - 9:06:00 AM |
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Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Giving Credence to a Misnomer
I've mentioned this before but am compelled to do so again. I am not an English teacher, major or exact user of the language. Even so, I have had enough of the term "human shields" because it is false and without merit. I can understand anti-war proponents using the term in their own misguided way, but I cannot understand the President of the United States, or his speechwriters, utilizing the term in a speech, which he did yesterday, while speaking of Saddam and his perfidious use of the Iraqi people as "human shields."
From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, the definition of shield. Pay particular attention to number 2 and number 4a of the definition.
In actuality, what Saddam will be using the people of Iraq for, and what the misguided souls from around the world who are going to Iraq are, is cannon fodder.
Applicable quotes:
If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.
and
Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.
Bertrand Russell
John Venlet - 10:09:00 AM |
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I used to believe that colleges and universities were bastions of higher learning where ideas and their merits were discussed. Where history, and the lessons to be gained or shed, were minutely reviewed. I now believe that many institutions of higher learning are simply another step on the indoctrination ladder to political correctness and wholesale embracement of the ideals of socialism. Pity.
I mention this because of an article in The Herald Sun. The article is titled "Professor quits over racist remarks" and details the story of a contract professor at UNC who, while sharing some of her experiences in the 1960's, told a small group of Master's students that in her day the acronym NAACP was, at times and by certain people, explained as "Niggers Ain't Acting Like Colored People."
According to the article, certain of the students in the class felt "uncomfortable" and "complained to the school administrators." No surprise there. Further no surprises include the resignation of the professor, UNC's declaration to conduct a "diversity audit," and the continuing decline of actual education within the United States.
As further illustration of how ridiculous the supposed ill effects of the word nigger are, and how politically correct both the right and the left have become, just in case they hurt someone's feelings, even The Wall Street Journal, from whom I gathered the link for this story, has this to say about the professor, "Lamb's comments were ill advised, and she should have known better." Consider yourself spanked Professor Lamb.
It is not the purpose of education to produce good citizens, but to help children become successful human beings. The former is properly identified as "indoctrination" and, when undertaken at the taxpayers' expense, should be illegal.
John Venlet - 4:22:00 PM |
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Sunday, February 09, 2003
Pumping an Issue Full of Gas
The anti-SUV crowd appears to be much like the anti-gun crowd, grasping at every straw they can to further their agenda. The New York Times publishes an editorial/Op-ed piece titled "S.U.V.'s Under Fire" that not only laments the amount of gasoline they consume but that they are prone to rollovers and are environmentally less friendly than say a Honda Civic. I needn't tell you that NYT is all for more laws to control these behemoth abberations of the roadway. They even call for the "vigorous intervention" of President Bush.
A couple of items NYT may want to consider. The government uses a good number of large SUV's, Chevy or GMC Surburbans to be exact, whenever they run the president around. Additionally, if I'm not mistaken, Bush drives a large, gas guzzling pickup truck around his Texas ranch. Second, and most importantly, what damn business is it of The New York Times, President Bush, or any other person what type of vehicle any person drives? Of course it would be okay for the higher ups at NYT and government officials to drive SUV's because of their need for large dependable transportation, it's only the common folks who need to be protected from them and prevented from acquiring them.
If the NYT article requires registration, use nytimesoops for your login name and nytimes for your password.
John Venlet - 6:01:00 PM |
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Signs, Omens and Portents
The loss of Columbia has provoked more than one individual to invoke the event as one of the above. I was going to add my thoughts on this, after reading this post and the accompanying links provided courtesy of Billy Beck at Two Four but since Billy's analysis more than adequately spears the heart of the matter, I thought I could still use this post's title to critique the advertisement I had to allow myself to be subjected to in order to read Camille Paglia's interview in Salon. I'll critique the ad as if it were a portent of coming failure.
The ad I refer to is for a site called The Well. It's a click through ad that proclaims "The Well is a gathering place like no other." Another click brought me to a testimonial that stated "The greatest thing about The Well is access to great minds - knowledgeable sources in various fields and strong opinions about everything. Oh, and great minds at play." Another click provided copy that read "The Well is a bunch of smart, interesting, opinionated people." And one last click, before allowing me my "Free Day Pass" to Salon, provided this insight, "The Well is 24-hour access to someone who'll tell you what you didn't know you needed to know."
One question. Has The Well or Salon heard of blogs?
John Venlet - 2:34:00 PM |
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An Exercise in Self Obliteration
Individual liberty is demanding, requiring us to accept responsibility for our individual actions no matter what choices we make. Sometimes the individual choices we make carry consequences that can be remedied, other times the choices we make are remediless. The story for this individual is remediless, though the headline for the follow-up story, "Net friends faulted in online overdose" may lead you to believe otherwise.
The story concerns a young man by the name of Brandon Vedas. Brandon was evidently a net afficionado who frequented chat rooms, specifically, in this case, a drug use chat room. According to the story, from The Arizona Republic, Brandon was online, in a drug chat room, with a web cam affixed to his computer beaming to other participants his ingestion of multiple types of drugs. During this online session, with various participants in the chat room encouraging him to ingest more drugs, Brandon literally expired while online in full view of the other participants. This fact was not known until a week after his death when someone in his family accessed his computer and determined that his last moments had been broadcast on the web.
Surprisingly enough, the Phoenix police are not investigating this matter, as reason typically seems in short supply when the authorities get involved in a "situation" such as this. Here's what Sgt Randy Force had to say about this,
"This is not a criminal matter," Phoenix police Sgt. Randy Force said. "This is a 21-year-old under no coercion or duress. He may have been on the Internet, and people may have been cheering him on. But what he did, he did of his own free will."
Bravo for Sgt Force. Unfortunately, if you read the second link faulting the "net friends," Carlton Kendrick, a family therapist and author from Boston sees this as a possible opportunity for civil lawsuits and further legislation. Don't doubt for a minute that these will not be forthcoming.
John Venlet - 1:40:00 PM |
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Saturday, February 08, 2003
"Americanization"
Anna, over at Belligerent Bunny Blog, has a post titled "Americanized" that links to an essay by Winfried Fluck who is a Professor of Kultur at the Free University of Berlin. Fluck's article looks at this post's title, the Americanization of people throughout the world, and some of the reasons for it. Anna states "that in the future everyone will be American," which I am not so sure of considering the ongoing socialist leaning here in the USA, while Professor Fluck seems to think that "Americanization is ....the embodiment of modernity's promise of painless self-realization for each individual," which is an ideal I would fully support but would question also considering the path we currently are on. Give both Anna and Fluck a read and see what you think.
When I first read about cities such as Chicago, LA and San Francisco attempting to sue gun manufacturers for violent crimes committed by criminals with guns I'd like to say I was stunned but in actuality I was resigned. Why is it always someone else's fault and not the criminals? Because the criminals don't have any money. In today's New York Times there is an editorial praising Robert Ricker, a former NRA attorney and former head of the American Shooting Sports Council, who has filed an affidavit that states gun manufacturers know their products are being distributed in a manner that makes it easy for criminals and underage users to obtain them.
Although we like to blame attorneys for this travesty, and in many cases deservedly so, blame should also be thrown at the feet of the courts and the unthinking, irrational people who make up the juries when these type of frivolous suits are won by plaintiffs.
As for Robert Ricker, I'm sure his pockets are being nicely lined with illgotten gains from the cities who will be scrambling to add him to their gun lawsuit manufacturing teams.
Here's the link to the entire editorial. If it asks for registration, which the NYT has recently started doing, use nytimesoops as the login name and nytimes as the the password.
John Venlet - 11:22:00 AM |
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Macabre Amnesty
I'm torn between finders keepers and that's mine and if you don't give it to me I'll put you in jail, the latter not really much of a choice. The loss of the Columbia and the large debris field that ensued from this has made it difficult to pick up all the pieces. I cannot see myself hoarding a piece of the Columbia and surreptitiously showing my friends in a dark corner of my basement but evidently others can. On the day of Columbia's loss, almost immediately, authorities involved notified people not to abscond with wreckage but to notify them so arrangements could be made to gather it up. I would wager most people did notify authorities about wreckage, but not all. This article, from the Houston Chronicle, lays out some of the facts in regards to an amnesty period offered to people to turn in wreckage from the Columbia. The amnesty expired at 5 PM yesterday evening.
It appears that the police in Tennesee have deeper problems than just shooting dogs, as happened down in Cookeville, TN. Via Instapundit comes this story out of Murfreesboro, TN about a roll call incident where one Lt. Alvin Randolph either thought he was God, had a little too much to drink or is just plain delusional. Naturally, the sub headline is "Department keeping quiet about incident."
John Venlet - 8:50:00 AM |
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Thursday, February 06, 2003
Disguising Communism
Hiding behind the label of liberal, leftist or socialist is usually a communist. David Yeagley takes a look at this phenomenon in a post entitled "The New Communists. Though David writes from the perspective of an American Indian, and a conservative one at that, what he has to say is applicable to most of us. And he is definitely not crying about the American Indians' plight in a manner that we see a cry for reparations as atonement for the sins of slavery. A little something from David's post,
But Communism is appeals only to envy. Communism is the politics of envy. If you have a Cadillac, and I don't, then you denied me, you wronged me. The reaons I don't is because you have kept it from me. You have in fact taken it from me. Any politician who condemns the Cadillac owner, and promises to give it to me, becomes the new Robin Hood, the new hero of the masses.
and
Communism is accusatory in nature. Communism despises individual achievement, for that destroys the satanic deception of "equality."
John Venlet - 3:58:00 PM |
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Sound Bites and Tax Cuts
Over at the online zine Liberty for All Jason A. Junge has posted an essay with the title "The Tax Cuts - A Philosophical Argument" which provides an interesting read. If you're not interested in reading the entire essay, at least take a moment to view the cartoon by Tuma that accompanies it. There's no doubt in my mind that we taxpayers are viewed as depicted.
John Venlet - 9:33:00 AM |
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Rational Anarchy
Stopped by the blog The Art of War this morning and while perusing the posts within, I was fortunate enough to click on this link which is an essay on rational anarchy. Here's a snippet to pique your interest,
Many times, when you ask a person why they don't follow a certain law or rule, they reply that the law is stupid and that there is no point to it. I have several examples of this: students at Notre Dame High School have 'difficulty' in tucking in their shirts. When asked why they don't tuck in their shirts, they reply, "I don't want to. Besides, it's a stupid rule, anyway." Another example would be my own mother: she doesn't like to buckle up. Though seat belts save lives, my mother still doesn't like to buckle up and thinks that it is somewhat of a stupid law.
Unknowingly (for the most part), these people have just committed rational anarchy. They put power into their own hands and decided (for themselves) that a rule and law was stupid--so they decided not to follow it.
John Venlet - 8:49:00 AM |
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A Canadian Low, Not to Be Confused with a Marijuana High
Colby Cosh links to an article in the Edmonton Journal that discusses the ease with which one can supposedly be supplied medical marijuana now that a Canadian judge has ruled some legal restrictions to medical marijuana unconstitutional. Colby is mildly interested in the easing of these restrictions, but has alot more to say about the enforcers of the law. It seems they haven't heard about the judge's ruling. As Colby delves into this aspect of the issue, he asks this question about the enforcers,
As a result, the cops are a gang. This is not all their fault, but what else but a gang would you call a heavily armed force that's not answerable to a controlling legal authority? And if the cops are de facto a gang, are we not morally entitled to regard them as one?
Good question Colby.
Colby ends this post with some sound advice also,
Your energy is needed to preserve basic social order, gentlemen, not to persecute the harmless.
John Venlet - 7:33:00 AM |
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Wednesday, February 05, 2003
Ed Rosenthal, Medical Marijuana, Juries and Who Gets to Know
The story of Ed Rosenthal's arrest, prosecution and conviction for growing medical marijuana in the state of California has seen decent coverage within the blogosphere and major media, and, considering the travesty of the WHOLE story that's good. Glenn Reynolds has, what I consider, a good analysis of the jury side of this thing here, his MSNBC site. I especially enjoyed what Glenn had to say about who gets to know what about evidence,
The cop on the beat can look the other way. The prosecutor can decided not to prosecute, or to seek a lighter sentence. And judges enjoy enormous discretion in how, or whether, trials go forward. Only jurors — who by a curious coincidence are also the only players without an organized “union” on their behalf — are kept in the dark and treated like children. (Think I exaggerate? Then you’ve probably never been a juror.)
John Venlet - 9:36:00 PM |
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One Last Thing
Today I contributed $40.03 to the cause of terrorism. You see I filled up one of my three SUVs. Well, $40.03 didn't actually fill the tank full when the price per gallon is $1.52, and I did have about a 1/4 of a tank of gas when I pumped in the additional 26.0126 gallons, but I did, as huff, huff, Huffington would preach, contribute to the cause of terrorism because I pumped the gas into a SUV. I mention this because Jonathon Pearce over at Samizdata posted some comments under the title "Gas-guzzling and gorgeous" which linked to a Reuters article titled "Americans 'keep on truckin'' in their SUVs" which noted the abject failure of the anti-SUV campaign. My favorite part of the article was a quote from George Pipas who is head of sales and North American market analysis for Ford Motor Co. Here's the quote,
"They (consumers) are not going to respond to media reports, or campaigns like that; they seldom do," Pipas told Reuters. "They respond to what they want. It's their own pocketbook, and their own stomach. It's me, myself and I."
Too true George, too true.
John Venlet - 4:28:00 PM |
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And Another Thing
During my drive time today I listened to Powell and the rest of the UN Security Council members on NPR. As I meander through the "blowflysphere" I read erudite comments such as "Powell made the case," or "pretty damning," or "impressive." Well, here's what I have to say. Powell's speaking at the UN is just so much gloss. Our government is treating the taking out of Saddam, and the "evidence" supposedly required to do so, like anal love beads. They oh so slowly pull one bead after another out of their asses so the members of the UN Security Council can have a collective orgasm and feel they are part of the gang bang. Did you listen to the Security Council members when they were allowed their seven (7) minutes of ejaculation? They were all so sorry for the Columbia disaster, they wanted to congratulate the German head of the Security Council for his one month reign during this trying time, they wanted to praise France for their stonewalling rather than abject surrender and then they wanted to remind Saddam to play nice. I almost fell asleep at the wheel.
Shit or get off the pot and take your damn love beads with you.
John Venlet - 3:34:00 PM |
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Shower with a Friend
Came home from a day of windshield time and found a link to an article by Thomas Sowell in my inbox. Some of the sentiments expressed within Mr. Sowell's article are too good not to share. He's talking about tax cuts and some of the idiotarian responses to them. Here's a couple of tidbits that will hopefully induce you to read the entire piece. The first looks at the money you and I earn,
Keeping money that you yourself earned is called having benefits "showered" on you. By this reasoning, anyone who has the power to take something from you and doesn't take it all is "showering" benefits on you. Anyone who has a gun and doesn't use it to kill you is showering life itself on you.
This second tidbit looks at the continuing and deepening interference in our lives by the government,
Literally from the moment you wake up in the morning and take a shower (with a government-prescribed rate of water flow) to the time you flush the toilet (also with a government-prescribed water flow rate) for the last time before going to bed, your life has been laid out for you.
Give him a read and take what he says to heart.
John Venlet - 2:45:00 PM |
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Tuesday, February 04, 2003
Additional Reading
I was just recently introduced to the blog Totalitarianism Today by Andrew Rogers. The blog is written by Alina Stefanscu and when I stopped by a moment today to check it out, I had the opportunity to read this post, no permalinks so scroll down to "In defense of acknowledging our ignorance." Here's a paragraph from the post worth thinking about,
"The sacred foundations of Western civilization, while worthy of intense study and reverence, should not be so-construed as a result of their percieved liberalism or individualism. Likewise, the foundations of other civilizations cannot be relegated to the category of authoritarian or anti-individualist merely by association. If neoconservatives and American academics continue such self-destructive trendology, the courage of our convictions might prove less resilient than the weakness of our committments to free thinking and democratic inquiry."
It's worth a visit.
John Venlet - 12:41:00 PM |
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God Is An Anarcho-Capitalist A Heretical Hypothesis on Liberty Third Post
I've been looking at God as an anarcho-capitalist and I wanted to provide an example of this in action. My first post is here and the second post is here. Most Christians, Jews and Moslems acknowledge Abraham as the father of their respective religions, and, based on this fact, hold Abraham up to us as a historic example to be emulated. As it says in Exodus 20:12,"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." In my opinion, those of us who claim to have faith in God haven't done a very good job of honoring Abraham.
Abraham was a wealthy man. See Genesis 13:2. The Bible does not specifically inform us how this wealth was accumulated, but if Abraham's words to the king of Sodom are any indication, as written in Genesis 14:22-24, I'd say he accumulated his wealth through honest labor and/or trade. But enough of background, let's look at a business transaction Abraham undertook.
Abraham had a wife named Sarah who died and he wanted to bury her. She died in Hebron, among the Hittites, who, based on the little information we have available, were not worshippers of the God of Abraham. But Abraham went to them and said,
"I am an alien and a stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead."
The Hittities were willing to do this as is shown in Genesis 23:5-6, even calling Abraham "a mighty prince." But Abraham had a specific site in mind, owned by a man named Ephron, and he asks the Hittites to intercede on his behalf with Ephron so he can purchase this land. Abraham explicitly states the following as part of the request,
"Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you." See Genesis 23:9.
Now Ephron just happens to be sitting with the Hittite people when Abraham makes this request and is open to the offer to purchase. Ephron names his price, four hundred shekels of silver, and Abraham accepts. See Genesis 23:10-16.
Here are the portions of this transaction that truly interest me in regards to this as an example of anarcho-capitalism. In Genesis 23:16 it states,
"Abraham agreed to Ephron's terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites:"
and then in Genesis 23:17-18 the means of the conveyance of the property is reinforced,
"So Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre-both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field-was deeded 18 to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city."
Pay particular attention to the means of conveyance, which I've highlighted in bold script, and how it is recognized as a legitimate transaction. There was no force involved by either individual party to the transaction. Abraham did not invoke the name of God as part of the bargaining process and the transaction was deeded and recognized by the participation of the Hittite people. Isn't this an example of how business should be done?
John Venlet - 10:59:00 AM |
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Columbia and Risk
The loss of the Columbia has been dominating the news. Indeed. When we are able to watch the demise of seven humans on national television, over and over again, is it any wonder that this is the case? It's been interesting over the last few days to read the various headlines that have been printed to grab our attention. From The Globe and Mail comes Was the shuttle doomed from the start?" The Herald Sun offers us "Astronauts doomed from the start." Closer to home, the Philadelphia Daily News asks "Was it doomed from the start?" Doom, doom and more doom.
Other articles have considered the risks associated with space travel. At SunSpot.net, an article by Kevin Cowherd goes under the headline "Even in face of 'Columbia,' astronauts say, carry on."Boulder News, at their dailycamera.com site, also has a few things to say about the risks of space exploration. Paul Krugman, writing in The New York Times, seems to think that we should only send machines into space rather than men. Charles Krauthammer talks about the risks associated with space flight but also considers the relative puniness of our space adventures since going to the moon.
Risks. We all take them everyday but the Columbia astronauts took risks, willingly, that most of us will never have to consider. Did the crew of the Columbia understand the additional risks they took? Undoubtedly. Does this make them braver, more noble or larger than life? It does not. When I consider the risks of space flight, and how those risks are considered by those who are fortunate enough to take them, I am reminded of a saying we bandied about in the submarine force. Like astronauts, who desire that the number of launches equals the number of returns to earth, submariners desire that the number of submergences equals the number of surfacings. For the most part they do. But, astronauts and submariners explicitly understand that this may not always be the case. In the submarine force, when we considered this possibilty, and discussed possible catastrophic failures, and how we should react, we would typically say, "If that happens, you may as well bend over and kiss your ass goodbye." Was this a false sense of bravado? I don't believe so. It was simply a realistic acceptance of the risks associated with our mode of travel, just as the astronauts accepted the risks associated with their mode of travel. No matter how much we strive, we will never have zero risks or defects. So, don't bombard us with gloom, doom and acceptability of risk. Seven people died in a risky adventure and I wish it were not so, but it is. I mourn their loss but not their lives.
John Venlet - 8:16:00 AM |
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Monday, February 03, 2003
A Quote for Your Consideration
"Those whose bread is already secured, and who desire no favors from men in power, or from bodies of men, or from the public, have nothing to fear from the open avowal of any opinions but to be ill-thought of and ill-spoken of, and this it ought not to require a very heroic mold to enable them to bear."
John Stuart Mill "On Liberty."
John Venlet - 9:52:00 AM |
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Sunday, February 02, 2003
A Buggy Absurdity
Reading the Sunday paper this A.M. I peruse an article from the AP with the headline "Amish face legal roadblocks to making donations." When located online, the headline reads "Ohio Amish in Quandary on Road Repairs." It seems some Ohio Amish residents want to donate some dollars to the local government authorities for road maintenance. Unfortunately,
"In Ohio, county governments and township governments can't do anything unless the state law specifically tells them to," said Republican state Sen. Ron Amstutz, who is preparing legislation to allow the contributions. "If somebody writes them a check, they probably can't do anything with it."
A tragic case of governmental foolishness rather than utilization of common sense. The erstwhile Senator Amstutz also has this to say to justify further legislating of Amish lives,
"Most of the roads are built to meet more modern traffic; they put hard surface on them," he said. But the hard surface makes the road slippery for horses pulling Amish buggies, so "they end up putting horseshoes on that bite a little bit to keep them from slipping."
Those shoes erode the road surface. "It's like putting chains on your car. If you run that over the road a lot of times, you start doing serious damage," Amstutz said.
Yes, those Amish buggy drivers are continually out in droves. Their 2 horsepower Amish buggies tearing up the asphalt as they gallop into town for supplies. Absurd.
Merlin Keim, an Amish resident who is willing to donate, has it right when he states,
"I think it's better left up to the individual."
John Venlet - 11:17:00 AM |
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Saturday, February 01, 2003
Altruistic Pick Pockets
If you haven't been keeping up with Arthur Silber's commentary on Bush's SOTU address, start here. In the linked post, Arthur has a few things to say about Bush's proposal for AIDS relief. A 15 billion dollar do gooder proposal that will once again dip deep into your's and my pockets. Here's the crux of the matter, as articulated by Arthur,
More money will always be demanded -- and no matter how you do it, there will be a "better" way, involving still more funds.
John Venlet - 5:29:00 PM |
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