Note: Each block of text actually is a link to a story or a web page that I am commenting on. Click on that text and it will take you to the page being referred to.
I would say something about it being Friday the 13th, but it isn’t so I won’t. Found some interesting stuff out there today that I thought I would share. I hope you find it nourishment for your brain and your thought processes.
The situation in Iraq vis-a-vis the Russians in Syria does not bode well and has all the potential to creating a major furball.
Not sure where CentCom is going with this ... but it paints a bad picture for the Iranians claim they never took any American lives.
It may seem really cold on my part, but my response to seeing this story was say: Poor countries, take a number. Actually, it reads as if it is focused on soaking the US, but folks, really now, I think far greater environmental damage was done in the former Soviet Bloc countries and in China today, as well as a lot of developing countries who, yes, can't afford to avoid fouling their own nests ... but the US makes a convenient target and besides, we supposedly have deeper pockets than anybody else.
Interesting story here: The "state" (government at all levels) is wrong to levy fines on poor people because they can't pay and put them in jail. In most cases, people are given a choice if they are found guilty of any offense: You can pay a fine or spend some time in the pokey. The choice is the individual’s. The way it is outlined here that maintains the government should not do that because it makes jail a "debtor's prison". HUH? Let's see, in most local courts, when you get ticketed for a minor offense, you are released on agreeing to pay a bond (which you forfeit in lieu of going to trial and is equal to the fine for the offense). So, the complaint is that poor people can't pay the bond and end up in jail. The option, I guess, is agreeing to "community service", which in reality merely is a form of indentured servitude ... or slavery if you wish. My question is to these progressives is that what punishment is appropriate for people who break the law ... that makes whomever comes before the bar equal regardless of race, creed, national origin, economic condition or social status. The goal always should be equality before the law ... anything else is wrong.
Another backhanded slap at the MV-22 ... even though in two-thirds of these accidents the aircraft involved were helicopters and not the tilt-rotor aircraft.
I have a real problem with this story, its headline and the fact that this is what politicians think is necessary to win elections. We promote divisions in this country, rather than promote unity ... you know ... E Pluribus Unum ... And Out of Many, One.
Another example of what I mean when I talk about political catering to special interests and sub-groups ... I know it is effective consumer marketing ... but I still think it is bovine scatology and wrong. It keeps pitting us against each other, rather than really doing what they are calling for here, and that is finding common ground.
And the drumbeat begins to blame the GOP for any government shutdown. The problem is not with the Republicans ... but you won't read that except in passing references in most stories. The House and the Senate probably could pass funding bills, without any Democratic support, but in the Senate, that would be struck down by the Democrats filibustering the legislation until the funding deadline is passed. Now, Harry Reid changed the rules so the Republicans couldn't do that to Democratic-sponsored bills when they were in the majority, but the GOP changed the rules back and it will bite them in the derriere. And assuming Congress did pass budget bills over the objections of Congressional Democrats, President Obama would veto it ... and it would be he who was forcing the shutdown ... but that will never be said.
For what it is worth, the President is not doing well in the polls, even though the opinion makers are giving him victory after victory.
The Ninth Circuit rides again ...
More politics, smoke and mirrors about closing the detention facility at Gitmo ... sigh ... progressives will never get it. There is a difference between the law enforcement view of the world and the war paradigm. And folks, we still are at war with the Taliban, Al Qaeda and others, like ISIS.
I understand the rationale being offered here, but I don't buy it. Sorry, but it really ain't our fault ... but you can't convince some people of that ... and I still am wondering when all these people expecting us to take in hordes of Middle Eastern refugees will start asking the Europeans and the Chinese and the Russians to start taking in the hordes of "refugees" pouring into the US from Mexico and Central America and points south.
And interesting commentary on Freedom of Speech and the First Amendment and how both are being stifled on college campuses by this crazy political correctness. Heck, I can remember the original Free Speech Movement (back in the 1960s when I was in high school) ... and people these days would be so offended by Mario Savio
Interesting story about how the political class often conspires to squelch efforts to petition the government for redress of grievances
I guess it is all about test scores these days ... how about discipline and doing things not when you want to do them but when they have to be done. Besides, I understand, some people are not morning people and others are. So are we just going to give the non-morning people a pass?
This woman really needs to take her victimhood blinders off ... I guess there is nothing a white male can do that is not a product of his privilege ... what blinking privilege? a white man says who has been a direct victim of discrimination because of his race and his sex. Sorry, I ain't buying your sob story, lady. Get a freaking life and get over the fact that life is unfair ... but in that it is an equal opportunity employer ... it is unfair to everybody, whether you want to believe it or not.
This is a pretty good rant ... and in a perfect world he would be so spot on ... but it ain't perfect ... still he is correct, change does begin with the individual ... working with other individuals to convince other individuals ... that is how change happens ... not by fiat from some government or ecclesiastical authority above you.
I have advocated this approach for drug users for nigh on 45 years ... reduce a lot of crime ... of course, it would mean it would have to be supported somehow ... and my solution always was: Make drugs legal, tax the heck out of them, regulate them for content to protect the abusers ... use the tax money to fund rehab programs. Only problem is what do you do with people who can't kick the habit ... incarcerate them in treatment facilities? Heck, I don't know, but I think it is worth a try and would take a whole lot of the money out of the drug market that is now used for criminal activities and drug wars.
Interesting program ... not a panacea ... but it helps a few ... but it really is not "scalable" ...
And the global market continues to roil ... folks, it is not over yet ... and these "bad" numbers from China are not good news.
No comments:
Post a Comment