Two for the morning — and an Open Thread
Bookworm on Mar 04 2010 at 10:13 am | Filed under: Open Threads
I’ve never understood what the big deal is with inert landfill. Whether what lies under the ground is a pile of dirt and rocks, or some inert garbage seems to me to be perfectly irrelevant. I understand that, if the garbage creates toxic byproducts, that should be addressed (and it is addressed with liners), but I also think that if it creates methane, which is useful, that should be encouraged, not discouraged. Rich Trzupek adds flesh to my instinctive sense of all things garbage.
Also, you’ve probably heard by know about the ex-AP writer, Deborah Phelan, who is horrified that conservatives are meeting in Marin. Phelan seems to be unclear on a couple of Constitutional points, since she attacks conservative’s right to assemble and complain about government policies, and she believes militias are inherently evil. Let me refresh her recollection with a couple of useful quotations from the first to Amendments to the United States Constitution (emphasis mine):
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
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.
By the way, at the time the Founders enacted the Second Amendment, a militia was understood to be a citizen troop that existed to protect the citizens, not just from localized crime and danger, but from the federal government itself.
As for me, I’m beginning to think that Phelan did Marin conservatives a huge favor, both by helping to advertise the Groupa-Palooza (which I’ll have to miss because of commitments to kid activities) and by exposing to more people how ludicrous opposition to conservative thinking is.
Uh . . . make that three for the morning, as Steve Schippert warns us not to become complacent about China. Let’s just say that China (a) has values entirely antithetical to Western democratic notions and (b) it doesn’t believe in power sharing.
Related posts:
- Tuesday morning open thread while I get my act together
- Friday Morning Open Thread
- Friday Morning Open Thread
Email This Post To A Friend
19 Responses to “Two for the morning — and an Open Thread”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
“vehemently anti-tax Tea Party movement” I say if you’re going to be anti-tax, you might as well be vehement about it. Somehow, laissez-faire anti-tax doesn’t seem like it would be effective.
“Zelikovsky, who describes herself as an unabashed Republican” What do you want to bet that she gets bashed real soon?
I’ll bet Ms. Phalen would really be put out of sorts by these guys Gun rights activists take up arms at Baker Beach. In an odd feature since it was San Francisco, few noticed men lawfully carrying while picking up trash and in true SF fashion the only guy they found who was shocked was at the beach to video people bathing nude but the cold weather kept people covered.
” Phelan referenced a report released by the Southern Poverty Law Center last week. According to the report, the number of “so-called ‘Patriot’ groups – militias and other organizations that see the federal government as part of a plot to impose ‘one-world government’ on liberty-loving Americans – jumped from 149 to 512 during 2009.” The report said 127 of the 512 are militias.”
The SPLC is essentially like Charles of LGF. A reactionary organization that for whatever reasons, chooses to pick out their own personal version of what is “extreme”. They’ll note real extremist militias, yes, but they won’t focus on them. I’ve heard a couple of people that dealt with real violent groups in the US, and for some reason the SPLC do not focus their attentions on the groups that were actively infiltrated, suppressed, and watched by federal authorities.
Keep that in mind if you hear any additional positive news backing SPLC.
More on that SPLC report:
How SPLC Hypes the Hate : The Other McCain
Obviously, if Phelan had been around in 1776, she would have been one of the Tories, not one of the Three Percenters…
To slap SPLC across the face like the whinny little school children they are, and to also use their own methodology, Charles of LGF, another loon in training, has used SPLC’s resources and links as reference for launching attacks against Charles personal idols.
Proof of…. SPLC’s collusion? By SPLC’s logic, yes.
If you wish to pick out real radical and violent groups in America, watch for the groups SPLC defends, backs, and ignores.
Same strategy that tends to work with Democrat hate crime instigators, international sex slave traffickers (ACORN), and human slavery advocates of the Left. Pick out their allies, and you’ll see the roaches. Then you can crush them.
Phelan would have taken the bag of silver and become another Arnold, if she had the guts and balls.
“I was shocked,” said Lawrence, 37, who lives in the adjacent Sea Cliff neighborhood. “I’m afraid of guns.”
Sighs
You’d be even more shocked if you knew the guy standing next to you could kill you bare handed in less than 5 seconds. But it’d probably be best not to know this, darou.
People afraid of ephemeral things like the dark, clutching their mama’s bosoms, putting their head in the sand and waiting for their arse to be blown sky high (most likely not in the sexual fashion), aren’t exactly people I depend upon for ‘protection’ and ‘security’. They’re the crowd most likely to panic and get people killed.
I’m shocked people are a bunch of sheep that they got to rely upon the TOTALITARIAN DICTATOR Strong Man for ‘security’. HOw’s that different from Iraqi insurgents the US Marines, as of two years ago, were killing in the boat loads? Uncivilized wretches think they can create order by entrusting in A Strong Man. Ridiculous.
If you have your own confidence and all range force protections, the mere sight of people armed picking up trash would not register as a ‘threat’. But even if it did register as a threat, you would be able to adequately handle the issue, without going All Professor Gates or Obama The Seas Will Recede.
Depending on other things to do that for you, like the government, just means you’re a ward and slave. That’s why you’re worried. Just as the slave worried his master will beat him or allow him to be sold. People are scared, feeling insecure, and don’t know what to do about it.
People don’t know cause they sold their liberty down the river, that’s how they don’t know.
I’m less concerned about *complacency* about China than I am about *excessive worship” of Chinese accomplishments and methods, Tom Friedman being one of the worst offenders. It’s reminiscent of those in the 1930s, in America and Britain, who were so impressed by the accomplishments of the Fascist dictators. (like Mussolini supposedly “making the trains run on time”)
I think there’s a lot to admire in what China’s accomplished, and I do think that the increased economic liberalization (compared with their recent history) will create pressures for political liberalization…but it does no good to continually talk about how great they are and how awful we are.
A couple of years ago, some guy wrote about how the U.S. spends $10 billion/year on women’s intimate apparel and contrasted that with the $4 billion that China spent constructing its Tibetan railway. He said that the comparison:
…highlights the difference today between the richest country in the world and the country that is gaining wealth at the fastest pace. One is consuming, the other investing.
Guy didn’t bother to report on how much *this country* is investing in railroad infrastructure…I looked it up, and the top 4 RRs were spending about $7B per year.
http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/004730.html
Yeah, David, wannabe mandarins like The Honourable and Eloquent Thomas Friedman side step the authoritarian and antidemocratic nature of the Chinese regime, and either fail to note or ignore the inherent instability. China in the past has gone thru great convulsions when its society was violently turned upside down and closed off to outside influences, as during the Maoist revolution. The Great Wall was built to keep people out, after all.
> militias and other organizations that see the federal government as part of a plot to impose ‘one-world government’ on liberty-loving Americans
Well, when your President is an avowed internationalist, and travels the world apologizing profusely for the evils of America, and when some of your current Supreme Court Justices favor including their interpretion – and even the existence of – law in other countries when forming their decisions – you’re damned right I see a widespread movement to impose “one-world government” on us. Call it The Hague, call it the International Criminal Court, call it what you will. It’s out there.
Thomas Friedman loves China’s “monovision”. You’ve got your dictatorial class lording it over and ruling the people with its iron fist. Dissent is ruthlessly suppressed and the dissenters disappear, making of the people a remarkably homogenous “group”… more monovision. You can get a lot done that way! Friedman just looooooves it.
Until the day when the dictatorial group begins to make decisions he doesn’t like, which will of course happen, and probably soon. Then what will he be saying? You can’t have it both ways.
People like Friedman admire the secondary effect and ignore its first principle. It’s sort of like exclaiming with delight as you admire the pretty weaving shape of that cloud of wasps that is streaming directly towards you. Sure, it’s pretty… but in a very short while, you’re not going to be exclaiming with delight anymore.
Regarding China’s investment in its railway to Tibet, the purpose of the route is to assist the further Hanification of Tibet and completion of the Han genocide against the Tibetan people. It also allows China to more efficiently strip and export Tibet’s natural wealth (reminds me of the aliens in “Independence Day”).
It’s kind of like the Mafia investing heavily in body armor and submachine guns. I guess its investment helps grow the small arms industry, but I’m sure the neighbors who have to live with the infestation see things a bit differently.
First link is to some interesting charts about the Iraq war and the “massive” spending the Dems always complain about. The second link is to the home page of the chart used in the first link. It looks like a very useful tool – if you’re of the mindset to put it to work.
http://nooilforpacifists.blogspot.com/2010/03/iraq-war-spending-isnt-issue.html
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/index.php
Oh my!!
http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/index.asp
@suek (15): My husband loves that website, and frequently uses those images in presentations he gives at work. People laugh, but it helps them think about long-term planning and avoiding stupidity.
Thomas Friedman is a plutocrat living it high on the corpses of the unfree.
I am leading off with the Paul Simon song 50 ways to leave your lover (can’t get it on youtube anymore).
Oh, if you’re wondering what got me thinking about the old tune, it must have been Hannity’s list of 102 ways of wasting tax dollars.
http://hannity.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/03/12/waste-102-the-final-list/#more-3888
“The problem is all inside your head”, she said to me The answer is easy if you take it logically I’d like to help you in your struggle to be free There must be fifty ways to leave your lover She said it’s really not my habit to intrude Furthermore, I hope my meaning won’t be lost or misconstrued But I’ll repeat myself, at the risk of being crude There must be fifty ways to leave your lover Fifty ways to leave your lover You just slip out the back, Jack Make a new plan, Stan You don’t need to be coy, Roy Just get yourself free Hop on the bus, Gus You don’t need to discuss much Just drop off the key, Lee And get yourself free Ooo slip out the back, Jack Make a new plan, Stan You don’t need to be coy, Roy Just listen to me Hop on the bus, Gus You don’t need to discuss much Just drop off the key, Lee And get yourself free She said it grieves me so to see you in such pain I wish there was something I could do to make you smile again I said I appreciate that and would you please explain About the fifty ways She said why don’t we both just sleep on it tonight And I believe in the morning you’ll begin to see the light And then she kissed me and I realized she probably was right There must be fifty ways to leave your lover Fifty ways to leave your lover You just slip out the back, Jack Make a new plan, Stan You don’t need to be coy, Roy Just get yourself free Hop on the bus, Gus You don’t need to discuss much Just drop off the key, Lee And get yourself free Slip out the back, Jack Make a new plan, Stan You don’t need to be coy, Roy Just listen to me Hop on the bus, Gus You don’t need to discuss much Just drop off the key, Lee And get yourself free
Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA) said, “if you don’t tie our hands, we will keep stealing.”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/03/18/dem_congressman_if_you_dont_tie_our_hands_we_will_keep_stealing.html