Gas is higher than $4.00 a gallon in many parts of the US, and by the looks of it, it'll keep rising over the next year. Predictions seem to indicate that we might see a $5.00 per gallon price within the next 3 months, $6-7.00 per gallon by next year, and some even say we could see $12-15 in the not too distant future. Sure, this may be a "boy who cried wolf" or "the sky is falling" scenerio - it may be a political scandal to push an agenda (like many of you seem to think Global Warming is) but it COULD be a real problem. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it is a real threat and a real problem, we (by we I mean us as citizens and our govenrment) don't act quickly, it could lead to disaster.
My frustration is that the Gas has been steadily rising since 9/11. No, It's been steadily rising since....like the 60's, or something, but we have ignored it - just kind of grinned and bared it - but, will we be able to really bear it when one tank of gass for a small two-door sedan costs $165?
In Many parts of Europe, including the UK, I'm hearing, Gas already costs nearly $12 per gallon (That is Dollars, not Euros). So, this is not far fetched fiction. As I said earlier, our government needs to do something, as do we as citizens.
We could talk all day about what we feel the government should do. That doesn't make them actually doing something any more likely. In my opinion, we need strong leaders who pass legislation to support the development and cost-effectiveness of alternate energy sources. There are a myrid of options - Hydrogen, Electric, Solar, etc - but the problem is that they haven't become a commercially viable option because they all seem cost prohibitive. Fully electric cars are still astronomically priced, and Hybrids are not cheap. That's where the govenrment could help, be it with tax breaks, research assistance, increase in publich transoprtation, whatever - there needs to be a pro-active stance taken. Whatever the government does, I do not think that ripping up our natural reasources in the USA is the answer. I've heard the phrase "screw the caribou" thrown around these last few days as a slogan to promote drilling in Alaska. Honestly, part of my reasoning is because I quite like pristine nature, and I don't think it's our responsibility to mess up every beautiful tract of land on this planet. But, in addition to that, It is such a temporary fix - Gas is a limited commodity. It won't last forever. Our mindset should not be "stop the US dependance on foreign oil" but, rather, "stop the US dependance on ANY oil."
But more important and more immediate than asking, "what should the government do?" is for the individual to adjust his or her life to be prepared for whatever comes. I don't know about you, but in my ward, these last few months, Emergency Preparedness has really been stressed. I have a feeling it's a church wide thing - And I don't think it takes a prophet to know that we are headed for hard times. So, what do we do about curbing the heroine-like addictions that we as a nation and individuals have to gasoline? I mean, throw all the environmental reasons (of which I am so fond) aside - the cost alone will break all but the most wealthy of us.
One option (that is more a quick bide-your-time fix than anything) is Propane - according to my friend who works on engins for a living, Propane burns just very slightly less efficently than Petrolium - which means you would get just a very small amount less travel per gallon - and it burns clean, with virtually no byproduct. Currently, Propane is about $2.50 per gallon.
Hybrids and Smart Cars - these are great ways to increase your miles to the gallon, but they are still both dependant on Gasoline. Smart Cars are really cool looking, though.
Bio-fuel - This is NOT a viable option - it's a failed experiment - lets not keep fooling ourselves - the reason Wheat is so high right now is because farmers stopped growing wheat to grow corn to turn into fuel. Not only that, but the Slash/Burn policy in the Brazilian Amazon has become an even bigger problem because those farmers have decided Corn is more important than the Rain Forest.
Electric and Hydrogen - For some reason (I'm a conspiricy theorist, so don't ask me why - chances are you won't like my answer) These just havn't made it yet. Here's hoping.
Public Transportation - Look, guys - it really isn't that bad. I've relied on public transportation in Utah, Arizona, Southern California, Northern California, Phildelphia, you name it. It's an adventure, it's entertaining, but - It's not the horror that you imagine. The more we use it, the more money will be put into the system, and the better it will be.
Bikes - you laugh, but seriously - there is no better way to get around. I haven't missed my car one bit in this last year. Except when it rains. But that's why god gave us rain coats and umbrellas.
Walking - We all have a different background, but, here in Mesa, where I've relocated -and everywhere Else I've ever lived in the US, There are large shopping centers not too far from most major housing developments. God gave us legs.
Internet Shopping - Okay, a LOT of gas is wasted on eating out and shopping for useless stuff - what is the point!? Just stay home or buy it ("it" being the useless stuff you want to buy) on Amazon or Ebay - it'll probably be cheaper. Go for a walk in the park, instead.
Planning - Jillions of Dollars of gas could be saved every year if we just planned our outings in the car even a little.
I know it's kind of crazy, but something in me hopes the Gas prices DO continue to rise to the astronomical levels I opened this post with - just so that people would have to start living more responsibly, and so that the govenrment's hand will be forced and they will have to work to develope alternate forms. But if it gets to that point, we, as a nation, are in trouble.
Gas Out the Roof - what do we do?
the case for Hillary('s continued candidacy), in two parts
EDIT, 5/14: had to add this pic.Now that that's settled... Everyone seems to be saying Hillary Clinton should drop out of the race, that she can't win, that she's mathematically eliminated, that she's hurting Obama's chances at the nomination, that she's hurting the party, that she's ruining her own political future, that she's too egotistical to drop out, etc., etc.
I've been thinking about it a lot, and you know what?
They're all wrong. Hillary should stick around.
Part I. Why Hillary Clinton should remain in the race
Like it or not, the Democrats have superdelegates. What does this mean? Well, it means that in the event of multiple candidates coming out of the primary season with a good-sized share of delegates, the party bigwigs can basically pick who they want. When people talk about this system going against "the will of the people", they forget that the Democratic Party is not our government. It's a political party, and those who control it can do whatever they want, and if citizen Democrats don't like it, they can lobby for change, or leave the party. The Democratic Party isn't obligated to choose as its nominee the person who wins the most delegates in the primaries. I know it seems unfair because it seems like whoever gets the most votes should win, like in the government, but it's perhaps more aptly compared to Ben and Jerry's running a promotion in which you vote on what ice cream flavor you'd like to see made permanent. Then Ben and Jerry might look over the results and see that 55% want Fig Newton, 40% want Nutter Butter, and 5% want Oatmeal. This gives them some good evidence that Fig Newton may be the optimal choice, but they may take into account some other factors and decide that Nutter Butter is more likely to post better sales numbers across the board - for example, maybe they figure that even though Fig Newton fares better than Nutter Butter among their customers who care enough to submit a vote, Nutter Butter will outsell Fig Newton against the newest Häagen-Dazs flavor.
The facts of the matter are these: though Sen. Obama has an insurmountable lead in delegates awarded via primary, they are neck-and-neck in pledged superdelegates. If Sen. Clinton can convince enough superdelegates that she's the best choice for the party - an argument she is making with all of her might - then she'll be the rightful nominee. The scenario is not really that far-fetched, especially since Clinton is about to demolish Obama in a few primaries. And, though many have frothed at the mouth about how a superdelegate coup would "destroy the party" - it wouldn't. It would be forgotten about as quickly as the Supreme Court coup in the general election was forgotten in 2000.
Part II. Why Barack Obama is the better choice
However, if I was a superdelegate, I'd carefully look at Clinton and Obama and quickly realize that Obama's general election chances are superior to Clinton's. The crux of her argument that she would fare better against McCain is that she is more popular among white voters; therefore, since there are so many more white voters than black, she's the better pick. And, yes, it's sad that we're reducing this to racial terms in 2008, but that's another story. Anyway, the Senator from New York is conveniently one important fact:
Republicans loathe Hillary Clinton.
That's right, my friends: they hate her. And as I've said before, whether they should or shouldn't feel that way is irrelevant - what's relevant is that they won't vote for her. Clinton has more support among white Democrats, but it's likely that the Democrats will coalesce around the candidate (especially when the nomination loser asks his/her supporters to do so). That leaves Republican crossover votes. Who is more likely to bring Republicans over to his/her side? Obama. Who is more likely to inspire Democrats to go vote who might not otherwise do so? Obama. If Obama is nominated, it'll take a lot more work by McCain & Co. to get Republicans to come out and vote against him; he simply hasn't been in the national spotlight long enough to be as roundly disliked by the right as Hillary has. She's the one person who can make the Republicans - who are still pretty iffy about ol' Big Mac - come out in droves to support him. It would be a colossal misstep by the Democrats to nominate Hillary. Plus, setting aside everything I said earlier about superdelegates, McCain would immediately set to work as the candidate of the bigwigs, the "one who couldn't even get a legit win in her own party." It'd work; that kind of thing sells well.
So stick around, Hillary; tough this thing out for a while longer. Make your pitch to the party elite; The Clintons, for all their faults, are tenacious and have a history of winning. She's earned the right to be in the race. Let's have a thrilling convention.
The Government's Current Affairs, quoting Glenn Beck
Basically, Glenn Beck starts out with the following scenarios, all of which we've heard the likes of before (sadly) and make a great point for what is WRONG with America today:
"#1 A woman who says she lost more $1 million gambling in Atlantic City sues some casinos for $20 million, claiming they should've stopped her compulsive gambling.
#2 People who bought houses they couldn't afford with loans they didn't understand want their lenders to change the terms.
#3 Congress authorizes a war and then tries everything it can think of to get out of it.
#4 Our country gets addicted to oil and then blames OPEC when it doesn't like the price.
These stories prove how personal responsibility has all but vanished in America, and our government is leading the way."
Glenn Beck makes an excellent point: just as children learn from their parents, we the American people are taking the government's example to heart and are doing everything in our power to avoid taking the fall. People want their cake, they want to eat it, and they want to avoid paying full-price for it.
This attitude drives me nuts. Unfortunately I am more than aware that I am in the minority here. How am I supposed to live an honest life, doing what is right by my fellow man, trying to be an upright citizen who upholds the law of the land when the majority of other citizens just don't care about being honest? Or they don't care about working hard for what they have, preferring to do whatever it takes to get as much handed to them on a silver platter as possible?
The answer, to me, is to be honest anyway. Even if I know that other people are going to do everything in their power to get ahead (meaning that they are willing to bend the rules, lie, cheat, [insert more descriptors]) I still need to maintain my personal integrity and refuse to be persuaded to join them.
This leads to me to a bigger question: how is the populace supposed to function from day to day in a country where people cannot be counted on? The government cannot be counted on? Everything is taken to an extreme in order to avoid potential lawsuits?
The answer to this, in my opinion, is that it can't. Functioning on the grand scale will cease; at least, it will become more inefficient and sluggish than it is now. Hard to imagine that isn't it? Interactions and deals will be brought to a minimum due to a lack of trust and fear of losing everything to pay court fees, and people will reduced to minimal interaction with any group mainly due to lack of trust.
Think about it. The whining, complaining, ill-will, mindset that ripping off big businesses is ok because after all, they are just a big business that can absorb the loss, getting away with not paying debts and boasting about it...what is this teaching our children? What does this say about our society?
So perhaps the biggest question of all is this: how do we bring integrity back to America?
*If you'd like to read the actual article I'm quoting, click here.
Terrorism Comes In Many Forms
I love 24; the first seasons were the best, but I've got high hopes for season 7, and I can't BELIEVE we have to wait until next January for it. In 24, Jack Bauer runs around trying to save the world, and in the process he does some nasty things to some terrorists. There's definitely a subtle conservative message in the show, if you associate putting security over individual liberties with conservatism (and, yes, George W. Bush is still the Republican standard-bearer).
As a nation we have forgotten the words of FDR: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." We have allowed fear of terrorism to cause us to strike out blindly in Iraq, which has been an unmitigated disaster. Perhaps worst of all, we have allowed this fear to corrupt us morally to the point where our administration utilizes torture in the name of national security.
Check out this link. Do you remember John Ashcroft? He was the first-term Attorney General in the Bush Administration, famous for stuff like: losing a U.S. Senate election to a dead guy, pushing through the PATRIOT Act, and being the Bush posterboy for civil liberties violations. Long story short, Ashcroft was answering questions in a public forum, and some kid brought up the fact that, in 1947, the United States convicted a Japanese officer of war crimes for using waterboarding on an American civilian, and sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor. The crux of Ashcroft's response was that American waterboarding doesn't compare to what the Japanese officer did, because the documents the questioner referred to said that the officer "forced" water on the torturee, whereas we Americans are simply "pouring" it.
It's very different, you see, because it's "pouring", not "forcing".
Is this really what we've been reduced to? Quibbling over the semantics of simulated drowning? It is torture. It is un-American. It is morally wrong. And it's not just torture. It's holding people without trials and the decay of other rights.
What's the legacy of 9/11 in this nation? For a while, the legacy was a sense of national pride, a sense of unity. Do you remember how we came together as a nation after that tragedy? I will never forget it. Unfortunately, 9/11 was also the starting point that enabled the Bush administration to use the politics of fear to accomplish its political purposes.
The minute we start sacrificing human rights in the name of national security is the minute we have no security at all!
I hope the next president -- be it Clinton, Obama, or former POW John McCain -- will have the integrity and the courage to stand up and say, "We are the United States of America. We will take the moral high ground. We will find a better way."
A Shot Across the Bow
What does it mean when the North Carolina Republican Committee puts up green dollars to attack Barack Obama on something that is yesterday's news? Nominally, it's to smear the gubernatorial hopeful Democrat for supporting Obama. I think it serves a better purpose yet.
John McCain has asked the NCRC to stop airing this ad.
I tend to agree; the story is stale and never really was relevant to the issues. But why should McCain want it to stop? With a Democratic Party on its way to a first-class schism, I think attacking Obama there and now makes sense. If I were a McCain planner, I would welcome any chance right now to strengthen Hillary Clinton in NC and other states where she probably can't come close to Obama in the upcoming primaries. After all, the only way Hillary can get the nomination is by dirty, behind-closed-doors wheeling, dealing, and betrayal at convention. It might come down to that anyway, the way she waves around her Pennsylvania victory, but hey! why not cut down Obama's lead and further inflate her sense of entitlement? If she was down by 20 points in NC and then loses by only 10, she will consider the nomination already hers!
So while it looks like a state committee gone off the GOP reservation (against McCain's wishes, even!), I suspect McCain's people orchestrated this. But they were smart to give the national committee and McCain by extension some plausibly deniable distance from it, cuz it's rotten politics.
How are you Democrats feeling about your race these days? Does anyone believe the nice-talk of TV "strategists," or are you coming to realize that my prediction from early March is beginning to come true??
Happy Earth Day...Tomorrow
Well, one of my favorite holidays is upon us. Therefore, I though I'd take the opportunity to do a little PSA for this most under-represented holiday.
This multi-national celebration was founded in 1970 by Senetor Gaylord Nelson, and is now celebrated by many nations around the world. On April 22, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his youthful staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.
As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. The April 22 Earth Day in 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. For 2000, Earth. By the time April 22 rolled around, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries.
Earth Day 2000 sent the message loud and clear that citizens the world 'round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy. Earth Day 2007 was one of the largest Earth Days to date, with an estimated billion people participating in the activities in thousands of places like Kiev, Ukraine; Carcas, Venezuela; Tuvalu; Manila, Philippines; Togo; Madrid, Spain; London; and New York (Courtesy of Wikipedia.)
I remember hearing about Earthday for the very first time as a student in Elementary School and thinking, "what a load of crap. - What, they think that us planting a bean in a styrofoam cup is going to help the environment? The Styrofoam itself is doing much more harm than good." Well, so much for my activism as a child. So, I've been trying to make up for it as an adult to atone for my pre-adolescent pessimism and my adolescent indifference.
Often I vent and rant about the indifference that so many people, especially in the US have toward the environment. Don't believe me? Just look at my previous post on environmentalism - I ranted a bunch. Anyways, I just want to encourage you all to decide what you will do tomarrow to be a better steward of this earth that god has Given us. I don't think it's an accident that the creation of earth - of the trees, wildlife, rivers and oceans take such a prominent role in our most sacred worship. This place really is our home and it's a great place at that. Go out in nature tomarrow - if you can - just for a few minutes (even those nasty business parks ussually have some sort of pond with grass and ducks) and ponder on the world we've been given and what you can do personally to help make it better. Here are some suggestions.
Ride a bike instead of a car whenever possible; buy organic when possible; use reusable grocery bags (yeah Amy and your Southern California coercion); plant a tree; buy local; don't shop at major corporations; concerve water; recycle; use cloth diapers; make the choice to buy foods with less packaging; donate to environmental agencies; choose cage-free/free range meat/eggs/dairy; don't support new developments; don't litter....
The list could literally go on for pages. There is something that everyone can do.
On a related note, Arbor Day, in the US, is this coming Friday (the same week as Earth Day, strangely.) The city of Provo decided to celebrate Arbor Day early this year, in a way that only local government could, by CUTTING DOWN 4 really old trees that were lining the street in my neighborhood. I was sad. I'd encourage all of you to plant a tree. If you used a live Christmas Tree this year, plant two. If you used more than your fair share of office paper, or toilet paper, plant 6. Seriously, no one ever got prosecuted or chastised for planting trees - it's generally seen as a good thing.
I think what it really boils down to is us, as a nation and as a people developing a love for each other and a love for our world - and developing a sense of responsibility. So, I leave you with this thought. Consequently, it is the year of the Rat this Year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PScUdYTO0UM
My Favorite Government Woman
I just wanted to take a moment and focus on a woman who I personally think has made a positive impact on our nation, and maybe more importantly, our world. I really respect her. Some people have asked her if she will ever run for President, or would like to be McCain's running mate. She always responds that she is not interested in any political office that would require voting to get elected. That makes me respect her even more because I think it shows how she truly has a lack of desire for power, that what she does, she does because she believes it really will make a difference and make the world a better, happier place to live. Here are some random facts that you may or may not have known about my favorite government woman:
Condoleeza Rice is the first black woman to serve as Secretary of State. I love that!
She used to be a political science professor at Stanford.
Condoleeza also pioneered a new movement called Transformational Democracy: basically a movement to revive the role and respect and constructive participation of American diplomats serving.
She speaks 5 languages.
She served as the Soviet and East European Affairs Advisor during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and German reunification. (under George H. W. Bush)
Condoleeza grew up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama....one of her girlfriends lost her life in a church bombing. Of that incident she stated "I remember the bombing of that Sunday School at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963. I did not see it happen, but I heard it happen, and I felt it happen, just a few blocks away at my father’s church. It is a sound that I will never forget, that will forever reverberate in my ears. That bomb took the lives of four young girls, including my friend and playmate, Denise McNair. The crime was calculated to suck the hope out of young lives, bury their aspirations. But those fears were not propelled forward, those terrorists failed." – Condoleezza Rice, Commencement 2004, Vanderbilt University, May 13, 2004
As Stanford's Provost, Rice was responsible for managing the university's multi-billion dollar budget. The school at that time was running a deficit of $20 million. When Rice took office, she promised that the budget deficit would be balanced within "two years." Coit Blacker, Stanford's deputy director of the Institute for International Studies, said there "was a sort of conventional wisdom that said it couldn't be done ... that [the deficit] was structural, that we just had to live with it." Two years later, Rice announced that the deficit had been eliminated and the university was holding a record surplus of over $14.5 million. Rice drew protests when, as provost, she departed from the practice of applying affirmative action to tenure decisions and unsuccessfully sought to consolidate the university's ethnic community centers. (In other words, she recognized everything that is wrong with the country's obsession with being 'politically correct' and got criticized for suggesting that people ought to be rewarded on merit rather than ethnic/demographic descriptions.)
She has promoted peace talks between Palestine and Israel for years.
Condoleeza does not want the government to force its views on abortions on citizens, one way or the other. But she has said she is against late-term abortion.
Racial slurs have been made about her repeatedly, yet it is never a "big" enough deal in the media for public apologies to be made. For example: radio host John Sylvester called her "Aunt Jemima" and a "black trophy" of the Bush Administration. Cartoons by liberal Pat Oliphant portrayed her as President Bush's thick-lipped parrot. Nationally-syndicated commentator Ted Rall referred to Secretary Rice as President Bush's "House Nigga." Gary Trudeau showed President Bush calling her "Brown Sugar" in his Doonesbury comic strip. The fact that she doesn't make a really big deal out of these rude things that other politicians can get really strung up about shows how mature she is, and how she refuses to stoop to other people's level.
She has been listed on Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People list four times: only 3 people in the entire world have been on the list this many times.
Condoleeza refuses to deal with terrorists.
"We will not meet the challenges of the 21st century through military or any other means alone. Our national security requires the integration of our universal principles with all elements of our national power: our defense, our diplomacy, our development assistance, our democracy promotion efforts, free trade, and the good work of our private sector and society. And it is the State Department, more than any other agency of government, that is called to lead this work."
Bad For Us, Too, Methinks...
In case you've been living in a hole, there is a lot going on in the world of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Basically, these are some whack job people that live in relative isolation, practicing in plural marriages, communities that are self-supporting, suppression of women, the rape of children, and more-or-less imprisoning everybody who is unfortunate enough to be born in the community. Warren Jeffs is their "prophet", and he has been convicted of rape in Utah and is currently standing trial in AZ for eight other charges.
Recently a call was made to a family violence shelter by a girl named Sarah, who claimed to be 16 years old. She said she'd been forced to enter into a "spiritual" marriage to a 50 year old man, who'd since beaten and abused her. Oh, and this girl has already mothered a child.
Thus, the FLDS compound in Eldorado, TX was raided. All the children, 416 of them, were taken by the state. Another 139 women have been reported to have left voluntarily. Since then, the people at the compound have "opened up" to the media. Interviews, tours, etc. "Give us our children back... (sob, sob, sob)"
Okay, let's pause a second and cut through the crap! Nobody has answered a question with a straight answer. "Did you ever witness underage children being married to older men?" "Nobody was ever forced to do anything they didn't want to." Oh, Shut Up! These people are so full of crap and it really pisses me off. OF COURSE they witnessed underage children being raped by older perverts! Of course 14 year old brainwashed girls didn't say no to their "religious leaders"! This is one of the worst communities in the history of man. I hope not one of them EVER see any of their children again. I hope that they suffer everyday thinking about what they put innocent children through. And I hope that when all is said and done, many of these adults are held criminally responsible for these abominations.
Completely different direction, but one that is what I want to focus on here: I really think that this affects the average person's view of our faith. The media is doing a good job of stating that this is the Fundamentalist sect, but they always follow that word with "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". I understand that this is the name of their cult, but I know that people are getting confused. Especially when they see stories like this, where it is indicated that "several copies of the Book of Mormon" were confiscated at the compound, or this AP story, where they call them "a renegade Mormon splinter group". Is it just me, or don't you think that this group is having some negative impact on how the masses view our (already not so highly held) faith?
Hillary & Bill
Anybody think that Hillary is tired of Bill's idiodic comments?
Nice! She misremembered (thanks for the word, Roger) because she's old and tired. Way to go, Bill! Your on the couch!
Olympic Protests
As everybody knows by now, this summer's Olympic Games are going to be held in The People's Republic of China. Many people seem to be having a major problem with this. As the Olympic Torch makes is biennial trek across the world, it is being met with animosity and protest. In fact, it seems that the torch is spending the vast majority of its time on a plane or on a bus rather then being out in the open where any self-respecting flame would prefer to be. Let the games be games. They are supposed to bring everybody together to cheer the best athletes that the world has to offer. Let's just watch the sport and enjoy
So, knowing that many people throughout the world have problems with China, was it wise for the IOC to award Beijing these games?
Well, I'm thinking probably not.
Before all this uproar over the torch passing through Paris and San Francisco, I knew very little about these "human rights abuses" that were happening in China. This is probably because I'm of the general opinion that I can't do anything about those sorts of things, so why bother putting forth the effort to become familiar with facts that will only further dampen my view of mankind. But now I see that people actually care about what is happening in and around China. And not just a couple people; a lot of people! Did you see the San Francisco protests? Marching across the Golden Gate Bridge, lining the route that wasn't, etc.
So why all the uproar?
Many point to Darfur and Tibet. From what I understand, the Chinese government has supplied weapons to the Sudanese government for use in the genocide of the tribal peoples of Darfur. They have also apparently tried to use their UN Security Council vote to benefit the Sudanese. China is accussed of doing all this primariy for oil. The Chinese government has also been involved in squashing Tibetan protests (violently), leading to the calls for China to leave Tibet alone.
I have more of a problem with China in Darfur than I do with the Tibet issue. I think that these two things are just being used as examples of what China's policies towards human rights and free expresion really are, and people have a problem with these stances. I don't claim to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I encourage you to read up on what you can to see what all the passionate protesting is about.
Should the games themselves be protested? I don't think so. Let the world's best athletes go out and compete without distractions. They have worked their whole lives to get to this Olympic stage; let them enjoy it. Now, can the athletes protest? I sure as heck don't see why not.
These guys (athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos) did, and we've all heard about that. And the IOC is in agreement: "If athletes genuinely want to express their opinion, that's fine," said the IOC president today. They just don't want protests by people surrounding or at the venues. I agree. Protest all you want before and after the games.
A Black Columnist's Take On Obama
I get tired of all the race, gender, political-correct garbage we are forced to deal with nowadays. I personally believe that if our society were truly enlightened then we would treat people as we want to be treated ourselves, and we would give opportunities and jobs and scholarships to those with the most qualified skills/accomplishments. Rather than call our situation 'informed' based on the number of ethnicities and genders represented, I think a situation will only be truly 'informed' when it includes the merits and ideas that are representative of the best available.
I think it is time to look at Obama by himself out from the shadow of Jeremiah Wright, Harvard, the color of his skin...Lets look at Obama, the politician.
This article was written by a journalist who happens to be black. I believe that his approach is the way we all should be in reviewing politicians: erase all the stereotype descriptors and focus on the essentials of what the politician is and stands for. Then you will know what you will end up with. The other stuff is just fluff and doesn't amount to anything.
If you'd like to read the article on the New York Sun site, click here. Or you can read it below.
Beyond Obama's Beauty
By KENNETH BLACKWELL
February 14, 2008
"[C]ivilizational war is real, even if political leaders and polite punditry must call it by another name."
— Robert D. Kaplan in the December 2001 issue of the Atlantic Monthly
"It's an amazing time to be alive in America. We're in a year of firsts in this presidential election: the first viable woman candidate; the first viable African-American candidate; and, a candidate who is the first frontrunning freedom fighter over 70. The next president of America will be a first.
We won't truly be in an election of firsts, however, until we judge every candidate by where they stand. We won't arrive where we should be until we no longer talk about skin color or gender.
Now that Barack Obama steps to the front of the Democratic field, we need to stop talking about his race, and start talking about his policies and his politics.
The reality is this: Though the Democrats will not have a nominee until August, unless Hillary Clinton drops out, Mr. Obama is now the frontrunner, and its time America takes a closer and deeper look at him.
Some pundits are calling him the next John F. Kennedy. He's not. He's the next George McGovern. And it's time people learned the facts.
Because the truth is that Mr. Obama is the single most liberal senator in the entire U.S. Senate. He is more liberal than Ted Kennedy, Bernie Sanders, or Mrs. Clinton.
Never in my life have I seen a presidential frontrunner whose rhetoric is so far removed from his record. Walter Mondale promised to raise our taxes, and he lost. George McGovern promised military weakness, and he lost. Michael Dukakis promised a liberal domestic agenda, and he lost.
Yet Mr. Obama is promising all those things, and he's not behind in the polls. Why? Because the press has dealt with him as if he were in a beauty pageant.
Mr. Obama talks about getting past party, getting past red and blue, to lead the United States of America. But let's look at the more defined strokes of who he is underneath this superficial "beauty."
Start with national security, since the president's most important duties are as commander-in-chief. Over the summer, Mr. Obama talked about invading Pakistan, a nation armed with nuclear weapons; meeting without preconditions with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who vows to destroy Israel and create another Holocaust; and Kim Jong Il, who is murdering and starving his people, but emphasized that the nuclear option was off the table against terrorists — something no president has ever taken off the table since we created nuclear weapons in the 1940s. Even Democrats who have worked in national security condemned all of those remarks. Mr. Obama is a foreign-policy novice who would put our national security at risk.
Next, consider economic policy. For all its faults, our health care system is the strongest in the world. And free trade agreements, created by Bill Clinton as well as President Bush, have made more goods more affordable so that even people of modest means can live a life that no one imagined a generation ago. Yet Mr. Obama promises to raise taxes on "the rich."
How to fix Social Security? Raise taxes. How to fix Medicare? Raise taxes. Prescription drugs? Raise taxes. Free college? Raise taxes. Socialize medicine? Raise taxes. His solution to everything is to have government take it over. Big Brother on steroids, funded by your paycheck.
Finally, look at the social issues. Mr. Obama had the audacity to open a stadium rally by saying, "All praise and glory to God!" but says that Christian leaders speaking for life and marriage have "hijacked" — hijacked — Christianity. He is pro-partial birth abortion, and promises to appoint Supreme Court justices who will rule any restriction on it unconstitutional. He espouses the abortion views of Margaret Sanger, one of the early advocates of racial cleansing. His spiritual leaders endorse homosexual marriage, and he is moving in that direction. In Illinois, he refused to vote against a statewide ban — ban — on all handguns in the state. These are radical left, Hollywood, and San Francisco values, not Middle America values.
The real Mr. Obama is an easy target for the general election. Mrs. Clinton is a far tougher opponent. But Mr. Obama could win if people don't start looking behind his veneer and flowery speeches. His vision of "bringing America together" means saying that those who disagree with his agenda for America are hijackers or warmongers. Uniting the country means adopting his liberal agenda and abandoning any conflicting beliefs.
But right now everyone is talking about how eloquent of a speaker he is and — yes — they're talking about his race. Those should never be the factors on which we base our choice for president. Mr. Obama's radical agenda sets him far outside the American mainstream, to the left of Mrs. Clinton.
It's time to talk about the real Barack Obama. In an election of firsts, let's first make sure we elect the person who is qualified to be our president in a nuclear age during a global civilizational war. "
Mr. Blackwell, a fellow at the American Civil Rights Union and the Family Research Council, is a columnist for The New York Sun, and a contributing editor for Townhall.com.
Electoral College Blues
Look, I'm a big fan of the Constitution; a BIG fan. I don't agree with people who seem to worship it or defend it like it's written by the hand of God. It's an inspired document, yes; one of the world's most influential. It has needed changes - hence, the amendments. The amendment process is excellent, in that it's a rare process requiring widespread support. Without changing the Constitution, we would never have ended legal slavery or established women's suffrage. It's a good thing, in small doses.
It is long past time to do away with the Electoral College.
First, a little background. The Electoral College is a term used to describe the 538 electors, chosen by the states, who choose by vote the President of the United States. Each state is allocated electors based on their number of Senators and House Representatives. As a result, states have a minimum of three electors (2 senators and 1 representative). Washington, D.C., is also granted 3 electors. States have the right to decide how the electors are chosen, although all states currently award their electors based on popular vote. With the exception of Maine and Nebraska, each state awards all of its electoral votes to the candidate who receives a plurality of the votes. A candidate must receive a simple majority in the Electoral College to win the Presidency; if no candidate achieves this, the House of Representatives elects the President from among the three top vote-getting candidates.
Here are some of the reasons why I think it's a bad idea:
You can win the Presidency even if the other guy gets the most votes.
I'm not saying Al Gore would have been a great president! But as bad as the Gore-Bush situation was, it could potentially be way, way worse in the future. Here are the eleven biggest electoral college states: California, Texas, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey. Together, these states constitute 271 electoral votes - a majority! Consider the following completely unlikely scenario:
In the 2020 Presidential Election, Chelsea Clinton defeats Jenna Bush in the aforementioned states. Voter turnout is extremely low in the states of the "Clinton Coalition", and the total score is 10,000,000 to 9,000,000. Jenna Bush wins the rest of the country in a high-turnout landslide, 100,000,000 to 50,000,000, as the voters come out in droves to protest Clinton's eleven-state campaign strategy. Thus we have Jenna Bush winning the popular vote by a 64%-36% margin, and Chelsea Clinton winning the Presidency.
It's totally ridiculous, yet it's possible, and it would be a complete and utter disaster. How can we, as a nation, support a system which would allow for such a situation?
If you live in a small state, your vote counts more than if you live in a big state.
Consider State A and State B. State A has twice as many people as State B, but both states are pretty small - say State A has 400,000 people and State B has 200,000. Therefore State A has 2 House Representatives and State B has 1. In the electoral college, then, State A has 4 electors while State B has 3 electors. So, in State A, there's 1 elector to every 100,000 persons; but in State, B, there's 1 elector to every 66,666 persons. In other words, the people who live in State B have more power than those who live in State A simply because they live in a smaller state.
There's no reason for candidates to campaign in states that lean strongly one way or another; swing states get all the love. If you live in a state that usually leans one way or another, there's little incentive for you to vote.
Lately, California always votes for the Democrat. As things are presently constituted, you're unlikely to see John McCain and Barack Rodham Clinton doing much general election campaigning in California. In 2004, Kerry defeated Bush in California by a 55-45 margin. If you're a Republican in California, you know that your vote is not going to make much of a difference, because the Democrat is likely to win the state and get ALL the electors.
Mac Watson said on KTAR yesterday that the dissolution of the Electoral College would mean that candidates spend all their times in big population centers. I think that's wrong. If we went to a straight popular vote, then candidates would be forced to campaign where their message is relevant, where they think they can get out the votes. You'd find John McCain campaigning in rural California; you'd find the Democrat campaigning in Dallas, Austin and Houston. Right now, if your state happens to be closely divided, you get all the candidate attention. It's bad for the country as a whole, and serves the interests of a few.
It sucks to be you if you're a third-party candidate.
This is an obvious one. Since the states are winner-take-all, if you don't win a plurality in any states, you are irrelevant. So even though Ross Perot won some 20% of the vote in 1992 and 10% in 1996, his Reform Party gained no traction nationally and is now marginalized, because he won no electoral votes. Bad for the country.
I know that some of this seems far-fetched. I also know that the small states are unlikely to give up the additional power that the system affords them. But I simply can't conceive of how we wouldn't be better off, as a whole, if everyone's vote counted the same, everyone had the same incentive to vote, and the candidate who gets the most votes wins.
District of Columbia v. Heller
The Supreme Court quite recently heard its first gun control case dealing with an individual's right to own firearms since 1939. The case was originally brought by one Dick Heller of Washington, D.C. D.C.'s current gun control law is effectively a ban on an individual right to own a handgun. The law actually says that you must register your handgun with the city, but the city hasn't registered them since 1979. Also, no other firearm (i.e. rifle or shotgun) may be kept loaded or assembled inside a person's residence. D.C.'s position is one of crime prevention. Heller's position is one of self defense. Heller won in a lower court decision, and the Supreme Court has heard the case.
I will make no attempt to hide where I stand. Heller is right. His right to defend his home against potential invaders outweighs his city of residence's right to restrict handgun ownership to those who disobey the laws. That is effectively what is accomplished every time a ban of any kind is passed. Only the criminals then possess whatever was banned.
I listened to the majority of the oral arguments on CSPAN (I missed the D.C. lawyer's argument). First, I am really, truly glad that I will never be the Solicitor General of the U.S. This guy got grilled, and, to his credit, did really well. I guess that if you stick a brilliant legal mind in front of nine other brilliant legal minds, it all works out. There were two major points from the orals that I wanted to address.
The first was something brought up by Souter. Apparently it was illegal to keep a pistol loaded in one's home in Massachusetts back in the late 1700's. This was due not to gun control influences (assuming there were any at the time, which I doubt), but due to fire control issues. You see, black powder is quite flammable, and it's storage was restricted to the upper floor of buildings to allow for the best chance of saving the building in case of fire.
Souter's point was this: If a state could make a law (no loaded pistols) to account for extraneous circumstances (fire), why could D.C. not make a law (no handguns) to account for its own circumstances (one of the highest murder rates in the country)? He was asking this question repeatedly to the guy defending Heller, and the lawyer never gave any answer, always dodging the point. I don't know why. The answer is that restriction of handguns and functional long guns intended solely for the protection of an individual's or family's home gives an unfair advantage to the criminals. I think part of the definition of a criminal is one who disobeys the laws. If I'm a criminal and I know that nobody in the city has a gun but me and my fellow criminals, I've got free reign to burglar (or worse) any home I want.
Second point from the orals: I really believe that the majority of the Supreme Court Justices (I'm going to leave out Thomas here because he didn't talk, so I can't attest to his motivations, and I'm also leaving out Stevens because his opinion was blatantly obvious) are truly interested in ruling based on framer's intent and precedent. The last case to address this issue was Miller in 1939. That decision said that an individual's right to own firearms was restricted to those arms which would have "some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia", specifically meaning that a sawed off shotgun would be useless in a militia setting, so we can't have those. The biggest shock of the case for me was when Ginsburg implied that machine guns, while not reasonable in a militia setting in 1939, could be considered reasonable, in fact necessary, now. Her point wasn't that we should be able to have machine guns (which is debatable), quite the opposite. She was suggesting that the precedent had outlived its usefulness. But she recognized what upholding that precedent could mean. Also, there was much argument over whether the right to "keep and bear arms" is one right or two, and when a person is considered to be "bearing arms".
Overall, I think that this is a fascinating case. I think that the good guys (Heller) are going to win (the swing vote of Kennedy was hammering not having the ability to defend yourself in your house as not okay), though how broadly the decision is applied is the big unknown. I suppose we shall find out this summer how this all shakes out and what is is all going to mean for our right to own and use firearms.
Catch-All!
There are a number of things going on right now in the news that don't have blogs (or blog comment threads) dedicated to them, so this is a free-for-all comment thread - if it works, we'll do them regularly. Some possible topics of discussion:
--Barack Obama's relationship with Jeremiah Wright
--Economic problems, including the collapse of Bear Stearns
--Osama bin Laden's recent tape
--Michigan deciding against a revote in the Democratic primary
Here's your place to vent!
Where do you REALLY stand on the political spectrum?
Hi, Guys - Just a quick post today. For me, one of the most fun and actually educational things I've done over the last year politically is complete the survey that will place you on the "Political Compass." Basically, the theory is that politics is not a simple line, but much more of a spectrum - so, this particular website has developed a survey (pretty indepth) that "charts" where you lie. 
The four extremes are Left (Communist), Right (Super Conservative), Authoritarian (Fascist) and Libertarian ( Anarchist). Obviously nobody will be extreme either way, but you will find yourself a mix of two of these groups. It's a pretty good self evaluation. I recommend it for a few reasons:
Second, you can ask yourselves questions honestly and privately.
