Car Seats

My wife and I had wondered about the whole car seat thing. THis article highlights the mentality you have to deal with in the pursuit of the truth of this question. There's always someone who is worshipping at the altar of last years science, accepting it as true, believing in it despite evidence to the contrary, even fighting against the search for evidence. Sad.

Lileks Kills Me

James Lileks points out why people who can give you an entire psychoanalysis from what you wear are, well, psycho. I especially love the Mormon reference. Too true.

John Roberts

Good. I think. But we don't know, do we? His opinion in "the french-fry case" gives us cause to hope, though, doesn't it? A judge who will say, "This law is stupid. It's damn stupid. It's so stupid as to be ridiculous. However, since I am not the legislature, it is not my job to judge the wisdom of a particular law, but whether or not it comports with our Constitution. Since this damn stupid law IS rationally related to a legitimate government purpose, I can't find it unconstitutional." That's what I want judges to do, leave the lawmaking to the lawmakers. 51%-ism, hah! People who use that phrase (which is called democracy in most other quarters) sound like poor losers. "I can't win elections, because most people think I'm nuts. Damn you, 51%-ism!"

Some people have a Faux intelligence

Yes, I used a French word. Get over it. Tango Delta is the best example of someone who clearly considers himself very smart, talks in a manner calculated to show you how very intelligent he is, but actually is dumber than a bag of hammers. He can't even understand the concept that everything has its opposite. Light without dark is meaningless. If light permeated every inch of existence, and no darkness were found anywhere, who would come up with the concept, let alone a word, for the absence of light? Moreso with concepts like "joy" and "sorrow." If we never experienced the absence of "joy" it wouldn't resemble the joy we feel now because it would just be the way things are. "Absence of joy?" you'd say. "The absence of the way things are now? What do you mean?" It's a simple philosophical concept, especially when the idea of perception and reality being related is taken into account.

That's the main reason why he bugs me. What an arrogant infant.

The Religion of Liberalism

Boy, the philological arm of the Left did good work when they narrowed the definition of "religion" to only Christianity and similar things. Atheism? Not a religion. Liberalism? Not a religion, it's a political philosophy. Right? Well, as QandO points out, the left is as willing to ignore evidence because of "faith" in a value system as any "fundamentalist" on the Right. Hell, anyone who is still a socialist in this day and age must of NECESSITY ignore mountains of history and evidence. The thing is, it seems to me, even Christians have more solid evidence to back up their faith than liberals. The way Christianity has changed lives for the better, the influence on culture and politics, Christians have something they can look to when people challenge their faith (not to mention the personal spiritual experiences they may have). What can liberals point to? Books? Newspaper editorials that tell them, "yes, we've no success so far in history but THIS time, I swear, socialism will work instead of resulting in the death and starvation of millions. What a joke.

Thoughts on Left libertarianism

More and more, I find that my favorite website is the QandO Online Magazine. Those guys just always know what they're talking about. THe problem, as I see it, is that neither I, nor anyone else, could ever get elected to even a statewide office espousing these ideals. Why not? It's not because they are wrong or misguided. Indeed, I find them exceedingly wise. I just think Republicans AND Democrats have fallen in love with, or at the least, become accustomed to, the idea that government is the answer to their problems. And anyone who steps up to say, no, YOU are the answer, YOU and ME, as individuals can independently band together, without government "help" or intereference and solve whatever problem we are currently facing, anyone who says that is viewed as a crank because, hey, overwhelming government involvement in our lives is "just the way things are, man. Get used to it." And most of those who secretly think, "you know, I'd LIKE less government involvement in my life," are too scared of what will happen if government steps out of things. There are plenty of people crying disaster and fire and brimstone consequences if the government isn't around to save us from ourselves. So, fundamentally, a lack of courage discourages (pun intended) many people from acting on their libertarian impulses. Because, at some point, the libertarian candidate has to stand up and say, "Yes, many of your businesses will fail. Individually, some farmers will not be able to make it, because farming is unprofitable/they are porr farmers/businessmen. One of those may be YOU. But with that added freedom from being "rescued" by government, comes the freedom of low prices, the ability to do and make and sell what and how you want. There IS bad, but the good outweighes the bad.

Anyway, here's the article I wanted to link to. Thoughts on Left libertarianism. Some fools think there is a way to reconcile "As little governmental involvement as possible" with "as much governmental involvement as possible.