And Speaking of Priorities

I was also taken aback by the news story about the child-molesting short person who now has ten years of probation as a sentence, rather than ten years of grabbing his ankles in a prison cell. When did the safety of convicted criminals, who commit the crimes that nearly all other criminals despise, become a greater priority than sentencing in accordance with the law??? I must have missed the day in school when we talked about the safety of convicts being a greater priority the prevention of further offenses by the criminal by putting them behind bars. If his safety truly is a priority, couldn't we still balance that concern appropriately with the concern for the safety of his victims? Probation means "be careful and don't be caught." I guess the bright spot is that this is taking place in Nebraska. The guy is probably less safe on the street than in the pokey. Children are almost always the one topic where even the most law-abiding among us favor prevention of harm or further harm over the rights of someone who would deliberately hurt them or steal their innocence. The story is here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,197103,00.html

Misha also delivered his three-step approach to the issue over at the Rott. I think he has a point, but professional obligations prevent me from echoing the criticism here.

What are you waiting for? Go on, read it already.

With Priorities Like These...

Read on MSN today about scientists who have had some success in rabbits with artificial penises. How would you like to write that research grant proposal? I have to admit, it got my attention, in that weird "I-can't-turn-away-from-the-train-wreck-in-front-of-me" way. The implication is that if they can develop a procedure that works, they may also be able to develop similar methods for other organs. New hearts for cardiac patients, new pancreas for diabetes patents, etc. Sure, it is an intriguing possibility, but who decided that penises were a priority? Why is success with rabbits progress? Because it is another thing to keep you distracted from the things that matter, like say illegal immigration, a treacherous media, the threat of muliculturalism, and so on. Guess that makes me gulity for perpetuating interest in the story. So be it.

http://health.msn.com/centers/mensexualhealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100136192&GT1=8165

Another Advance to Take Us Backward

I read a story in the Globe and Mail today about the potential for a real-life invisibility cloak. It certainly seems to be an interesting concept. And somehow the idea just seems to make sense. My problem with it is that if it becomes reality, then there is a tool for yet more things to not be as they appear to be. I often think that as a culture, we are becoming incredibly de-sensitized to everyday deception, which is why you'll really dislike my bigger criticism: Such a thing is lazy.
There is an art to concealment. Stealth requires skill. This type of technology takes those things out of the equation. Most people don't know that there was an entire unit in the European theatre in WWII that was dedicated to camoflage and deception. I didn't know until I recently read a book about them. I lament that such things are now reduced to technology, because people will stop thinking about the kind of understnding that goes into cultivating such skills. Once people stop thinking about enough things, then they just stop thinking. It is the kind of development that makes be recall C.M. Korbluth's book, The Marching Morons. If you haven't read it, the nutshell is this: Several centuries in the future, scientific advances have progressed to the point where society still works, despite the fact that its smarter people have slowed their birth rates down to a trickle, in large part because they are the ones always on the run and propping society up. Why is this necessary? Because the less-intelligent haven't stopped their breeding in higher numbers. Social policies compounded the problem, by offering perverse incentives to these same people to breed. Before you say "conservative propaganda", I will tell you that it was written in the 1950's, and I have found it to be strangely prophetic. A person from a more self-reliant era, through no fault of his own is discovered in a state of suspended animation. When briefed on life in his new century, he asked why the smart people didn't just go away. He was told that they did, and the wholesale death and suffering in a world that couldn't take care of itself was too much to bear. They came back, and spent years cleaning up the mess. The man from the past then came up with the idea to promote travel to the colonies on Mars. There were no colonies on Mars. The "morons" boarded rockets that went into space. They just didn't go anywhere after that. The leader who executed the plan committed suicide, and the humanity got a second chance to be all it could be. Not a happy ending, but neither is to one our leaders are taking us to. Maybe I'm just reading something into it, or MAYBE I'm on to something.

Read the story yourself: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060525.wcloak0525/BNStory/Science/home

The Church of ME: Just Say No.

So Madonna is so desperate for attention that she now crucifies herself on stage. How appropriate. I feel the same way when I listen to her "music". I think we have had to listen to her political "thought", her "criticisms" of Christianity, and her New Age babble long enough. The problem is that she, like so many other modern-day "personalities", thinks that every utterance should be taken as a serious thought. Afterall, she is famous. Therefore she must know what she is talking about, even though her ignorance comes shining through in only seconds of listening to her inane and vacuous remarks. Like so many other celebrities, she simply cannot conceive of the notion that anything of any importance exists outside of her aura. It puts a whole new spin on "cult of personality". I like to call it the church of ME.
Fame has given these people a soapbox, and the unmitigated arrogance to mistake themselves as authorities on issues such as politics, religion, political *spit* correctness, global warming, state-sponsored torture, global warming, etc.
I can almost hear the bleeding-hearts saying "But they have the right to an opinion!"
Yes. They. Do.
BUT...
Having the spotlight and the microphone wherever you go does not mean that you should step right up and start second-guessing the people who have the knowledge, the expertise, and the duty to do the things you see fit to criticize. The problem with the acolytes of the church of ME is not that they do not act as if discretion is the better part of valor and simply choose to keep their traps shut; it is that they actually believe that their opinion is fact, and that they must share it with the world.
The media gladly plays along, feeding this arrogance by actively recruiting comments from the self-appointed experts. And the result is that we as a nation are not consumed with an honest dialogue about the threats to our nation and institutions. We do not hold our leaders accountable when they look us in the eye and tell us that we cannot possibly know what is good for us. We have to accept homosexual marriage, even if it means totally malignant the spirit of prior rulings on marriage rights to achieve the letter of the law that they desire. We have to accept the fact that our government will do nothing to secure the southern border, and citizenship means so little that we will give it away to those who would flout our laws in coming here. We must allow the leader of a foreign nation that encourages illegal immigration to come to our country and lecture us about our policy, and lobby for a result that would never be tolerated in his own country. We must stand mute when the historically predominant religion in this land is actively chased out of every sector of public life and discourse, but the "religion of pus" is slowly and surely incorporated into our society, taught in public schools, and celebrated in the White House. But hey, it is ok. That spiritual figure onto herself, Madonna is demonstrating creativity and bravado by emulating the sacrifice of one she could never be worthy of. Isn't she courageous because she is challenging Christianity. Wow. What bravery. Attack a religion that does not represent a threat to you. Why don't you kick a Buddhist while you're at it? You want to be brave, lady? Dare to challenge the religion of pus. Draw unflattering charactures of its "prophet". Publicly challenge its support of terrorists. Then we'll talk about your bravery. Until then, I think your fifteen minutes were up an hour ago. Go home. Concentrate on raising your child. Resist dhimmitude.

More Fun From the Advance Guard of Evil

I was reading today over at the Rott that the Caliphate Advance Insurection and Reconaissance unit, more commonly known as C.A.I.R. , has attacked Little Green Footballs for (gasp!) saying things about Islam that are negative. Now, keep in mind that this group of America-Haters frequently teams with the ACLU in attacks on American institutions. These happy-go-lucky rock-worshippers are the same group that nearly drove an L.A. radio host off the air a few months ago for making "insensitive" remarks about muslims. Now keep in mind that this attack was substantiated by some VERY CHERRY-PICKED remarks from a poster responding to a story on the death of an American teenager as the result of a suicide bomber in Israel, and the extraordinarily insensitive remars make by a muslim official concerning that murder. CAIR conveniently sidestepped THOSE remarks. As peace-loving muslims, they couldn't be bother to break the unwritten code preventing them from denouncing the provocative and "radical" muslims.

I have had enough. It is time to hold our leaders and the media down and give them a truth enema. Islam is not a religion of peace. Just ask them what the faith demands for those who do not accept Islam. Ask them about their "duty" to decieve and lie to non-muslims. If they are serious about their faith, then they are all "Radical" muslims, but some of them haven't gone on their rampage yet. I can think of no other explaination for the deafening silence that follows in the wake of a horrible deed performed by a muslim "extremist", or the low-key denounciation and hand-wringing that some muslims will perform for a camera.

The talk of a "clash of civilizations" sounds vaugely inspiring, but misses the mark, like any other modern characterization of a problem facing society. You can not have a clash of civilizations when there is only one civilization. Demanding blood for every perceived slight, and chopping people's heads off while chanting is not civilization. If we are really interested in accuracy, we could call it the Suicide of Civilization in the Face of Barbarity. We seem so preoccupied with not offending anyone that we are effectively turning a blind eye to what is going on right in front of us. The Constitution is not a suicide pact. If you would use it to dramatically change the face of law and society, then you are an enemy of this nation and should be treated as such. Period.

Sparse Post

I've been a little irritated this week. A law interpreted so that a citizen has to prove that he is innocent, rather than the cop prove he is guilty, the Senators getting tossed by Buffalo, the high school graduation prayer ruling in Kentucky, the "confused Saudi students" boarding the high school bus in Tampa, Ray "the race pimp" Nagin getting re-elected in NOLA. Watching the forces of stupid on the march has left me feeling like I'm trapped in one of those hot summer evenings when I don't even want the light on, because I can feel the heat from that.

Not Today

I spent all day trying a case that should have been dismissed. Aside from the joy of hearing a law enforcement oficer say that it was up to my client to prove that he was covered under the exception to the rule, i.e. my client had to prove his innocence rather than the other way around, I can say that I am not happy with the day. Five hours of the court's time (on my nickel too, since I am a resident of the county. And I get to go back tomorrow, to hear if the jury has reached a decision. Yeah.

I Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

From C.S. Lewis' "The Problem of Pain"

"He can close his spiritual eyes against the Numinous, if he is prepared to part company with half the great poets and prophets of his race, with his own childhood, with the richness and depth of uninhibited experience. He can regard the moral law as an illusion, and so cut himself off from the common ground of humanity. He can refuse to identify the Numinus with the righteous, and remain a barbarian, worshipping sexuality, or the dead, or the lifeforce, or the future. But the cost is heavy."

Indeed it is. No anchor for law. Perverse rulings in courts. The twin plagues of multiculturalism and political correctness, set upon society to rob a nation of its sense of identity and to muzzle reason and truth, respectively. And now, the infected within who cowtow to the acolytes of Islam, and willingly ask forgiveness for every perceived slight to the religion of the murderering, theiving pedophile. To these seventh-century anachronisms who demand blood for percieved slights, and treat non-believers ask chattel, or as obstacles. Truth is anathema. And still the West gives in, deluded into the belief that it is the arrogant society, which must make amends to the aggressor. It is the work of the devil, or of man, unguided by divine inspiration, which is almost as bad. Think about that on this wonderful sunday. Happy Mother's Day, Mom. Now put on that Bhurka, and get back inside, already.

Off Day

I was at a CLE all day long in Seattle today. No time spent on other things. Could discuss Seattle Public Schools' revised definition of racism. Are you aware that it can only be practiced by white people? Go to the Rott. They've already covered it in more detail than I could.

New Memes for the Left. Please.

Please, please, someone get the left something new to spew about. The "Bush lied us into war" and "Civil liberties are in danger" memes are too tiresome. Really. The first sidesteps an ugly conclusion rooted in the assumption that their frenzied cry is actually true: that their leaders weren't smart enough to pick up on the alleged deception. I think a few of the people who repeat this nonesense day after day are praying that we don't point that out to them. After all, these are the same leaders who want the American people to believe that they have some brilliant plan to conduct the war or and orderly exit from the war, that is both distinctive and superior to what W is executing at the moment. Just don't ask them what it might be. They haven't figured it out yet. That only leaves them with the answer "Well, uhhh, we aren't poopie-head Republicans."
As for the "Civil Libererties/ Bush is shredding the Constitution" thing, they can't point to a single example that has affected one of them personally. Trust me on this, I have asked them. Many times. Several times a week, the lefties at BKP will trot this one out and toss it back and forth. Ask them for an example of how it has affected them personally, and they all clam up like I'm Dad asking the kids who crashed the car. When you take the time to explain that the government only cares if they are doing things they shouldn't, like talking with suspected or known terrorists, and they cry foul. By cry foul, I mean squeal like stuck pigs. They are so self-centered that they actually believe that they are the focus of an investigation, and that these intercepts are causing them great harm. I've tried to explain that the government doesn't have time to investigate the delusional and the stupid. We are at war after all, and resources can get streched. No matter.
The problem is that no matter how discredited these memes become, we still hear them. Day after day after day after day after day...you get the idea. For a while it was funny. Kind of like a march of the morons (C.M. Kornbluth would probably be horrified to know that he was right.) Now, its more like Dawn of the Dead, only without the flesh eating. The Memes, like zombies, chase after anyone with a functioning brain, i.e. conservatives. Only now, they are decayed and disgusting, their talking points and slogans sticking out everywhere, like bits of flesh peeling away from the rotted core. For the love of God, would someone go to DNC headquarters and suggest something else, anything else, to talk about? Please. At a minimum, tell them that a lie doesn't get transmuted to truth on the billionth telling.

The Arrogance of Atheism

I was on my way back from court today and had Medved on in the car. There are times when the man gets on my nerves, but I can give him props for keeping guests and callers on topic, especially when he has just managed to eviscerate their argument. Some times that just isn't hard to do. Anyway, he had some self-important, bloviating Ph.D. from Florida who was floating the idea that religious people were just deluded folks who believed in magic, and she was really very condescending about it. After all, she and her psycholgist cohorts couldn't possibly be wrong about it. Medved let two callers at her, and when he prevented her from plugging her website, she hung up. It was too bad, because the next caller summed up the best defense I have heard in quite a while for the "intellectuals" who think logic dictates that there is no God: "The absence of evidence is not proof of absence."
It was one of those moments when I thought "I wish I had said that."
There was also some discussion about prayer, and C.S. Lewis' observation that "Prayer doesn't change God, but it does change you." I think that dovetails quite nicely with the idea that the atheists who believe that they don't need a moral code to be moral are doomed to fail. Time and changing circumstances will change people. Sometimes, the changes are subtle, sometimes they are really quite shocking. I know that people who knew me ten years ago would really be very surprised with me today. I can admit that I have changed, and for the better. I know this because I have something in my life that is unchanging, and that provides guidance, humility, and a lens that focuses where we have been as a country, as well as where we are going. I can look at the changes in the law and underlying legal theory in this country, and realize that Judeo-Christian philosophy provided an anchor for our society for quite some time. There was a commonly-held idea about things being right and wrong. For the last thirty or so years, there has been an active movent in this country to sever this mooring by attacking the anchor. The mythical "Separation of Church and State" has been used to bludgeon God from his traditional place in our institutions. As this reminder of the reason somethings were understood to be right and wrong has been pushed away from these institutions and down into the basement with ol' Ross Perot's crazy aunt, these same wild-eyed revolutionaries have first asked why something was wrong if that was what a person wanted to do. "It isn't harming anyone." was a frequent justification. And still they pushed. Always insisting that "we don't need religion to tell us what is right, we are capable of doing what is right, without believers in God telling us what that is." The result? It is very difficult to watch prime-time television with you children. Perverts and deviants stalk them in public and online. Cities, large companies and universities offer benefits to same-sex partners of employees. Gays scream that they should have the right to marry, so we start getting court rulings allowing them to do so that confer a sacred right based on a lifestyle choice (That's right. I said LIFESTYLE CHOICE. Until there is concrete proof that it is a genetic trait, like skin color, height, etc. I am not giving any slack on this.), while interpreting it as a logical progression from earlier cases finding a right to marry when it was prohibited based on circumstances beyond the participant's control (the Loving case), and state prohibitions based on outstanding financial obligations (Zablocki v. Redhail).
This is fine, we are told. We are being tolerant and accepting. If you are in love, you should be allowed to marry the object of your affection. Be careful what you wish for. (See Post Below.)
But it is ok to continually re-define right and wrong, because the deniers say so. We can't have God and his rules. They're so judgmental. I might have to look in a mirror and consider what I do. I might doubt the "rightness" of my actions. The real problem for these people who believe that they can know right and wrong without God is that if they remove God, who are they replacing him with? If they are making the judgments that God used to do, then aren't they stepping into his shoes? I'm sure that they don't see it that way, but they also can't see that they have set law and social policy adrift for decades now. They never stopped to consider that in determining right and wrong for themselves, they are acting like God, because their beliefs are dictating how our society functions. I think of our laws like a great big clock, with ourselves as small beings inside of it. The atheists are the ones who have decided that they don't like some of the functions, and have started to tear out some of the works, while screaming "There is no God!", without regard to how that will effect the entire machine. The rest of us now have to decide if we will let them continue to put the rest of us in a place where the society will be unrecognizable in twenty years, and the definition of what is right shifts like a Lake Huron sandbar, or if we will sharpen our tools of reason, and attack their vacant logic, exposing it for the M.C. Esher illustration that it is. We need to start with the atheists, not because they don't believe in God, but because they believe that man, untempered by the wisdom and humility of religion, can rule himself without the guidelines that a belief in God provides.

One More For the Road

Today brought news that our very own government is informing Mexican officials where the Minutemen are planting themselves along the border. Let that sink in for a moment. Our govenment, the entity charged with monitoring the border and enforcing the immigration laws is not only completely disinterested in performing this duty, but it actively twarts the efforts of those who have volunteered to monitor the border by reporting their movements and locations to a government that has demonstrated nothing but contempt for our laws and policies. I think I am done with the Repubs. Now it is just a matter of finding whoever is going to take this seriously, and act accordingly...

More Fun With The Law

So I was scanning the "Judicial Highlights" portion of this week's copy of the Washington Reporter, and came across a blurb on a case overturning anothers state's law prohibiting step- parents from having sex with opposite sexed step-children because it did not similarly ban step-parents from having sex with same-sex step-children. The court found that unlike the prohibition on sex between opposite-sexed offspring, there was no threat of genetic disease, so the state did not have a compelling interest in regulating the behavior.

I would think that the state has a compelling interest in prohibiting the behavior just to avoid those splashy, tabloid-style breaches of the peace. I can't wait for the flood of murder/manslaughter cases.

Afterall, what could make the new wife more angry than catching Hubby sleeping with her daughter? Why, catching Hubby sleeping with her son, of course.

While I seriously wonder about the circumstances of the case, I see it as more of a trend that we all have an interest in stopping. The Massachusetts gay marriage case was a bad ruling based on an emotional rather than logical argument. I said at the time, consider the fact that it would have been unthinkable ten years before. Take this case, and more following in its path, and go forward ten years. "Freedom to marry" will be expanded to mean poligamy, the guy down the street who really REALLY loves his animal will be free to marry it, and with rulings like these, you can cut out the middleman and the sneaking around and just marry the new spouse AND her daughter.

You think I'm kidding. Just wait. It's coming...

Weekend Diversions

Ever seen the light in a six-year old's eyes when you tell him that you'll play lightsabres with him? Somethimes, its pretty cool to be Dad. Beats the heck out of reading the newspapers. Can't have the outrage that causes every day. I'm gonna go enjoy one of those short, happy moments. Go find yourself an enjoyable diversion. Go on, scram!

"Los Rangers" and the Great American Game

I was scanning sites this morning, and came across Michelle Malkin's site. I was greeting with the sight of a Texas Ranger at bat, wearing a uniform with "Los Rangers" on the front. The liberal statement "Troubling" doesn't quite cover it. Accounding to the story, the game was televised so that those watching at home couldn't see this insult. The Mexican consul was apparently pleased. I'm so glad. NOT.
Here's the deal. I don't care if it is Cinco de Mayo. This violates the principal of integration. We can't be one people when we insist on being many. Don't give me the inevitable anaology to St. Patrick's Day. The Irish aren't thumbing their nose at us while conducting a full-scale invasion of our country. We didn't celebrate Oktoberfest during WWI and WWII. The American public weren't stuffing their pieholes with sushi after December 7, 1941. This should not be any different. We heard the voices of La Raza and their ilk. Their numbers are already burdening our resources to the breaking point in border states. They can't compete if they become citizens and are thus bound to the same rules and expectations that we are; the ones who know this don't want citizenship. They would be happy with transforming us into what they left behind, which of course defeats the purpose of the trip, other than as a naked land grab. And still they come. With the blessings and encouragement of their own government, while ours turns a blind eye. Now MLB gets involved? It is one thing to sell out an American institution without firing a shot. It is quite another to do it and try to hide the fact from the people. What's next? Half-price admission for matricula card holders? Not to worry. The Rangers won't be getting my money, and I'm glad I instead watched my team, the Senators, lose to the Sabres in the Stanley Cup semi-final last night. It was certainly better for my bloodpressure.

Through a Lens Darkly

I've been wondering for a while now why it is that the media keeps reporting things that make me wonder if I am on the same planet that they are. While no sane and rational person doubts that they have an agenda, I have to keep wondering why we let them get away with it. We keep seeing the stories about lost market share, dwindling advertising revenue, etc. Most people don't run a business to fail at it, but still they persist.
It would be easy to say that this is an outgrowth of the left's invasion and indoctrination into the educational system. Lord knows, they are fully entrenched there. How else could an asshat like Ward Churchill stay employed? It certainly isn't for his command of history, or his ability to give a meaningful insight into the nation we are. Or does he?
No matter how thick the "nuanced" and "understanding" DNC parrot you find yourself "conversing" with at BKP or other sites, you get the sense that even the most strident liberal doesn't really believe the nonsense they are peddling, deep down, near the glimmer of thought that they'd never admit to anyone, least of all themselves. I'd call it denial, but I think that is too simple. I think that they really want to believe in things like 'moderate muslims', scheming republicans, evvill jooos, and the that the US and Haliburton really are the root of all evil in the world. I think it is easier for most people to believe in these things, then recognize the ugly truths because it is easier for them to rally against threats that don't exist, then resign yourself to a long battle against real threats, the kind we may fight our entire lives. It is undoubtedly easier to believe that "We have met the enemy, and he is us." than it is to confess to yourself that it really is other countries and cultures far away that need to make changes if there is any hope for a peaceful existence. If we were the problem, we could make the changes without having to risk life, limb, and sanity to make the world safe for our children. That wouldn't be enlightened, nuanced, or understanding.
Don't get me wrong. A rising tide carries all boats. This wave of delusion is no different. It also carries those who want to see what institutions and beliefs they can overturn because they have their own agenda, or simply because they like testing their own power. These are the truly dangerous ones. The best cure for that is a double dose of truth and logic, delivered with mighty swings of a large clue-bat. Peel off large chunks of reality. Hurl them in the direction of these flapping gums. Ask them for proof.
I think the real reason the mainstream media doesn't appear to have read the memo is because it is still selling to those who want to believe in things they know aren't true. If they had to report for the rest of us, then they might come to the uncomfortable realization that we're listening to the words, not "checking their look". A lot of these people can't compete in this arena. They have built their careers on deciding how to tell us today how bad Bush is, how prehistoric conservatives are, and how we don't serve justice by enforcing the law. Remind them how silly this is. Every chance you get. Daily encounters with the truth, and with reality WILL convert many of them. We may even succeed before the country is weaned from its love affair with delusion by glowing craters where our cities used to be.

A Decision to Enter the Fray

It is something I have been considering for a while now. The exercise of our freedom of expression. A moral imperative to speak reason in a room full of stupidity. A reason to step in, and join the battle against the conspiracy of the purposely stupid and the purposely treacherous. I don't see any reason to stand on the sidelines any longer.