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The specter of Radicalized Secularism

2007-01-16T12:21:00.000-08:00

The Guardian has actually posted an article I agree with!! "Secular fundamentalists are the new totalitarians" justly calls radical secularism and it's pseudo-tolerance police on the carpet for their radical intolerance and appeasement of nothingness.

These new tolerance dictators are actually much less tolerant than Christians or other religious people who have the temerity to stand for something. They are a menace and the threat they pose to Western civilization, having gone for decades unchecked hiding amongst the culture credo of politeness and true tolerance, is severe. These are the very same people who not only object to a public Christmas tree display but even the private "brandishing" of a crucifix by a flight attendant.

Stand up for you Faith, but expect to be attacked for making a stand. Don't let these radicals destroy the last vestiges of Christian civilizations, even though it means you must be intolerant of their idiotic views. Expect to be vilified, and ridiculed for your stand.

The Death of Common Sense!

2006-10-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

I've been intending to post on this book, The Death of Common Sense, for quite awhile. Mr. Howard has put together a very approachable and generally sound treatise on how modern legislation and the pharisitical, hyper legalistic environment it engengers is stifling America. Check it out. Not perfect, but reasonable and thought provoking.

A little announcement.. in the next few weeks I'm going to create an Amazon driven storefront for the various books I have been posting about organized around several themes. Stay tuned! I'm also going to try posting shorter pieces more often, rather than long, exhausting tirades that wear me out!

"Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc"

2006-07-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

I have been harranguing on the malthusian, misanthropic environmenalists' obsession with making falacious predictions about the course of events. I recently stumbled across this article, which is largely a collection of juicy boneheaded comments and various, now abandoned doomsday scenarios. Particularly ironic are a number of predictions from current Global Warming fanatics like Reid Bryson and the ever quotable Paul Ehrlich with the then latest junk-science fad... "Global Cooling" Hmmm.. well, that didn't pan out.. so on to other theories! It seems rather obvious these now tenured clowns, riddled throughout academia and various government and non-government agencies can't resist foisting their misanthropic preconceptions on the public under the pretext of science. Consumed with fanatical pseudo-religious fervor that mankind is evil and desperate to prove it through "science", they regularly succumb to the logical fallacy "Post hoc ergo propter hoc", "after this, therefore because of this".

Here... let their words speak for themselves..

The continued rapid cooling of the earth since WWII is in accord with the increase in global air pollution associated with industrialization, mechanization, urbanization and exploding population. -- Reid Bryson, "Global Ecology; Readings towards a rational strategy for Man", (1971)

The battle to feed humanity is over. In the 1970s, the world will undergo famines. Hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. Population control is the only answer -- Paul Ehrlich - The Population Bomb (1968)

I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000 -- Paul Ehrlich in (1969)

In ten years all important animal life in the sea will be extinct. Large areas of coastline will have to be evacuated because of the stench of dead fish. -- Paul Ehrlich, Earth Day (1970)

Before 1985, mankind will enter a genuine age of scarcity . . . in which the accessible supplies of many key minerals will be facing depletion -- Paul Ehrlich in (1976)

This [cooling] trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century -- Peter Gwynne, Newsweek 1976

There are ominous signs that the earth's weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production - with serious political implications for just about every nation on earth. The drop in food production could begin quite soon... The evidence in support of these predictions has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologist are hard-pressed to keep up with it. -- Newsweek, April 28, (1975)

This cooling has already killed hundreds of thousands of people. If it continues and no strong action is taken, it will cause world famine, world chaos and world war, and this could all come about before the year 2000. -- Lowell Ponte "The Cooling", 1976

If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder by the year 2000...This is about twice what it would take to put us in an ice age. -- Kenneth E.F. Watt on air pollution and global cooling, Earth Day (1970)

Truly Inconvenient Truth's for Climate Alarmists

2006-07-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

Just yet another article debunking Al Gore's lies.

This article contains some really tasty nuggets because it handily debunks much of the most agregious Global Warming junk science as well as the most oft quoted common defense of the global warming chicking lickens when their beliefs are attacked.. that being only a small cadre of scientists are skeptical of the global warming bandwagon. Oh contrare!

Onto the tasty (meaty) nuggets:

"Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia gives what, for many Canadians, is a surprising assessment: "Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention.

But surely Carter is merely part of what most people regard as a tiny cadre of "climate change skeptics" who disagree with the "vast majority of scientists" Gore cites?

No; Carter is one of hundreds of highly qualified non-governmental, non-industry, non-lobby group climate experts who contest the hypothesis that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are causing significant global climate change. "Climate experts" is the operative term here. Why? Because what Gore's "majority of scientists" think is immaterial when only a very small fraction of them actually work in the climate field...

But it becomes smaller still. Among experts who actually examine the causes of change on a global scale, many concentrate their research on designing and enhancing computer models of hypothetical futures. "These models have been consistently wrong in all their scenarios," asserts Ball. "Since modelers concede computer outputs are not "predictions" but are in fact merely scenarios, they are negligent in letting policy-makers and the public think they are actually making forecasts."

And what do policymakers have to gain... seems I've been ranting enough about socialist agendas masked by climate change fearmongering. But the author of this piece piles on even more..

"Appearing before the Commons Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development last year, Carleton University paleoclimatologist Professor Tim Patterson testified, "There is no meaningful correlation between CO2 levels and Earth's temperature over this [geologic] time frame. In fact, when CO2 levels were over ten times higher than they are now, about 450 million years ago, the planet was in the depths of the absolute coldest period in the last half billion years... Patterson concluded his testimony by explaining what his research and "hundreds of other studies" reveal: on all time scales, there is very good correlation between Earth's temperature and natural celestial phenomena such changes in the brightness of the Sun.

Another scientist debunks the melting iceberg myth too..

Dr. Wibj–rn KarlÈn, emeritus professor, Dept. of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, Sweden, admits, "Some small areas in the Antarctic Peninsula have broken up recently, just like it has done back in time [ed: hmmmm natural phenomemon at work, not the handywork of evil mankind perhaps... just a thought]. The temperature in this part of Antarctica has increased recently, probably because of a small change in the position of the low pressure systems."

But KarlÈn clarifies that the 'mass balance' of Antarctica is positive - more snow is accumulating than melting off. As a result, Ball explains, there is an increase in the 'calving' of icebergs as the ice dome of Antarctica is growing and flowing to the oceans. When Greenland and Antarctica are assessed together, "their mass balance is considered to possibly increase the sea level by 0.03 mm/year - not much of an effect," KarlÈn concludes.

Huh? I thought New York was about to be inundated by a massive melt off of the worlds icecaps as so dramatically demonstrated by Gore and in the precursor of Gore's junk science.. "The Day After Tomorrow". Duh.. So, when Gore drives home his dubious assertion that increased levels of iceberb calving is due to global warming, he is either TOTALLY ignorant of how glaciers work (may I suggest wikipedia Al... you invented the inernet didn't you afteral?), or, say it isn't so.. is he ... LYING? Personally.. I suspect the later, but then I don't trust the bastard.

"Dr. Dick Morgan, former advisor to the World Meteorological Organization and climatology researcher at University of Exeter, U.K. gives the details, "There has been some decrease in ice thickness in the Canadian Arctic over the past 30 years but no melt down. The Canadian Ice Service records show that from 1971-1981 there was average, to above average, ice thickness. From 1981-1982 there was a sharp decrease of 15% but there was a quick recovery to average, to slightly above average, values from 1983-1995. A sharp drop of 30% occurred again 1996-1998 and since then there has been a steady increase to reach near normal conditions since 2001."

These quotes handily debunk the most often quoted bit of junk science parroted by Gore like the wooden puppet he is.. "...Starting in 1970, there was a precipitous drop-off in the amount and extent and thickness of the Arctic ice cap." Balderdash.

What about the alarmists cry of rapidly increasing temperatures.. well, I hate to burst your bubble..

"...Concerning Gore's beliefs about worldwide warming, Morgan points out that, in addition to the cooling in the NW Atlantic, massive areas of cooling are found in the North and South Pacific Ocean the whole of the Amazon Valley; the north coast of South America and the Caribbean; the eastern Mediterranean, Black Sea, Caucasus and Red Sea; New Zealand and even the Ganges Valley in India.; Morgan explains, "Had the IPCC used the standard parameter for climate change (the 30 year average) and used an equal area projection, instead of the Mercator (which doubled the area of warming in Alaska, Siberia and the Antarctic Ocean) warming and cooling would have been almost in balance."

Guess what folks.. the world isn't crashing in. Modern civilization isn't at risk from an environmental catastrophe, but it is threatened by an unholy alliance of Machiavellian politicians like Gore, his radical buddies with tons of dough and their loony fellow travelers on the fringe who are committed to the hilt. At best their triumph would be Orwellian serfdom, at worst, annihilation. Now that's a real Inconvenient Truth you can bank on!

NEWS FLASH.. AP Biased in Gore Reviews...Nooooooo

2006-07-08T11:04:00.000-07:00

This is a great blog entry from Evil Conservative that attacks both the dubious veracity of the fear monger Al Bore.. er.. Gore and the AP's rather shocking (sarcasm folks) biased attempts to establish it's supposed credibility. Good quotes and solid evidence is given. Check it out.

Also, there are some juicy links to the following sites..

Junk Science.com

EcoEnquirer.com where you can read about the latest EPA nonsense to classify water vapor as a pollutant!!!!!!

More Bad News for Doom & Gloomers

2006-07-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems despite the constant handwringing of media pundits and various political constituencies that thrive off government intervention, American industry continues to thrive and compete on a global scale. The press loves a good tragedy and sadly it isn't news apparently if things are going well. Doom and gloom are just around the corner, highlights at 11! If it's not the environment then it's China or India that is about to surpass our crumbling economy. Sorry Michael Moore, Howard Dean, Alec Baldwin, et al, this Economist article paints a much different picture about the REAL vibrancy of the US economy. The simple fact is that the US remains the worlds powerhouse economy and American know how is remaining very competitive out of the glare of the klieg lights. To quote the article...

“Our media act as if American manufacturing is going to grind to a halt at around two o'clock this afternoon,” says Cliff Ransom, an independent analyst who scours America for the most assiduous metal-bashers.
But someone forgot to tell American manufacturers the bad news. Most of them have enjoyed roaring success of late. Net profits have risen by nearly 9% a year since the recession in 2001 and productivity has been growing even more rapidly than is usual during economic expansions (see chart). The country's various widget-makers, moreover, show no sign of losing their innovative edge

The article goes on to make a point I have been belaboring ... American's find ways to get things done in ever more efficient ways when challenged ...

"These days, however, American manufacturers of all sorts—not just the big durable-goods makers—are quickly improving their efficiency."

Americans are some of the most inventive, creative and hardworking people in the world. Our economy and relatively open system allows for radical innovation and change. There is a huge braindrain going on with the best and the brightest coming to the US where they can innovate, invent and create wealth. This isn't a naked pursuit of greed as the left declares with self importance, rather wealth creation improves the human condition worldwide. Where would the the innovations in systems and technology for cleaning water, creating groundbreaking medicines, or devise ever more efficient methods and machinery necessary for helping ever larger groups of the human population escape starvation and disease come from if not for the profit motive? They wouldn't.
Let innovation continue to reign and the next time you find yourself getting sucked into the next doom-and-gloom scenario portending the imminent collapse of the economy, remind yourself about the 100 or more other success stories not reported by the media because the only news fit to print apparently is negative. .... or could it be something more perverse... hmmm.

Regardless, one last quote from the article that really underscores my point...

"....Gordon Hunter, Littelfuse's chief executive, is confident that America can maintain its edge in manufacturing. He is an engineer from the north of England who spent much of his earlier career working for Intel, a semiconductor firm, in California. American firms will keep on improving their productivity, he says, because of a business environment that embraces innovation. “Being flexible and willing to learn are skills that America still excels at,” he says. Eventually, perhaps even GM will get the hang of it."

Makes me proud to be an American!

The Slippery Slope to Tyranny

2006-07-08T01:58:00.000-07:00

I can't get enough of Walter Williams, cogent, reasoned and succinct prose.

Being a cigar smoker this article is near and dear to my heart since it very succinctly explains what a slippery slope anti-tobacco legislation has put us on. Mr. Williams does a greate job describing the impact of anti-smoking legislation on basic freedoms and a likely deluge of nannystate laws.

Tobacco may be reviled by many, but it once wasn't, is your steak next? Socialist nannies seem to be around every corner dictating to us what we should or should not eat, wear, buy, etc.. seemingly to suck the joy out of life (perhaps they are unhappy people.. hmmm) (although I'm sure soylent green may be the only acceptable comestible, but then again only as long as it's free of transfats, corn syrup and artificial preservatives). Next we'll be hearing about how much sleep you should get, how much gas you can use, how much soda you can drink at one sitting.. etc.. where does it end? Now that smoking is viewed with universal disdain, are big macs next? Is it going to take someone trying to outlaw a favorite pasttime or hobby of yours to get you to defend the privilege of others as do as they see fit? All of you that were so eager or at least complicit in abridging the privileges of us smokers, distateful to you as our habits may be, you're going to pay dearly because leviathan is gunning for you next! Good luck, you'll need it.

[Updated]

Couldn't resist posting this great Mencken quote..

"I believe that any man who takes the liberty of another into his keeping is bound to become a tyrant, and that any man who yields up his liberty, in however slight the measure, is bound to become a slave." H.L. Mencken

A Short History of Environmentalist Predictions

2006-07-08T01:47:00.000-07:00

I promise to make this one short.

This article by an eminent thinker Walter Williams chronicles just a few of the countless, dubious blown predictions by environmentalists over the last 100 years.

Here is a good quote to chew on..

"Our continued belief in environmentalist mistakes, manipulation, lies and fear mongering leads us to establish public policies that kill people and reduce standards of living such as CAFÉ standards that downsize autos and cause unnecessary highway deaths, energy saving regulations that produce airtight sick buildings and the international push for birth control. The next time an environmentalist warns us of disaster we ought to ask: when was the last time your prediction was right?"

Satanic Gases... The Political Agenda of Pseudo Science.... the Feudal State

2006-07-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

I blogged last week about a little book called "Satanic Gases".

This article reviewing “Satanic Gases” refers to it as a reasonably decent treatise debunking the pseudo-science and political agendas behind the global warming hype. The authors unmask the real motives behind Al Gore (I'm using Al Gore because of his celluoid fantasies playing in theaters across the country currently and because he is continually one of the more strident members of the political caste championing the agenda) and his ilk, and the environmental activists he has been trafficking with, behind the supposed fact of global warming. “Global Warming” really has more to do with finding a reason to sell a radical left-wing socialist political agenda than about saving the earth. Here's a quote from this review summarizing points made in the book…

" In 1985 the UN Environment Program (UNEP) held a joint conference with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), into which UNEP evolved, was founded with the explicit goal of finding a ``basis for ... a strategy to address climate change.'' Founded on the assumption that global warming is occurring [emphasis added], the goal of the IPCC was to formulate an international treaty to combat it that eventually became known as the Kyoto Protocol. To this end, the IPCC needed to present a façade of consensus [emphasis added] ito convince policy makers that urgent action was needed. However, in so doing, the IPCC sacrificed its scientific objectivity. John Houghton, a senior scientist for the IPCC, made the following statement that is typical of the IPCC's partisan approach"

Such policies like cutting energy use by more than 50 percent can contribute powerfully to the material salvation of the planet from mankind's greed and indifference. "

What does cutting energy use to save the planet from mankind's greed and indifference have to do with "science." Nothing of course. Once again the environmentalists’ extreme, pseudo-religious belief that mankind is bad and nature, aka. Mother-earth..etc.., is good is unmasked. These crazy nuts at best want to send us back to a menial existence beset with squalor and misery, all for the supposed greater good of “preserving” nature from the virus of humanity. Does this sound a bit like unadulterated paganism to anyone else? Sure does to me. Countless scores of us must be directly or indirectly sacrificed and the rest made to suffer temporal purgation for mankinds' supposed sins! But are these really sins? Isn't the ruthless pursuit of survival, to overcome challenges and to thrive the conerstone evolutionary motivation of all species? Oh, but somehow mankind has evolved beyond the environments capacity to withstand our assaults. Balderdash!

Digging deaper you find more than pagan nitwittery. Political cronies like Al Gore and his buddies in the self-appointed elites and political caste sense an enormous opportunity to use politicized pseudo-science and the fringe radicals driving the environmentalist credo forward to mask their own agenda. This is the height of cynicism at best. This reviewof the “Satanic Gases”, written from a more balanced but yet stilted environmentalist perspective concedes:

"Any rush to judgment is fraught with danger, particularly one based on dubious science and shameless fear-mongering."

I couldn't agree more.. Globalist radicals at the UN and an unholy alliance of nutty minions are using dubious science to shamelessly fear-monger and cajole the average person into backing a radical, socialist political agenda that will strip them of freedom, wealth and perhaps even their existence! Do Al Gore, Kofi Anan and their club of cronies polluting the ranks of various world governments, NGOs and multi-billion dollar foundations have any intention of living in mud huts… hardly! Feudalism ho!

Prediction: Should the real power brokers succeed, count on them turning on their pagan, birkenstock clad earth worshiping pals and sacking them just as Stalin purged Trotsky, but only once they have solidified their hegemony.

Environmentalist Whackos are Out to Kill You

2006-07-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

Sensationalist title? Sure, but as I have been haranguing for years, the radical environmentalist movement and it's many cronies hate people.

Here is the opening paragraph from "The Environmentalist Evil" by David Holcberg (July 18, 2000) published in the "American Capitalist":

"Environmentalism regards man as a spreading cancer that must be eliminated at any cost. And its leaders mean it. Environmentalism is at root a movement against man. As novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand observed, "… [their] ultimate motive [is]…hatred for achievement, for reason, for man, for life.""

Think I'm nuts.. let's see what Jacques Cousteau has to say.. most remember him how he was portrayed by fawning idealogues and the popular media in the 70's as a nice, grandfathereque figure.. this should put that myth to rest a bit....

"In order to stabilize world populations, we must eliminate three hundred and fifty thousand people per day. It is a horrible thing to say, but it's just as bad not to say it."

Excuse me! Advocating for the death of 350,000 people a day.. yikes!

Mr. Hoclberg goes on to cover a number of other sacred cows of the environmentalist movement his succinct and pointed essay.

Here are more essays from the "American Capitalist" emphatically debunking the pseudo-religious dytopian myths and savage hatred of mankind underlying the radical environmentalist agenda.

Global Warming: The Other Side of the Story

On Earth Day, Remember: If Environmentalism Succeeds, It Will Make Human Life Impossible

Who Will Defend Industry from Eco-Terrorism?

Technological Apartheid: Europe's Biotech Food Ban Must End

Open Kyoto to Debate

Green Lies and "Open Spaces"

Global Warming, Melting Ice Caps and Rising Sea Levels

Recycling

Global Warming and Hurricanes: Still No Connection

Hurricanes and Global Warming: Interview with Dr. Roy Spencer

Hurricanes and Global Warming: Interview with Dr. James J. O'Brien

Hurricanes and Global Warming: Interview with Meteorologist Dr. William Gray

Hurricane Katrina and Global Warming

Senators Were Right To Reject Limits on Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Global Warming is More Scare than Science

The Left-Wing Canon of Doom

2006-07-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

I've posted many screeds against the progressive, anti-western, radical left-wing nutjob, environmentalist radical movements in the past... and frankly I'm exhausted. But the word must continue to get out. Today I stumbled across the review of a book published in 2002 that systematically dismantles most of the key tenants of the environmentalist movement. Reason Magazine Review

Here is a key section..

The environmental canon is built on doom. In 1962 Rachel Carson's Silent Spring predicted that modern synthetic chemicals, especially pesticides, would cause epidemics of cancer and kill off massive quantities of wildlife. Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich's infamous The Population Bomb confidently asserted in 1968 that "the battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s the world will undergo famines -- hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now." The Limits to Growth, a Club of Rome report published in 1972, coupled the dogma that natural resources were running out with concerns about growing population and rising pollution.

I couldn't have said it better myself.. it seems to me just about all of the radical movements with their genesis in the late 60's and early 70's are based at least in part on faulty pseudo-science, anti-western screeds and a radical self loathing by members of the tenured left-wing intelligentsia like Susan Sontag. I didn't post anything on death of Susan Sontag a few years ago but she's a shining example of the nitwits behind the post-modern environmentalist, radical progressive, anti-market, anti-human, "multicultural" agenda.. if your father or mother believed it.. it's crap.. these boomer elites are like so many bratty children biting the hand that fed and nurtured them, (western civilization) and reveling in their supposed moral superiority. The firebrand Ann Coulter rightly defines this as liberal religion.. and it really it is their religion... J.K. Chesterton once said, quite aptly, that if you don't believe in something, you'll believe in anything.

Ingrid Newkirk the co-founder and President PETA once stated, to the fawning praise and adulation of the far out eco-freak crowd:

"A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy." umm.. I'm sorry you hate yourself and your species.. either I was created with dominion, as scripture says, or I evolved over billions of years to be the dominate species and I'm not giving it up!!! Why should I.

If you can stand to read it.. here is a really obnoxious article equating animal slaughter with the Holocaust.. http://www.cala-online.org/Journal/Issue3/A_Tale_of_2_Holocausts.htm written by another, tenured left-wing nut job and fellow traveller Karen Davies. Following is her monograph:

Karen Davis, PhD. is the founder and President of United Poultry Concerns (www.upc-online.org), a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. She is the author of Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry Industry; A Home for Henny; More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality; and Instead of Chicken, Instead of Turkey: A Poultryless Poultry Potpourri (a cookbook). Karen is currently writing a book titled The Holocaust and the Henmaid's Tale: A Case for Comparing Atrocities"

Stick a fork in me, I'm done!

[UPDATE]
I decided to quote more of the Economist article because it very pointedly defuses so much of the eco-religios fervor running amok today.

...ideological environmentalists have simple-mindedly applied concepts from zoology and biology to human societies to create a kind of theory of political ecology. But this theory has failed. Not one of its major predictions has come true: There have been no global famines, no cancer epidemics, no massive resource depletion. The ideologues have been proven wrong because they fail to understand that the economic processes in which human beings engage are radically different from the ecological processes that govern other creatures. Human beings not only consume resources but make new resources with their fertile minds. People do not simply use up resources the way a herd of zebra would; they create new recipes to use resources in ever more effective ways. Coal, tin, fresh water, forests, and so forth may all be limited, but the ideas for extending and improving their uses are not.

But at the moment of its political ascendancy, it is environmentalism, not modern civilization, that is tottering. As more critics -- demographers, epidemiologists, toxicologists, climatologists, economists, and, yes, statisticians -- point ever more insistently at the yawning gap between the doomsayers' claims and scientific and economic reality, the ideologues are becoming ever more frantic to deny the growing contradictions.

Their variety of environmentalism is merely the latest totalizing ideology to arise in the West over the past two centuries. Like communism before it, it wants to claim the mantle of objective science to justify its political programs, because in the post-Enlightenment world science is the final arbiter of what is true. But as all totalists eventually discover, an ideologys failure to correspond to reality is ultimately fatal.

Touche'

The Ineffectiveness of Fearmongering

2006-05-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

The environmentalist community believes that escalating fear will engender change in human activity. Fear does work, but only to a degree. Humans in the first world have been motivated by fear to modify some of their behavior resulting in dramatic reductions in air pollution and dramatic improvements in water quality even as the population grew and industry thrived. The environmentalist community would have us believe we need radical change now, and the way to get people to agree is to spread ever more fear. Anyone who has studied human behavior will tell you, that fear is not the best motivator, and can often have the opposite effect.

Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference makes many excellent observations on the psychology of changing behavior. Teen smoking has exploded even as the anti-smoking lobby and it's government agents have been restricting it further, and further and spreading ever more fearful and explicitly shocking advertisements. The assault on teen smoking which uses ever escalating scare tactics to "prove" it's points is a colossal failure.

I highly recommend both of his books.

Environmental models based on faulty statistics

2006-05-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

As the saying goes, statistics can used to show anything to be true, but most importantly statistician.

I still can't let go of the cacophony of environmental nitwittery the Al Gore movie is generating.. so here please indulge me belaboring the following point..

IMHOP, Environmentalist movement has become it's own pseudo religion (and an emotionally reactionary one at that) in response to many of the dehumanizing and destructive side-effects of modern society and the industrial revolution. Despite these well know and regularly publicized side-effects, it's important to ponder the fact that these very same people owe their existence and privilege to the very same changes in human society they denigrate. I endorse their right to espouse their nitwit views, my issue has to do with the group-think, jackboot way this ideology is being jammed down our throats. I believe it was Mark Twain that stated when everybody thinks the same, everybody has stopped thinking.

Here are some excellent reader comments from the Wall Street Journal posted in my previous blog entry:

------begin quoting------

Weather or Not
Richard Bees - Indianapolis

There's a saying in IT, "Garbage in, garbage out." Anyone who understands chaos theory realizes predictive models are all flawed due to the inability to accurately measure the initial state. This is precisely why the "two-week forecast" was abandoned in the '60s. It was so wildly inaccurate as to be useless. Now the same people who can't see two weeks ahead are telling us what will happen in 30 years? I don't think so. Most predictive models fail to track solar cycles, lack any input from the sun (a nearby star).

Ask these people next time they go into their Chicken Little routine which islands in the Pacific have disappeared. Ask them where the melt is going, if it's not going into the ocean.

It's fun to have an emotional response, it's harder to develop a logical one.

Colossal Egotism
Art Laramee - Billerica, Mass.

I don't think for a minute that humans have no impact on their environment. But when it comes to the earth's environment it is colossal egotism that makes humans think that their impact can compare with Mother Nature's or the Earth itself. The Earth moves within itself, causing earthquakes even to the extent that the earth wobbled for days after the tsunami that rocked Indonesia. We also know that there are cycles to everything about the Earth including precession of its rotation. What we don't know are the direct impacts of these events much more impact than anything humans could accomplish, but just because we don't know doesn't mean they don't have consequences including consequences we are trying to tie to human pollution today.

Greenland Was Once Green
Bernie Smith - Troy, Mich.

In the 1100s and 1200s the Vikings were routinely sailing the North Atlantic, 12 month of the year, in open boats. Back then they discovered and named Greenland, there setting up an agrarian society. Things were much warmer than today.

At that same time, Venice was a budding art center in a lagoon in northern Italy, the same lagoon it occupies today. Sea levels were not appreciably different in this documented time of little arctic ice. I am not worried in the least. Thanks for the article.

At Least We Avoided the Ice Age
T.R. Gregory - Diablo, Calif.

An excellent summary of various aspects of recent environmental concerns. Global warming is a myth of gargantuan proportions, one of many "political scientific" explanations, posited for political reasons or seasons. The very fact that Al Gore (inventor of the Internet) is involved in this enterprise ought be enough to make folk aware that it's a sham.

Not long ago, in 1986 I think it was--20 years since, TIME magazine had a cover story predicting the imminent onset of an ice age. Back in the early 1970s I was working on the Boeing supersonic passenger aircraft program, the Senate killed the program by one vote, on the basis that supersonic airliners would totally destroy the earth's ozone layer. The so-called spreading hole in the ozone has since mysteriously disappeared! And so on and so on.

------end quotes-----

Let's end the hyperbole and fear mongering. How about some real scientific debate.

Enough with the fearmongering!!!

2006-05-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

I'm sick of nearly everyone tacitly accepting the specious environmentalist credo that we must preserve the earth as it was... the Earth is a dynamic system. Ice ages come and go. The earth warms up and cools down. This is not a justification for raping and pillaging, stewardship is always better than exploitation, but the only effective method for protecting against unnecessary or dangerous exploitation is PRIVATE OWNERSHIP, not government oversight. If you want a good example of how well governments protect the environment, then check out Russia, which under tight state control was turned into a veritable wasteland.

Once again emotionalism, elitism, slipshod thinking, dubious science and statism are the key drivers behind the environmental shock troops that want to send you back to the Stone Age. Stand up for people! Not bogus neo-Malthusian logic.

My supposition is the core tenants of the radical environments credo have more to do with self hatred. Deep down these folks must hate people and hate themselves. I, for one, do not. If in fact we evolved to be the dominant species on this planet, then damnit, I don't advocate surrendering our position! I'm not at all willing to retreat to "noble savage" status to satisfy the whims of some radical, who probably drives a nice car, lives in a nice warm house in luxury a king would have only dreamed about 400 years ago, eats a diet of high quality organic food, etc. just because they think our carbon footprint is too big, or mankind is destroying the environment and a few species might die out. The world is a very big place, it's constantly changing....species die out.. it will continue to change... duh!

Good links..

Click for a sound debunking of many myths

Other good links..

Hypocrisy of Gore and the truth about that "dangerous" gas, carbon dioxide in little video snippets! No reading required.

CEI Videos

The Competitive Enterprise Institute has been dubbed the best environmentalist think tank in America.. check them out.

CEI Environmental Policy Page

Plenty more... just search Google. Don't believe what you read or see in the media!

Coke Classic is fake! Really it is!

2005-07-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

I've told friends for years that "Classic" coke is a fraud perpetrated on the American public to reduce the cost of production due to high US tarrifs on sugar. I love the tangy bite of sugar coke I remember when I was a kid and whenever I'm in Canada I drink some just for the memories. Some people didn't believe me and insisted there was no difference.. wrong.. here's a great article on Coke The Real Thing? that actually explores in detail the complicated tariff systems our government has erected to protect sugar refiners the detriment of consumers.. and lovers of the Real Thing, Sugar not "Classic" coke.

For those of you who were suckered by the new coke/classic coke bait and switch, this is a perfect example of how easily public perceptions can be manipulated by shrewd marketing and propaganda. The constitution is a dead letter, our security apparatis is defacto holding us hostage in our own country, the Federal judiciary has run amok, and the weight of Federal regulation and legislation intrudes deeper into our lives daily, yet the average American still thinks he enjoys the same rights and privileges as his parent, grandparents, et all. The formula has changed, it's time people recognize this as fact and work together to bring back the old formula before our already faded memories of what it was once like to live as a truly free people is forgotten forever.

America's sliding into totalitarianism?

2005-06-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

Readers of my blog may not agree with me, in whole or in part, but I hope this generates some really sincere thought and introspection. I don't have many answers, and I'm not a fatalist, but Americans need to be thinking and discussing these and other deeply troubling issues so we can stave off what I fear is a gradual decent towards an Americanized form of totalitarianism.

I continue to mull the quandary we Americans are in today.. and I'm not liking the prevailing, and accelerating trends I see. I had a very involved conversation with a like minded friend last night about the power of free markets.. free markets are the true American heritage.. not our political process or structure.. Lincoln and his ilk destroyed the federal system and the goal of the founders to establish limited government..power, money and political control has been increasingly centralized since the North attacked the South. The only thing that is keeping us from living under the oppressive thumb of a statist oligarchy is the power of the market. As long as politicians fear the threat of a major economic backlash, it will keep them somewhat reigned in.. unfortunately I fear that at some point the creeping socialism and fascism of the Depublicans and Remocrats may yet kill the goose that lays the golden egg and we will rapidly cascade into grip of a totalitarian central state. Politicians should fear market forces because it is a very real threat to their power.. observe the behavior of Sadaam Hussein (he destroyed his country's educational and economic systems to extend his power and control), Mugabe in Zimbawee, it is the only real check remaining against absolute dictatorship by a small group of elites.. Americans seem to tolerate oligarchies, not outright dictatorships even though the end result is basically the same. As long as the political caste (and if you don't believe America has one... you need to wake up and smell the kimchee!) can keep the American public fooled into thinking that the two parties represent real choices then they can continue the gradualist agenda toward totalitarianism. Case in point... have you noticed how the Bush Sr. and Clinton are buddies .. very, very telling.

I encourage everyone to read John Stossel's book, "Give Me a Break..." I picked up a copy at Costco for $14. "Gimme a Break.."

To a paraphrase a friend.. to choose between Remocrats and Depublicans is to choose which fist, left or right, you're going to get belted with... doesn't matter which one you pick, you're gonna end up with a black eye. Now, I understand, it's not nearly that simple.. but it's kinda funny because it does ring true to some extent.

Republicans=Whigs(party of big business and big moneyed interests getting handouts from the confiscated wealth of the taxpayers) + No Nothings (no nothing party was the radical anti-Catholic party, the expedient here is the fact they were zealous empire builders whose faith consists of a national messianic zeal, not unlike the 1st century jews.. it's not an accident that Lincoln referred to the 'Nation" in quasi religious terminology... this is not a veiled dig at my Protestant brothers and sisters, but the simple fact is many, certainly not all, of our immigrant ancestors, Catholic and Protestant alike, lost their faith and replaced it with an American form of political messianism. Nationalism is a false God, an idol that all too often humans throughout the history of the world came to worship, instead of the one, true God. The first century Jews did it, and most Americans have fallen victim to the very same quasi-nationalist religiosity. Countless other examples abound.. too many to mention, the religious framework doesn't matter, this has happened to EVERY civilization mankind has ever erected and demonstrates our human failings all too readily. I'll need to make another blog post to more deeply espouse my opinions on these matters.... back to my take on the current state of affairs.

Democrats were once the party of Jefferson, but over time fell into a socialist axis instead of defending states rights, freedom and the constitution. The process was pretty much completed after Johnson lost to Nixon and the McGovernites took over the party. JFK was actually in some ways a throwback , he cut taxes and government regulations, and some say was intent on dismantling the military and national intelligence apparatis and definitely worked to curtail the immense power of the FBI.. not too mention labor and la cosa nostra.. thus the military, mob, labor, cia ganged up on him to get him out of the way.. or so say the conspiracy buffs. Probably not true, although all of these parties were plenty dienfranchised by the actions of him and his brother, but if you look at what happened once Johnson took power.. much of the agenda of these powerful forces was institued en mass.. government handouts galore.. the FBI's power continued to grow, the military was sent full bore into Vietnam, the CIAs power and influence zenithed in 1969 (they had so much money in the mid sixties that they were seriously contemplating their own private space program, even to the point of collaborating with the air force and training astronauts (btw, Nasa discovered several space suits from this program stashed away in a storage locker and they are being sent to the Smithsonian for exhibition), the trade unions got major handouts, the bureaucracy blossomed under the great society spending spree.. blahblahblah anyway.. enough ranting. For some seriously thought provoking though, read Murray Rothbard's take on this by following the link below.

Left and Right: The Prospects for Liberty

BTW, this was published in 1965.. still quite relevant, even visionary.

While on the subject of dictators.. I really don't like Lincoln.. he's America's Caesar and destroyed once and for all the Republic. Here is a great critique of a recent book on Lincoln: "The Unknown Lincoln" Time magazine has recently published a puff piece on him.. blecchh.. here is some truth about the REAL Lincoln... not the mythological figure... some of the articles are over the top, but you'll get the general idea if you read some.

The King Lincoln page

Some fake lincoln quotes.. Lincoln was indeed a very eloquent man, but many of the quotes that are commonly attributed to him aren't his.
Fake Lincoln Quotes

Sound off!!

EU continues to unravel... Brits are bailing too!

2005-06-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

This article from Sunday's Telegraph, "Blair Gives Up on His EU Dream", further documents the disaster the French and Dutch votes have wrought for the dreams of an EU superstate. Hurrah!! Blair has been tirelessly championing the EU cause ever since taking office, but it seems he has bowed to the inevitable and is throwing in the towel. This ensure several things:

1. Britain won't adopt the Euro

2. The brain-drain from Europe to the UK will continue (the French and German economies are burdened enormously by monumentally excessive regulations and near dominance of very powerful trade unions that stifle innovation and burden them with incredible tax rates... consequently the UK's relatively low taxes (by continental standard, onerous by American and even Canadian) and generally more open environment (thank you Maggie Thatcher) the best and brightest of Europe are heading to Britain, Scotland and especially Ireland for better opportunities. The French and Germans have been screaming for EU unity so they can "level" the regulatory and tax playing field by forcing England to adopt their horrendous policies by fiat. Little chance of that now!

3. The Euro may yet fall apart... the French and Germans in particular would have received a major economic boost by absorbing the UK's large and comparitively vibrant economy. Brits have recognized this for some time and have resisted the Euro because they recognized the drain it would have on their pocketbook. This is good for North Americans because the Germans and especially the French aren't really our friends economically. Their dreams of a pan-European superstate to rival the US in particular is on the rocks and seems to imploding before their very eyes.

Blair has been the champion and puppet for Brussels since being elected, but to ensure his political survival he has conceded defeat. Good news for everyone... except the French and German bureaucrats that dominate the Brussels crowd.

French and Dutch strike a blow against the globalist agenda!

2005-06-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

Gary North's latest article, EUthanasia, is an excellent and detailed analysis of the European portion of the globalist elites', dare I say conspiratorial, attempts to progressively unify the world into one government rule controlled for their personal ends. Kudos to the French and Dutch voters for throwing a monkey wrench into these plans... only time will tell if the train of statist, mega-corporate globalism derails or continue it's seemingly inexorable march forward. Quite likely they will resort to more underhanded efforts to subvert the will of the French and Dutch voters and push forward their grand vision of an European superstate. BTW, the value of the Euro is in a tailspin and Italians are considering temporarily suspending it.. probably won't happen but it could signify the beginning of a more general groundswell of opposition.

If you think this doesn't apply to we North Americans, think again... the same players behind the EU are at work here, NAFTA, identity cards, etc.. are gradual stages in their long term agenda. These people think and plan for the long term, they are VERY patient. The way back from the brink is to erode the power of the uberstate and resist attempts at further consolidation of power.

Robert Higgs in his 1981 masterpiece Crisis and Leviathan describes very aptly how powerful forces have used crisis to erode Americans' natural resistance to centralized hegemony. Higg's treatise is all the more powerful considering the massive assault on the constitution that took place in the fallout from 9/11.

Americans need to get beyond the Conservative vs. Liberal, left vs. right dialectic and think in broader terms. Politics in this country have been reduced to a jury-rigged, two party political arena. The conservative movement has become a captive of right wing statist hegemony (Republinism, aka. Pres. Lincoln), and the liberals have long been puppets for socialist hegemony. Radical, right wing statism=Facism, radical left wing statism=Communism.

So what's an intelligent person to do? I'll post more later soon on how to broaden our political perspective. Stay tuned...

The Outrage Continues....

2005-03-29T11:35:00.000-08:00

Think I'm some radical, white, right-wing nut job.. read what the Village Voice, a paragon of the hard left, has to say on this issue.. "Terri Schiavo: Judicial Murder"

I have to praise the Village Voice for standing up on the right side of an issue for once!

A few factoids..

apt title, "Terri Schiavo: Judicial Murder"

very apt subtitle, "Her crime was being disabled, voiceless, and at the disposal of our media"

"...a 41-year-old woman, who has committed no crime, will die of dehydration and starvation in the longest public execution in American history."

"...She is not brain-dead or comatose, and breathes naturally on her own. Although brain-damaged, she is not in a persistent vegetative state..."

"[Judge] Greer has declared Terri Schiavo to be in a persistent vegetative state, but he has never gone to see her."

The ACLU, had Mrs. Schiavo been a convict on death row, would have been fighting the state decisions, has rolled over and filed a brief for the husband

Charges of abuse and neglect by Michael's hands have been filed on numerous occasions yet ignored by the media and the courts

Michael says he loves and cares for his legitimate wife, yet he has refused her receiving ANY therapy or rehabilitation since 1993... 12 years! He has been letting her rot hoping she would die.. "..the bitch won't die.." I believe is how he put it.

33 affidavits have been filed by doctors, neurologist and other experts asking that Mrs. Schiavo be given a full neurological examination, all have been rebuffed

.. and it goes on and on... this is an absolutely dynamite article that busts many myths and inaccuracies perpetuated by the mainstream media.

Kudos to the Village Voice! (I thought I would never say that.. LOL)

This is murder folks, state sanctioned murder, and you could be next should you become a defenseless victim suffering from a stroke, heart attack, car accident, etc... It's an outrage that convicts on death row are afforded more legal due process. Wake up people, wake up before it's too late!

The "Right to Die" Agenda... aka Right to Kill

2005-03-24T11:44:00.000-08:00

Why is it that it's illegal to starve a dog to death, but not a human being? This is disgusting. It's absolutely reprehensible what is being done to the this poor woman. Food and water are basic human needs, it's not extraordinary care, it's ORDINARY care. What would happen if I chose to not feed my children... they would die and I would go to jail (or hang) and I would deserve it! Something is terribly wrong if courts and lawyers can invent legal justification for starving a person to death.

The judiciary in this country is bloated and out of control and is almost totally a captive of a radical fringe. Judicial fiat is becoming the only legal bedrock of the land. This is a hideous trend that must be stopped before the courts shred the remaining tatters of the constitution and our rights as Americans not already shredded by the other two branches of government. Leviathan has become a multi-headed beast since the war between the states, thanks Abe. Instead of working together as a triad (Legal, Legislative, Executive), we now have a beast not unlike hydra. Each head is menacing, bloodthirsty and vicious of it's own accord, and killing just one won't destroy the beast, it must be countered on all fronts. But the beast has grown so strong as to make this an almost impossible task. Lord have mercy!

I find it particularly ironic how the left is willing to roll out the issue of States Rights when they are trying to sanction the killing of the longborn but as to the unborn... nope, they jam it down every states' throat from the federal level.

This is a sad day for Americans. We have gone further down the depraved slippery slope towards an absolute disregard for the sanctity of human life. We are paying the price for our selfish behavior and giving sway to the centralization of power. Wilson, FDR, Truman, Johnson, Nixon, etc.. we let them all take little bits of our rights away in return for paltry handouts taken from our brother's pockets. Now that we have signed away our lives and inheritance to Uncle Sam, we have become wards of the state to be done with as the ruling classes see fit.

From conception to death, life must be respected. Killing the defenseless can never be justified if order and respect is to be maintained. We live in a land that sanctions the taking of defenseless people, just because it inconveniences us. Look out.. you could be the next person to be declared by the state to be useless and to be discarded. It's time for the soft "pro-choice" crowd that have been cowed by verbal rhetoric against making a stand for life to stand up and be counted, you never know when open season will be declared on you or one of your loved ones because somebody has been inconvenienced by events or doesn't feel they are worth keeping around. Respect for the sanctity of human life is a seamless garment, either people are special, or we're just so much meat. Then again.. we treat animals better than Terri Schiavo.

Here's what Thomas Sowell, a much smarter man has to say on this.. "Killing Terri Schiavo"

Also by Thomas Sowell: "Cruel and unusual"

For a more political perspective from Bob Novak.. plus an interesting tidbit on Ralph Nader's perspective (hint: "After the show, the old reformer noted to me that it was illegal to starve a dog to death but it was being done to Terri Schiavo. This is an issue truly transcending normal political boundaries." ) "A feeding frenzy in D.C."

Post Election Threads

2004-11-03T10:50:00.000-08:00

A few quick thoughts post election...

Americans are as divided as ever, yet moral issues seemed have been a key tipping issue for the Bush and Republican camps. The fact that 11 of 11 states, even the socialist utopia of Oregon, voted to define marriage as between a man and a women is rather telling. I expect much bile to be spilled by the left over the fact Bush won and not only won, but won the general election as well. I just hope all of those mouthy entertainers and especially George Soros actually do leave the country! Good riddance. But we all know.. they WON'T. They must be dumbfounded. The globalists are writhing too I'm sure. Kerry would have surely bowed to UN elites at every turn, just as Clinton did at almost every turn in his Presidency.

The Democrats have to really examine their positions in light of yet another failure. Clinton's first election had more to do with voting Bush out than a Democrat in. Fact is, Dubya won with a wider majority of the populace than Clinton did in either election. At 1am Pacific the liberal spin machine was already in high gear implying that Bush wasn't handed a mandate. I think he clearly was, and the fact that the Republicans furthered their control of Congress and kick Daschle out of his leadership seat strengthens this argument. The fact is, joe six-pack is in agreement generally with the Republican policies and voted to continue them. Expect the Republicans to press their agenda much harder in the coming Congressional session.

Nader... Nader who? No one can blame Nader for spoiling.. thank goodness.

It's almost assured that 2-3 Supreme Court justices are going to be replaced on this watch and the furthering of Senate control to the Republicans means the Democrats will be hard pressed to keep out all but the most judicially conservative candidates. This may turn out to be a key defining moment for the next decade.

The simple fact is, Republicans have been in control of Congress for a decade, their control has been even more cemented by this election and reelecting Bush has asserted their authority to rule. Expect lots of turmoil.

If there is one single thing I'm thankful for... no Clinton as UN Secretary! Woohoo!

The Nanny State

2004-09-20T23:47:00.000-07:00

I'm so sick of "elites" and government leaders dictating to me how to live my life, raise my kids or interact with my fellow citizens. For the last hundred years there has been a progressively accelerating socialist tendency for elites, academics and government bureaucrats, who "know better", to institute laws and regulations to force their "enlightened" perspective on the average American. The central state continues to aggrandize power and force increasingly intrusive legislation down our throats. Now there are bills in Congress to force the psychiatric assessment of our schoolchildren. Ron Paul, a real hero for freedom IMHOP, in his essay "The Therapeutic Nanny State" blows the whistle on this deeply troubling trend. As he so rightly points out, Communist states persecuted Christians, Jews and other religious and undesirable sects as examples of psychiatric illness that required treatment.. treatment in Gulags and prisons. Think this couldn't happen to you or your children.. .welll think again. As Rep. Paul so aptly points out, bureaucratic programs tend to grow well beyond their initial mandate. Still think I'm a radical nut.. check out "Crisis and Leviathan", an obscure but scholarly text that systematically chronicles the ratcheting usurpation of central authority under the guise of crisis.

The founding fathers of our country were wise to distrust highly centralized power. It is dangerous indeed and leads to all sorts of hideous consequences, no matter your political viewpoint, unless you are one of the ruling class....

The Education System... a tale of intrigue

2004-09-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

For a long time I have had a very large axe to grind against the education establishment and their the copycat private schools (the Bud Lite "...less filling" mantra comes to mind). Both school systems (there are exceptions I realize, but few) long ago adopted a policy of churning out "good" citizens rather than well rounded, thinking, educated individuals. You don't have to be university professor to do the research and find how Dewey and his fellow Rhodes scholars, and their forerunners including such notables as that cad (hey this is my Blog!) Pres. Wilson hijacked the compulsory school movement into a machine for the dumming down of the populous. This article "Against School" is an excellent primer on how this came about.

There are many powerful forces and groups at play who aren't in the least bit interested in a populous of educated individuals. In fact, there was a long running dialog in England in the late 19th century (that was imported stateside soon thereafter) over just what percentage of the populous should be educated to rule. My memory fails me as to the exact percentage, but it was the general consensus that well less than 10% would be sufficient to rule properly. A variant of the same model, albeit where a larger percentage of Americans should be properly educated, was adopted here. This is an appalling outrage and no amount of well intentioned reform will help save a system devised with an end goal contrary to the educating of individuals. Why would the government want educated citizens? They are harder to rule over and might just not go along with the more "elightened" class of rulers.. better to turn out brainwashed "citizens" that will accept the status quo at face value, pay their taxes with little complaint and endlessly bicker about how they should be given more and better handouts. No wonder there is so much disenfranchisement with where this country is headed... the average person knows something is rotten in Denmark but isn't able to put their finger on what exactly it is. The homeschooling movement is somewhat a threat, but this too will only have a limited effect because of the proliferation of two income homes.

This country was founded on principles of self reliance, duty and responsibility. This article does a good job of making a case for how the school system was engineered intentionally to systematically purge these principles from the common populous. Something is indeed rotten in Denmark and scrapping the "education" establishment would be huge leap forward to righting the sinking ship of America.

Don't believe me? Here is what that scoundrel Woodrow Wilson had to say about the education system, of which he was a chief reformer, in 1909 when he was president of Princeton University, "...[Wilson] said the following to the New York City School Teachers Association in 1909: "We want one class of persons to have a liberal education, and we want another class of persons, a very much larger class, of necessity, in every society, to forgo the privileges of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks." I wonder what Jefferson and Franklin would have had to say about this.. I seriously doubt they would agree. Huxley's "Brave New World" paints a grim picture of a society where these very same principles are taken to their logical conclusion.

Footnote: For a deliciously politically incorrect perspective on this.. check on Fred Reed's (aka Fred on Everything") "solutions". Click here for the less than faint of heart.

Myers-Briggs Personality Profiles

2004-09-18T15:54:00.000-07:00

Personality profiles have become quite a fascination for me. I have become especially familiar with the Myers-Briggs analysis and classification method based on the psychology of Jung. As I stated in my profile I am an ENTP, which stands for Extroverted-iNtuitive-Thinking-Perceiving. For a full description of my particular profile, click here, ENTP. Understanding this information about yourself and others can help you learn to communicate and relate to others better.

To test yourself, click here. Remember to answer honestly. There are no right or wrong answers, and there are no bad or good profiles. The only goal is to understand your underlying temperament better, not to judge which characteristics are bad or good. At the very least it can serve as great cocktail conversation... or maybe not.

Threads... a definition

2004-09-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this site is to share with friends and others my current thoughts... or threads. I am an ENTP (see the next post on Myers-Briggs profiling) so consequently I am continually pondering the unponderable. I can't help but continually analyze the world around me and to be fascinated by all I see. It's a very rare topic that doesn't at least hold my interest for a short period, while others I may contemplate on and off for years.

If you find a topic that interests you, or a position I have espoused that you disagree with vehemently, please feedback and let me know what you think, but you had better know what you are talking about and be able to back up your assertions accordingly or prepare to be ridiculed!

Hello World

2004-09-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is my first post in blogland, so I figured it would only be appropriate as an homage to programming.