I’ve Missed Something Here

I was just reading a really interesting article by J. Neil Schulman, and he made this statement:

We’ve failed because we didn’t get that it’s not about what we’re against but what it is that we’re for.

And this rang a bell with me. I’ve spent a whole lot of energy telling you folks what I’m against, but I haven’t spent near as much time telling you what I’m for. So, I’m going to start on that right now. Following is a list of some of my beliefs, and I intend to write short blog entries to expand on each one, in a series.

First and foremost, I am a Christian.

I am a right-of-center conservative. I do not classify myself with any political party, but I do tend to vote Republican, as in many cases they individually are the closest match to my philosophy.

I believe in maximum personal freedom, commensurate with personal responsibility. I believe a person is responsible for his actions. By the same token, I believe a person should have the widest freedom to act – responsibly.

I believe strongly in the right to bear arms. Anytime, any place, any type of gun. It is illegal to kill people other than in self defense, and I believe that is the only law necessary on this subject.

I believe that abortion (other than in a case of true medical necessity to save another life, or in the case of rape) is cold blooded murder for the convenience of the mother.

I believe in minimal government. The government should be just big enough to do what really needs to be done. That list of things that needs to be done should involve only things that need to be handled as a group, such as national defense; foreign diplomacy; trade agreements, and such. It should NOT be intrusive into the lives of individuals.

I believe that involuntary “redistribution of wealth” is stealing. (SEE the Ten Commandments).

I resent all efforts at psychological manipulation by any person or organization. This includes advertising, government, and churches. This is why I will not go to church revivals. One of the quickest ways to lose my respect is to try this crap on me.

I believe that lying is wrong and truthfulness is good. I quit going to my church because I caught the pastor lying, among other things. The very fastest way to lose my respect, trust, and friendship is to lie to me. I don’t have many friends.

I believe involuntary taxation, enforced with guns, is a necessary evil, only because some people would never pay their share if it was voluntary; but taxes should be levied only for the most necessary services, such as supporting the national military. These taxes would not be onerous if the government wasn’t bloated beyond belief.

I believe that illegal aliens are, well, illegal. If they come into the country legally, I have no problem with that. If they are here illegally, they are by definition starting off their relationship with this country by breaking its laws.

I believe that if you caught somebody in the act, he / she is not a ’suspect’. Hasan, for instance, is not a ’suspect’.

Added: I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. Besides what the Bible has to say about it, the purpose of marriage and family is ultimately to produce and raise offspring. Homosexuals by definition cannot fulfill this purpose.

That’s a start. Look for upcoming blog entries on these subjects. I will try to emphasize the positive aspects of what I believe without getting into the negative aspects of other beliefs, if I can restrain myself…

-Popgun

Thinking About ‘Profiling’

In current usage, ‘Profiling’ is the idea that the police (or anyone, really) uses race (or religion, or other non-legal criteria) as a basis for indicating whether someone is potentially guilty of a crime of some sort. That’s not the dictionary definition, by the way.

This has become politically incorrect because it smacks of prejudice. Here in the South, profiling is most commonly the assumption by police officers that a black or hispanic person is more likely to have committed a crime then a white person. So when a house gets broken into, absent a witness, the cops are more likely to randomly pull over the vehicle of black or hispanic persons than white people, if they see a suspicious vehicle in the area. This causes the appearance that the police are prejudiced. Therefore, the police actively try not to ‘profile’.

The question is, does profiling have any validity as a tool for winnowing out the guilty?

Well, the short answer, IMHO, is yes. Why?

Where I live, if you watch the local news for a period of time, you will find that probably 70% to 80% of perpetrators of violent crime are black or hispanic. This is my informal observation, I have not actually done any surveys. But that is, by my estimate, about the ratio of crimes by race in this area and at this time.

There are historical reasons for this disparity which I won’t go into here, but I do observe that this probably does not pertain everywhere in the country. Some areas it may be the other way around, or some other ratio – I wouldn’t know. And I do expect it to shift slowly over time, as the various cultures intermingle more thoroughly; but that is a very slow process. I would expect that eventually it would align with the actual ratio of races in a given area.

Given that informal statistic though, for this area, if you are a careful person, you are careful of all strangers – but you go one notch up on your internal alertness scale if the strangers are black or latino. Around here, that is.

So profiling does figure into your situational awareness at least to some degree. I have to conclude that it makes sense as a reasonable tool to help evaluate those around you. However, if it is your only criteria, then it has become racist, and is both illogical and immoral.

Now let’s think about the situation with Hasan, the Muslim murderer at Fort Hood. There seems to be a feeling that he may have still been in the military only because of a fear by his superiors that kicking him out would have been seen as profiling and prejudice against Muslims.

Hasan gave plenty of clues that he was potentially about to go critical. It seems likely that his commanders were aware of these clues, but ignored them to avoid being branded as prejudiced. Our ‘politically correct’ culture has thus indirectly resulted in the deaths of 13 people.

Muslim extremists (not all Muslims, mind you) have been the perpetrators of almost every terrorist conflict in the last twenty years. They killed over 3000 people on 9/11/2001, and have been responsible for many other bombings, shootings and killings world-wide, before and since. Given these facts, it makes sense to be a bit hypersensitive to signs of instability in anyone who is a Muslim. Not to condemn – but to be watchful and aware.

If this is profiling, so be it.

I walk in the woods near my home occasionally. I see snakes. Probably nine out of ten of them are non-poisonous. But I still ‘alert’ every time I see a snake. This is a survival trait instilled in humanity by millions of years of practice at staying alive. It’s also ‘profiling’. And this is a very good example of why profiling works.

In the same context, I don’t shoot every snake I see. I watch them, and if they threaten me I kill them. This is correct action. Now, a racist is somebody who shoots every snake he comes to.

That’s a pretty good analogy.

-Popgun

Misinformation

The Obama administration’s talking heads (including Obama) frequently claim their opposition is spreading ‘misinformation’. Methinks that is like the pot calling the kettle black.

These days, finding the truth requires research. You sure as heck won’t find it by listening to Whitehouse spokes-heads. Or any other politician.

Sometimes, you can glean the truth by watching shows that pit persons of opposite viewpoints against each other in debate, such as Bill O’Reilly, or Huckabee, for instance. This requires critical thinking, however. Often you have to be careful to winnow out your own preconceived notions which distort your own view.

Quoting Robert A. Heinlein’s “The Notebooks of Lazarus Long”:

What are the facts? Again and again and again — what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what “the stars foretell,” avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable “verdict of history” — what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!

Without the facts, it is impossible to accurately make good decisions about anything.

-Popgun

Today is my Sister’s Birthday

Today I celebrate the lives of my sister and my mother, in this small way.

Today (October 29) is my sister’s birthday. Four years my senior, she would have been 60 today, if she had survived. I miss her still, although when she was here, in her later years I didn’t spend a lot of time with her. Sometimes you don’t know what you have, until it is suddenly gone. She died at age 44, of liver failure – she was an alcoholic. Her death was one of the most stressful things that has ever happened to me. I was the second person on the scene at her death – her body was still warm. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.

Then, there is my mother, who passed away on October 30, 2000. I was there at her passing. A heavy smoker, she died of a combination of COPD and dementia; when she died, and for some months before that, she did not know who I was. Her passing, really, was a blessing. COPD causes shortness of breath – a victim usually has a low-level panicked feeling all the time, perhaps a ‘drowning’ feeling. My mother was suffering from this for several years before I found out there was a medical reason for it. During that period, I thought she was going nuts. In reality she was having panic attacks and paranoid attacks that frequently caused her to behave irrationally.   

At this point, I am the last survivor of my birth family. My Dad passed away before my sister did.

Death represents the end of pain. Sometimes, for everybody involved.

If you’re a Christian, that is. Neither my sister nor my mother were what I would call ‘practicing’ Christians – but they were both acquainted with the Bible, and the precepts of Christianity. I do hope they were saved. If so, I expect that I will get to see them again.

A person generally is exposed to more death as he ages. It seems that probably, on average, half of everybody you know will die before you do. As my neighbor says, “Don’t worry about life. You’re not getting out of it alive!”.

A young person doesn’t really perceive that death will happen to him – it is off in some distant future. On the other hand, an older person knows that his time will come. This causes different reactions in different people.

Some people, if you were to throw them out of an airplane at 30,000 feet without a parachute, would scream all the way down. Others would enjoy the view for as long as possible.

I plan to enjoy the view.

Cheers!

-Popgun

Different Viewpoints

Everyone has their own way of looking at things. Currently, there seem to be two opposing viewpoints of how to manage our country.

Liberals want more government, more government control of individuals, less individual rights, and has the view that the government will take care of all your needs. This is called the ‘nanny state’.

They also tend to believe that you are a victim of your upbringing and are not responsible for bad choices you may make. This is why liberal judges tend to let child molesters off the hook.

Liberals tend to be pro-abortion. They call this ‘pro-choice’, although the baby involved doesn’t get a choice.

Liberals believe in involuntary redistribution of wealth, possibly for humanitarian reasons.

Liberals believe the Constitution of the United States should be ‘interpreted’ according to their viewpoint.

Liberals tend to be anti-second amendment because they do not believe any individual can be trusted with a gun, and the idea that people are walking around in Walmart carrying a concealed hand gun scares the crap out of them. Even if those people are not felons.

Conservatives (real ones, that is) believe in maximum personal freedom, the smallest government that can do the proper roll of government. This is very cost-effective.

Conservatives believe in personal responsibility for individual choices. This is why conservative judges think child molesters should be shot.

Conservatives tend to be anti-abortion. Most of them see this as the murder of babies, purely for the convenience of immature and selfish parents who don’t take responsibility for their actions.

Conservatives are generally against involuntary redistribution of wealth, which they correctly view as robbery at gunpoint. (Think that’s an exaggeration? Try not paying your taxes. Eventually, somebody with a gun will show up to collect or to put you in jail. They will have guns.)

Conservatives believe the Constitution of the United States should be strictly interpreted according to the intent of the authors.

Conservatives generally are pro-second amendment because they believe honest citizens can be trusted with guns – both to use them when needed, and not to use them inappropriately. Law abiding citizens walking around in Walmart with guns don’t bother me. I know that they are not a risk to me or mine; only a felon (or wannabe felon) is a risk with a gun. And the best defense against the felon with a gun is to myself be armed, since the felon will not obey the law that says he can’t have a gun.

How do you know which philosophy is the right one?

That’s a deep question. There are many frameworks of belief that may help you decide, such as the Holy Bible. There is also how you were brought up, what you learned from your parents (or whoever raised you, these days).

As for me, I know that, as a child, I was taught a sense of honor. I was also taught a work ethic that to this day makes me get up every day and go to my job to earn my own way and provide for my family. I believe that I am worth my wages, and I believe that they are mine, not yours. I believe in personal responsibility. I believe that I can be trusted with a gun, because I know my own mind, and furthermore I believe I have the responsibility to protect my family if necessary. I have seen more than one couple grieve as they buried a miscarried child, and I know that abortion is murder. I believe in my personal freedom – and yours, too.

And I resent every dime I pay in taxes that is given to somebody who doesn’t deserve it, or is otherwise wasted. I do believe in charity – but it should be voluntary. And I don’t believe that people who are unwilling to work should receive a single dime of charity. Charity should be reserved for those who want to provide for themselves, but cannot because of circumstances such as health or age.

I have self respect because I have worked hard to do the best I could with my life. Others have done better, and some have done worse. But the key is to do your best. I paid my rent on my chunk of the planet today, and I feel pretty good about that.

I can’t say why you should choose one philosophy or the other – but I know which one I’ve chosen.

-Popgun

Public Service for Obama

I’ve read in several places – here’s one of them – that quite a few TV shows are going to be running plots that support Obama’s push for the public to volunteer for public service.

There’s nothing wrong with doing public service, especially voluntarily.

Having said that, I strongly resist any effort at being persuaded to do so by propaganda embedded in entertainment media. It is propaganda, pure and simple, regardless of the source.

So I’m here to say to Hollywood and their advertisers: I will not watch any TV show that is pushing this propaganda. If I am watching a show and I detect that it has this propaganda in it, I will change the channel or turn the TV off.

In the real world, media always has an agenda. Traditionally it has been to promote the products of the advertisers, in some way. For instance, the McDonald’s advertising in “The Fifth Element” comes to mind.

This is different. This is mass manipulation of the public with a coordinated goal at the urging of a politician. Even if there is no direct control or collusion, even if Hollywood is doing this spontaneously, I reject any such message. This is a (albeit very mild) form of mind control, and I reject it.

I refuse to be manipulated.

Recommended Reading: The Notebooks of Lazarus Long by Robert A. Heinlein.   Especially this part:

Do not confuse “duty” with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.

But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants “just a few minutes of your time, please — this won’t take long.” Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time — and squawk for more!

So learn to say No – and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you. (This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don’t do it because it is “expected” of you.  

-Popgun

Fox Does Indeed Have a Viewpoint

Obama’s administration is bashing Fox News – they say Fox News has a ‘viewpoint’ and is not a news organization.

Fox News does indeed have a viewpoint. They are pro-American, rather than pro-Obama. Obama’s administration doesn’t like that.

Personally, I don’t watch the Obama news channels[1], because of the rampant bias they displayed during the election. The coverage they gave of the Tea Parties was also over-the-top obviously biased. Since when is making lewd jokes (as was directed at the Tea Party participants) part of news reporting? It was absolutely ridiculous how biased they were (and still are).

When I realized I wasn’t getting reliable information at those news sources, I took my business elsewhere. To Fox News. I don’t think anybody at Fox ever got a ‘thrill up his leg’ from listening to Obama speak. And I know I didn’t.

This entire subject is much more critical than it first appears. If you watch carefully, you can see the signs in this administration that they would really like to control the news media and even entertainment programming. This concerns me greatly, because control of information is how you control the population. References: 1, 2, 3, 4.

-Popgun

[1]: ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, and others.

ADDENDUM 10/20/2009:

It now seems likely that the reason the White House is attacking Fox News is as a strategy to discourage other news outlets from covering stories that Fox discovers. Think of the Acorn stories, and the radicalism of many of the Czars, like Van Jones, for instance, which stories were almost exclusively carried by Fox.

If the Obama Administration pulls this off, then the only place unbiased stories based on real reporting will be available will be Fox News.

This should kick Fox’s ratings even higher. Cool.

-Popgun

Pocket Knives

The world has really gotten ridiculous. This young man is on suspension for having a small pocket knife locked in his car in a school parking lot.

Shucks, I carried a pocket knife bigger than his every day to school from the fourth grade on, completely without incident. So did most boys. A lot could be learned about a young man, based on what kind of knife he carried.

Farm boys like me carried a Case or maybe an Old-Timer 3-blade pocketknife, usually big enough to wear a hole in your bluejeans pocket. Boy scouts carried a Swiss Army knife. A couple of the more edgy kids carried a cheap switchblade (yes, that was illegal). I think I remember seeing at least one butterfly knife.

Big woo. Nobody got stabbed.

The only knife wound that happened in my entire school career was this one boy who stabbed himself in the belly trying to cut a button off of a shirt (why? I have no idea – but that’s what he told me he was doing). And he did that at home, with a hunting knife.

This whole knife thing is vastly overblown.

Having said that, I realize that I grew up in a time when most parents taught their kids that it isn’t nice to stab other people. This entire scenario has more to do with the failure of the concept of parental responsibility than anything else.

I think the failure to consider the context and just blindly assign penalties is wrong. Our country’s judicial system has a certain amount of leeway built into it to allow for special circumstances, and pig-headed school administrators should apply that concept as well.

-Popgun

I Object to Liberal Policies

A fundamental tenet of liberal policies that this administration is trying to implement is that much of it is based on redistribution of wealth, i.e. socialism.

There are lots of reasons to be against this whole concept, not least that it is fundamentally against every concept our country was founded on. Unfair taxation was the beginning of our movement towards independence.

My personal objection goes beyond that. My objection is also that some other bloke gets to decide how to redistribute your wealth. And I frankly don’t trust these people – neither their honor nor their competence.

A great example of who we’re talking about here is Nancy Pelosi. Do you really want Nancy Pelosi going through your wallet and pulling out money?

It’s an ugly picture. And that is precisely what this administration is pushing through.

-Popgun

Insanity is Rampant in the World Today

Amazing.

Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize – without doing anything.

Our government actually thinks it can spend its way to prosperity – with money it doesn’t have. To the tune of trillions of dollars. This administration has spent huge amounts of money, many times faster than any previous administration – ever. And wants to spend more. Anybody that’s ever managed a check book knows the problem with this approach.

The President of the United States has bowed down to the king of Saudi Arabia, and has made friendly overtures to every dictator he has come in contact with. In the same breath, he has insulted Britain, Israel, the Dalai Lama and every other friendly power he could.

The President of the United States has made it clear that he thinks the U.S. is just another nation – nothing special.

The President of the United States thinks he needs to apologize for us to other countries. He doesn’t seem to have any pride in our country.

The House of Representatives has passed a cap and trade bill that will represent the largest tax increase this country has ever seen – in a time of economic crisis – which is based on politically pushed pseudo-science about which serious doubts exist in the scientific community. A huge tax to promote an ineffective cure for a problem that may or may not exist.

The Democrats are actually implementing socialism. In America.

Nationalization of major businesses and banks has taken place – in America.

About 800,000 unborn children are murdered in the U.S. every year. For the sake of convenience. This is called ‘health care’.

Iran is about to get nukes, and our troops on the ground in Afghanistan need a bit of help – and we’re waiting on our President to make up his mind. And waiting. And waiting.

Yet the President doesn’t have time to discuss this with the commander of those troops. Instead, the President has spent enormous amounts of time and energy promoting health care reform – a health care reform that a majority of Americans don’t want. A health care reform that is structured to destroy the insurance industry and much of our freedom.

Our government is about to fool around and let the dollar lose it’s position as the basis for international trade.

Unemployment rate at 9.9% and climbing. The ’stimulus’ hasn’t worked, so the Democrats are thinking about doing it again. What moron repeats something that didn’t work the first time?

The Democrats think (or want you to think) that they can tax a business and that tax is not passed on to we the consumers. (Check out the proposed funding for the ‘health care’).

I’m sorry, folks, but none of these things look good to me.

Upper management is insane. Or something.

UPDATE: Ha – I’m not the only one who’s noticed. Day by Day!

-Popgun