An America Doomed To Decadance

How else to describe the relative "necessity" for a tool to make doggie treats at home.  Ladies and gentlemen, Bake A Bone.

You Dipped What In Bronze??

Over at the Atlantic, they have a brief story about a short documentary that features Stu Larkin.  Mr. Larkin travels the country selling bronze baby shoes.  More accurately, he sells a service that bronzes your baby's shoes after your baby is done wearing them.  The company he represents bronzes other things as well.

Based on the links in the story, I think the Atlantic was far more interested in promoting the film's director; Peyton Wilson.  At least, I didn't see any links to Stu Larkin or The Bronze Baby Shoe Company that he represents.

I thought the film was fascinating not only because of Mr. Larkin's product/service, but because of the waning profession of the traveling salesman.  My great uncle was in that business for a very long time and was very successful at selling commemorative knives for Case cutlery.  The attitude that one must possess to be successful in that field is quite interesting.

Scaring Women...

...and men.

Former First Lady Laura Bush has acknowledged that during the 2012 election cycle, there were a few Republican candidates that scared women.

I have some bad news for Mrs. Bush, the scary behavior isn't limited to a few candidates.

It’s not the contraception, everybody thinks it’s about contraception, but what this court case said was young people have the right to engage in sex outside of marriage. Society never gave young people that right, functioning societies don’t do that, they stop it, they punish it, they corral people, they shame people, they do whatever. The institution for the expression of sexuality is marriage and all societies always shepherded young people there, what the Supreme Court said was forget that shepherding, you can’t block that, that’s not to be done.

Folks seeking to ban sex outside of marriage are pretty scary too.  It's a pity that the GOP embraces such idiocy rather than expelling it.  Having one viable political party would really be nice for a change.

The Local School Superintendent

There are two types of school administrators.

There is the type that plans for the future and controls costs.  This is the person that sets money aside for major renovations like a new roof.  They plan for growth by saving money for the new school that will be needed in 10 years.  They control costs by negotiating aggressively with every vendor and every labor resource.

And their districts have what they need.  They are trusted by the local community if a need for a additional funding comes along. 

And then there are the ones that spend it all.  These are the administrators that look at cutting school buses whenever local residents decline to support additional funding.  Their first tactic is to cut the things that inconvenience residents the most instead of economizing to minimize the impact of any cuts on the district.

Now those tactics are being writ large at the federal level due to the minimal reduction to the increase in federal spending by the "sequester".  As was reported elsewhere, the Department of Homeland Security released thousands of illegal immigrants and blamed the sequester.

Yet now we learn that the same agency is looking to hire close to 2,600 new federal employees.  Which leaves the reasonable suspicion that the release of illegal immigrants was more about political posturing than containing a bloated federal bureaucracy.

Quote Of The Day - Constitution Version

I'm totally ripping this off from Robb Allen of Sharp As A Marble.

Senator John McCain, not exactly my favorite Senator*, recently rebuffed Senator Rand Paul by stating:

"American citizens have nothing to fear from their government."

Which leads us to the Quote of the Day:

Wasn't (isn't) the entire point of the Constitution is that we do? 

I would include the Declaration of Independence as well.....



*Mr. McCain of the famed Keating Five.  Also, I once heard him refer to U.S. servicemembers who supported a literal reading of the Constitution as limiting federal power as being in need of "indoctrination".

Nothing like having a sitting U.S. Senator advocate for re-education camps to make your skin crawl.

Glowing In The Dark

What has been the real fallout from the earthquake, tsunami and failure of Fukushima nuclear power plant?  Not nearly as bad as predicted.  Not nearly as bad as was originally feared.

Rather than stand as a warning of the radiation danger posed by nuclear power, in other words, Fukushima has become a reminder that uninformed fears aren’t the same as actual risks.

I should point out that the results indicated were mostly non-zero.  However, the impact of those results is so slight as to warrant comparisons with living in Denver or working as an airline attendant; not exactly the sort of radiation hazards that causes folks to run wildly in a panic.

A sane national energy policy includes nuclear power with as many safety precautions built in as is humanly possible.  It also involves a rational and calm review of the facts.

A Good President

Stolen from Facebook via the Sgt. Grit:

Today in Marine Corps history: 11 March 1778: Marines participated in action when the Continental Navy frigate BOSTON, en route to France, sighted, engaged, and captured the British merchant ship MARTHA. As the drum of the BOSTON beat to arms, John Adams seized a musket and joined the Marines on deck until the frigate's captain, Samuel Tucker, sent him below for safety.

 You have to love a President that not only puts skin in the game, he puts his skin in the game!  I read the biography of John Adams by David McCullough.  I don't recall the above being included.  But I was certainly impressed by John Adams' life and commitment to our American ideals.

Bad Gun Advice Courtesy Of...

...Joe Biden.

For folks that wonder why pro-civil rights folks do not trust Democrats, Joe Biden is a near perfect case study.  He knows next to nothing about guns, but feels qualified to propose legislation for the entire country.

He recently suggested that a shotgun is as good as an AR-15 for self defense purposes.  He went so far as to suggest that you shoot a shotgun through a door at suspected assailants.

Aside from the fact that shotguns kick far more than an AR, the primary problem in the above is that it will buy you a ticket to court for reckless handling of a firearm.

Another problem with the above is....surprise....shotguns are used far more often to commit crimes than assault rifles.  The only weapon class used more often is an ordinary revolver.

These folks know nothing about guns yet feel qualified to legislate our lives.  Incredible.

Asset Forfeiture Gone Wild

So you own a building.  You rent office space to businesses.

One of those businesses makes a $37 pot sale to an undercover state trooper.

And the DEA decides to seize your building.

Tar and feather were invented for such moments.

Violence Against Women - Media Bias Edition

I was listening to an NPR report on John Boehner a couple days ago.  The reporter was insinuating that Mr. Boehner's leadership was lacking because he could not compel the GOP caucus in the House to support bills that his office was bringing to the House floor.  The example used was the recent continuation of the Violence Against Women Act.

The final bill passed in the House by a vote of 286 - 138.  Only 87 Republicans voted for this version of the bill.  Other Republicans had issues with the bill that ranged from questions of Constitutionality with regards to expanding tribal law enforcement authority beyond tribal members to ideological issues with providing abortion services to rape victims.

For the record, I think the Constitution matters.  Questions regarding Constitutionality matter.  I do not know if their concerns were fully legitimate as I have not studied the issue with any depth.

Also for the record, the GOP needs to get off the anti-abortion wagon.

Back to the issue of Mr. Boehner's leadership, I find it curious that he is being criticized for bringing a bill to the floor that passed the House and was signed into law as this is being typed.  He is the Speaker of the House.  He is not the Speaker of the GOP in the House.  Mr. Boehner's position exists to serve every American. 

So he brought a bill with bi-partisan support to the floor for a vote.  That is is job.

Isn't bi-partisanship something we want?  Or does bi-partisanship only count when the GOP is caving to a Democratic initiative?

The Holocaust

In case you missed it, researchers at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum recently released updated information on the Holocaust.

Everyone....at least those in the reality based community...agrees that the Holocaust was massive tragedy.  What they don't know, is that was worse than anyone realized.

Go and read.  I can't do it justice.

Those Little Cuts

I've observed this elsewhere, so it may as well go here, too.

When we had the so-called "fiscal cliff", we had roughly US$85billion in tax increases.  With the "sequester", we have had roughly US$85billion in spending cuts.  To be sure, those cuts are poorly focused.  If only we could get the Democrats to be responsible partners in passing a federal budget.

While I support an 80/20 ratio of cuts to tax increases, I also think that the above is "balanced".  Or at least, the perception of "balance" is a good test between a reasonable observer and a ideologue or a partisan.

It is hard to know exactly what the problem is with the Democrats in the Congress as well as our President.  I suspect that they see government spending as a means of power and control.  Anything that diminishes that power is something they oppose.

I also suspect that they may also suffer from a sense of denial.  Like every other person that has taken a real world look at our budgetary problems, they understand that the driving force behind our out of control spending is the unrestrained and unsustainable growth in social programs.  But because their "base" has been sold on the relative merit of those programs, they do not dare act as responsible legislators and begin limiting spending in that area.

Instead, we continue on an inexorable course towards national fiscal insolvency with plenty of pain for people that will find themselves dependent on government programs.

One disappointment is the lack of Presidential leadership on the issue.  Mr. Obama has said that we need to cut wasteful spending.  I have heard him issue such pronouncements in the past.

Yet he has not seen fit to demonstrate any leadership on the issue.  The White House has yet to issue a detailed list of programs to be cut.  Rather than work face to face with the Republicans to develop cuts that make sense, Mr. Obama has returned....again, and again...to the campaign trail.

The Democrats in the Senate are worse.  They haven't passed a budget for almost four years.  They won't pass their own budget.  They voted against Mr. Obama's budget in significant numbers.  And they refuse to bring any budget passed by the House to the floor of the Senate.

They are doing little more than closing their eyes and hoping that are nation's fiscal issues will somehow disappear.

Their eyes are closed. 

Ours are not.

Oh Mighty Passion

From John Cox....

I suspect engineering a few other fields of endeavor would suffer as well.

Plenty of other great art to see while you are visiting his site.

The Songstress

Carole King is one of America's musical treasures.  Here are ten songs that you might know were written by this talented woman.

I mean....The Monkees....really??

Economics, Like Gravity

What do you do when the price of gasoline rises?  Do you adjust your driving habits?  Do you consider purchasing a more fuel efficient vehicle?

If you are a normal person with a normal budget, then you do some combination of the above.

Why should we expect normal people running normal businesses to behave any differently?

If government regulations impose additional costs for people that work more than twenty nine hours a week, then normal people will limit employees to twenty nine hours.  If government regulations impose additional costs if you have fifty employees or more, then normal people will limit their number of employees to forty nine.

These are the normal, predictable consequences of poorly developed government policies.  Courtesy of Mr. Obama and the Democrats, a whole lot of people who are already struggling to survive will find themselves less able to find full time employment at wages that will allow them to live something close to a normal life.

DUI With Zero Evidence

How would you like to be found guilty of driving under the influence even if there is no proof that you were in fact driving under the influence.  Perhaps you were under the influence at some point in the past few days...or perhaps weeks.  Perhaps you were under the influence in a time and place where it was legal for you to be in that condition.

Then you get pulled over days...or perhaps weeks....later while you are quite sober.  And based on residual chemicals in your blood stream due to past events, you end up convicted of a DUI.

And the courts endorse this conviction due to the twisted idea that actually conducting an accurate test for whether or not you are under the influence would "unduly restrict law enforcement."

That's right.  Our right to a trial based on fact is less important that the convenience of law enforcement.

So What Happens When...

...you are a clown who exists to create laughter in the world when your daughter is dying and you cannot imagine a reason to laugh ever again.

The story was shared with The Moth Radio Hour by Anthony Griffith.  Stories presented by The Moth are more typically humorous.  This one is not.

However, it is a singular act of bravery as Mr. Griffith opens the deepest wound in his life for our inspection.  And, one hopes, our empathy.

I Love Libraries

As does John Scalzi.  Have a read.  Then visit your local library to see what you have been missing.

A Breakdown Of Sorts

I am getting to the end of a little "break" from participating on Facebook.  Quite frankly, the whole gun debate was getting to me in unhealthy ways.

A big part of the problem is that there is no firm basis for a reasoned discussion of the subject.  The "facts" have been polluted by liars to the extent that rational people are no longer able to express an argument that is based in reality.

Robb Allen of Sharp As A Marble links to an article penned by a doctor that is filled with factual errors.  Somewhere, someone with a lack of knowledge about guns and who is trusting of medical professionals will read that story and become committed to banning or severely restricting gun rights.

And it will be impossible to have a rational discussion with that person until you first go through the laborious effort of emptying out the lies and replacing them with facts.

A short list of the lies involved include:

• Including 24 year old adults as "children".
• Using heart disease as a comparative with gun deaths.  Heart disease is the result of decades of low exercise, poor food choices, and smoking.  Children don't get heart disease because they haven't lived long enough.
• Not using drownings as a comparative with gun deaths.  Because kids (the real kind) die from drowning at a much higher rate than they do from guns.  Yet the movement to ban backyard pools is pretty ineffective.
• Talks about rates of fire as if it makes a difference in the number of deaths.  The issue is not the gun.  It is the intent/purpose of the person holding it.
• Calls our rights "privileges" and states that they were "granted" by the Constitution.  Our rights, including the right to self defense, existed before the Constitution was written.  It only acknowledged what already existed.

The list continues in the comments.  Having a rational discussion on gun issues is impossible because of the rhetorical filth such as the above that have contaminated public discourse.  Perhaps irreparably so.

Book Recommendation: Flowers For Algernon

Charlie Gordon.  Mentally handicapped.  Then a genius.

In "Flowers For Algernon", author Daniel Keyes presents a first person view of the life of someone who is marginalized by society due to his lack of mental ability.  He cannot remember without years of repetition.  And if he cannot remember, then he cannot repeat.  Nor can he consider his actions to see if they could be changed for the better.

Such are the challenges of some of our most marginalized citizens.

The book is Charlie's story told from his perspective.  It is written as a kind of journal that Charlie is keeping at the request of his doctor.  The spelling and grammar reflect that of a person who barely possesses the ability to write.  Charlie is an open, honest, trusting, and caring individual.  He wants to do well.

And he is treated by those around him with just about as much compassion and love as you might expect.

Until the surgery.  A team of doctors believes they have developed a means for improving intelligence.  They have tried it out on mice.  It seems to work quite well.

Charlie agrees to undergo the procedure.  And in the days and weeks to follow, he gets smarter.  He learns.

He learns how much he has been missing.  He reads voraciously.  Knowledge is assimilated at an astounding rated.

He also learns how poorly his "friends" have been treating him.

"Flowers For Algernon" was one of those books that you heard about when I was in school.  Being an avid science fiction fan, I saw the title several times and had always intended to read it.  Chance and happenstance had other ideas on the matter.

Fortunately, used book stores are a treasure trove of books that people have always been meaning to read.

"Flowers For Algernon" is one of those rare modern books that really should be more prominent in our school curriculum.  It is at turns an instruction on the importance of treating people properly regardless of their abilities, or lack thereof, as well as a thought provoking journey that should cause us to envision a wider world of "what if".

It is impossible to create that world of "what if" without first seeing it in our minds.

Spoilers after the break.