Friday, February 05, 2010

Is it The Majority or the Minority?

Instapundit links to a Real Clear Politics piece titled Gallup: Majority of Dems View Socialism Positively, which links to the original Gallup poll numbers which display under the title Socialism Viewed Positively by 36% of Americans.

This leads me to state that this 36% of Americans who view socialism positively, the minority, in conjunction with the 53% of Democrats who view socialism positively, and the 61% of liberals who view socialism positively, with the complicity of Congress, are dragging the majority of individuals in America to the hell that is socialism.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/05 at 08:15 AM
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Thursday, February 04, 2010

Wonders of the Brain

Brain injuries can be devastating, particularly when an individual’s brain is so injured as to render the individual to be diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, which makes the following rather amazing.

Many of the patients were labeled with the same grim diagnosis: “vegetative state.” Their head injuries, teams of specialists had concluded, condemned them to a netherworld—alive yet utterly devoid of any awareness of the world around them.

But an international team of scientists decided to try a bold experiment using the latest technology to peek inside the minds of 54 patients to see whether, in fact, they were conscious.

One by one, the men and women were placed inside advanced brain scanners as technicians gave them careful instructions: Imagine you are playing tennis. Imagine you are exploring your home, room by room. For most, the scanner showed nothing.

But, shockingly, for one, then another, and another, and yet two more, the scans flashed exactly like any healthy conscious person’s would. These patients, the images clearly indicated, were living silently in their bodies, their minds apparently active. One man could even flawlessly answer detailed yes-or-no questions about his life before his trauma by activating different parts of his brain.

From a Washington Post article headlined In ‘vegetative state’ patients, brain scanners show some alert minds.

One thing I was rather surprised at in reporting this, is that this new information was not sensationalized.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/04 at 11:46 AM
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Had or Simply Gullible?

Instapundit points to a Honolulu Magazine editorial penned by A. Kam Napier titled May Cooler Heads Prevail.

Mr. Napier is put off by the Climategate scandal, stating that "I feel I’ve been had," and understandbly so I would say.  I welcome the fact that Napier is now expressing his dissatisfaction with the individuals who have been attempting to foist upon the world their green ideology through ruses, faux science, and political force.

Mr. Napier makes one particular statement in his editorial, though, which tends to make him appear gullible, rather than had.

One thing I could not have known in 1996 was that the IPCC’s warming predictions would be wrong.

Gullibility is defined as being “easily duped or cheated,” and when Napier states he ”...could not have known in 1996 that the IPCC’s warming predictions would be wrong.," he is stating that he fully accepted, without any questioning, IPCC warming predictions data as fact, and if accepting predictions as fact is not gullibility, I don’t know what is.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/04 at 10:02 AM
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I'm a Happy Man

Wendy McElroy has a short essay posted titled What Is Happiness? which is worth reading.  I particularly think that the following paragraph from Wendy’s essay is important.

The approach that has always intrigued me is the view of happiness as a character trait—almost as a habit of personality. You sometimes refer to an individual as a “happy person” in the same way you call someone “an angry man” or “a worry-wart.” The “happy people” I’ve met exude a sense of self-acceptance and peace-of-mind. But more than this, they enjoy the process of living and their enjoyment doesn’t seem to hinge upon specific experiences or acquisitions. They probably prefer to be rich but great wealth wouldn’t make them significantly happier than having enough to satisfy their basic needs.

Well said.  I’m a happy man.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/04 at 09:54 AM
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von Mises' "Human Action" for $25 Bucks

The Ludwig von Mises Institute had their servers crashed, yesterday, when they offered up for sale some recently found hardcovers (87 of them - ed.) of Ludwig von Mises’ economics treatise Human Action.

The institute is now offering von Mises’ Human Action for $25 bucks.

I fervently desire that the institute’s servers be crashed again.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/04 at 09:35 AM
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You Must Be This Tall to Ride

Most of us have been to an amusement park, at some time in our lives, and noted the signs at various carnival rides stating You must be this tall to ride.

I thought of this, just now, when I read the following.

... a North Korean is on average six inches shorter than a South Korean. You may care to imagine how much surplus value has been wrung out of such a slave, and for how long, in order to feed and sustain the militarized crime family that completely owns both the country and its people.

As Randall McElroy iii notes, at The Distributed Republic,

Six inches?! North and South Koreans formed a common genetic pool until the Korean War, and now they differ on average by six inches in height? If we needed a clearer sign that Stalinism is always and everywhere an economic failure, this is it.

The initial quote, which Randall commented on, was taken from a Slate piece titled A Nation of Racist Dwarfs.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/04 at 09:22 AM
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Honor for the Fallen

Ed Rasimus has a post up titled There Must Be Something in My Eye, relating the story of a fallen soldier being escorted home.  There must be something in my eye, also.

I’m going to take a morning walk and reflect.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/04 at 07:35 AM
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Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Wole Soyinka Reminds Me of Oriana Fallaci

Oriana Fallaci was an eloquent, acerbic writer.  I enjoyed her vitriol, immensely.  Tunku Varadarajan recently interviewed Wole Soyinka, and his direct responses rival Fallaci’s in eloquence, acerbity and vitriol.  The interview is titled Wole Soyinka’s British Problem. A fine quote from the interview.

“We should assemble all those who are pure and cannot abide other faiths, put them all in rockets, and fire them into space."

Via Arts & Letters Daily.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/03 at 07:42 PM
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Wanted - Mentally Retarded or Mental Illness Afflicted Attorneys at USDOJ

I have a cousin who is mentally retarded, what we used to call mongoloid. She is articulate in her conversations, in a simple way, and enjoys her extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.  She is employed, but not in an exceptionally challenging position, and is proud of her accomplishments, limited though they may be.

With that said, I was suprised to read, at the Wall Street Journal’s Best of the Web Today, that the United States Department of Justice is looking to hire mentally retarded attorneys or attorneys that are afflicted with mental illness.  In fact, attorneys who may be afflicted with such “disablities” are targeted, meaning applicant attorneys afflicted with the above will receive preferential consideration.

The Civil Rights Division encourages qualified applicants with targeted disabilities to apply. Targeted disabilities are deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial or complete paralysis, convulsive disorder, mental retardation, mental illness, severe distortion of limbs and/or spine...

If you think I am kidding, here, the above quote is taken directly from the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Voting Section, want ad for trial attorneys.

Is this wise?

Posted by John Venlet on 02/03 at 05:11 PM
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Paul, The Corinthians, and The Fallible Word

As an individual of faith I am always intrigued to read various viewpoints put forth regarding the Bible.  As a rational thinking individual, I read the writings, as collected within the Bible, with a somewhat jaundiced eye, realizing that The Creator, as I consider Him/Her (take your pick), creating myself in His image, and a just bit lower than the angels, does not require me to abandon my reasoning capabilities when reading what has been collected and promulgated to us in the Bible, by men.

With this in mind, I point to an essay at the blog Classically Liberal titled Some thoughts on the letters of Paul. The author is a former seminary student, now atheist (The complete atheist is more respectable than the man who is indifferent.  He is on the last rung preceding perfect faith. - Albert Camus in The Possessed).  From the essay.

People kept many of Paul’s letters, copied them over and passed them around. Or, more likely, someone read them aloud since most Christians were illiterate. Paul was seen as the one who converted them to this new “one true” faith. So his advice was taken seriously.

But there is no indication that anyone, at the time, thought these letters were the “word of God.” That came much later...

Via Jason Kuznicki at the blog Positive Liberty in a post titled Like Water Through My Hands. Interesting comment thread at Jason’s post also.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/03 at 12:52 PM
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Klompen Dancing Free Speech into the Mud of the Netherlands

The wooden shoe, the klompen, was made famous by the Dutch.

Unfortunately, the klompen dancing of free speech into the mud of the Netherlands may now make the Dutch infamous as Dutch courts continue to rule against Geert Wilders’ right of free speech due to his criticisms of Islam.

An Amsterdam court said on Wednesday it will hear the case against right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders on charges of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims, rejecting his request to be judged in the Supreme Court.

Dutch court will hear case against far-right MP

Posted by John Venlet on 02/03 at 08:59 AM
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"There’s many people that that doesn’t happen to"

On January 15th of this year, I linked to a Vin Suprynowicz post which related the story about an individual living in Las Vegas whose business was robbed, and who was handcuffed and disarmed by the responding law enforcement personnel for providing proof of his identity and legal right to carry a firearm (CCW).  I titled that post Making Certain “That We Were All Safe,” Said the Cop, as the Handcuffs Clicked.

Vin has once again posted on this incident, providing additional details from both the individual handcuffed and disarmed, and from the law enforcement personnel involved, which bears reading.

The title to this post, is taken from a statement uttered by Sheriff Doug Gillespie, of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and I suppose the statement is meant to comfort law abiding citizens everywhere.

Vin’s post is titled CCW: A license to be handcuffed and disarmed.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/03 at 08:45 AM
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"Gothic Kittens"

I am not a fan of cats, and though kittens can be cute, as I have stated in the past, the trouble with kittens is that they grow into cats.

Which leads to this news.  A woman in Pennsylvania has been charged with animal cruelty and criminal conspiracy, for providing some kittens with piercings.

Crawford allegedly pierced the ears and necks of the 2-month-old kittens and tried to sell them on the Internet as “gothic kittens.”

Hey, if the state is going to charge this woman with animal cruelty for piercing kittens, shouldn’t they be going after those individuals who dress up their cats and dogs, too?  I mean how cruel it is for those poor critters to be dressed up in cowboy outfits, dolly dresses or what have you.

Jury set for woman accused of piercing kittens - Holly Crawford of Ross Twp. allegedly planned to sell cats online as “gothic kittens.”

Cute “gothic kitten” photo at story source.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/03 at 08:22 AM
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Monday, February 01, 2010

One Small Detail, Burns Through Cash

I appreciate the fact that their are individual minds out there that can figure things out like nuclear fission, and when I read headlines such as this, Fusion Power a Step Closer After Giant Laser Blast, I think, excellent, and why haven’t the minds in the world figured this out sooner.

Two things about this story.  First.

A working prototype of a such a plant could be built in a decade, Glenzer said.

I recommend you don’t sell off your utility stocks just yet.  Ten years is a bit away, and, more importatly in ten years there only could be a prototype.

The second thing about this story, though, indicates the lightbulb of this idea is a bit dim.

"Each one of these (fuel pellet - ed.) costs between ten [thousand] and a hundred thousand dollars,” Mauel said. To use the pellet method to generate nuclear fusion power, “they’ll have to cost less than ten cents a piece."

I’d have to say that that’s a pretty big cost spread for each individual fuel pellet, too, not to mention the economies of scale required to get each fuel pellet down to less than ten cents a piece.

I don’t want to pay for it, but I probably am.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/01 at 07:13 PM
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American Cultural Hegemony in Action, Eastern Style

I do not know many Indians personally, but those I have crossed paths with in my life have been wonderful people.  Seemingly self reliant, interested in life, and polite.

It appears that Indians’ interest in the freedoms of the West; and yes, I know Western freedoms are under constant assail in Western countries; now is being directed at private ownership of guns.

In the land of Mahatma Gandhi, Indian gun owners are coming out of the shadows for the first time to mobilize, U.S.-style, against proposed new curbs on bearing arms…

Although India’s 1959 Arms Act gives citizens the legal right to own and carry guns, it is not a right enshrined in the country’s constitution. Getting a license is a cumbersome process, and guns cannot be bought over the counter—requirements that gun owners describe as hangovers from the colonial past, when the British rulers disarmed their Indian subjects to head off rebellion…

Last week, the National Association for Gun Rights India began meeting with lawmakers and consulting lawyers in a bid to stall the proposals. The group’s president is a 39-year-old lawmaker, Naveen Jindal, who studied at the University of Texas business school in Dallas. Inspired by American students’ displays of patriotism, Jindal earlier launched a successful campaign for Indians’ right to display the national flag outside their homes and offices.

I wish the Indians success, but they should bear in mind the following, regarding gun ownership, as stated by Billy Beck.

I have more principled reasons for my stand on owning firearms, and I don’t care one whit in the world for the Second Amendment. It means nothing to me. My rights have nothing to do with the U.S. Constitution, and when it dawns on people that it has finally been erased—the principal danger of all political premises posed as “social contracts”—my rights will still validly exist, even if I die defending them. I own firearms because I have a right to private property. That is the First Thing.

New groups mobilize as Indians embrace the right to bear arms

Link to Washington Post article via Bill St. Clair.

UPDATE: Inadvertantly omitted quote of Billy Beck.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/01 at 04:25 PM
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