Archive for the ‘Society’ Category
Subject or citizen?
“Oh posterity, you will never know how much it cost us to preserve your freedom. I hope that you will make a good use of it.”
- John Adams, second U.S. president
Gratitude is a burden
“Men are more ready to repay an injury than a benefit because gratitude is a burden and revenge a pleasure.”
Tacitus, 56 AD – 120 AD, Roman historian
Racism or common sense?
Reading about Arizona’s new law dealing with illegal aliens, I got the impression that Arizona had done something radical by requiring non-citizens to carry documents proving their legal status in our country. Not so. The new Arizona law only enforces existing federal law, the Alien Registration Act passed by Congress in 1940. Arizona is only enforcing federal law the federal government refuses to enforce. This is an act of necessity, of common sense and is Arizona’s latest attempt to deal with 450,000 criminals in the state. Remember, illegal aliens are criminals, not undocumented immigrants.
Michael, Tiger and Ed
Do you recognize these men? I suspect you know two of them. Michael is Michael Jackson, his death garnering more media attention than President Reagan’s funeral. Tiger is Tiger Woods, his philandering capturing near continuous media attention with each new girlfriend revealed.
Elite universities – principled?
Some of our nation’s elite universities, including Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Yale, Dartmouth, Stanford, Cornell, Princeton and Penn, produce many of our nation’s leaders. But, do they model the values we want in our leaders, the principles we aspire to as a country? Are they the principled guardians of the academic freedom and independent thought they claim to be? Do they really represent the best of America?
It’s our choice
“The real problem is in the hearts and minds of men. It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.” Albert Einstein
It’s our Constitution
Contrary to the wishes of Congress, the Supreme Court and the lower courts, “we the people” in our capacity as jurors and state legislators have the power to nullify laws we find unconstitutional.
Supreme Court – Constitutional guardian or Guardian Council?
Does the Supreme Court submit to the authority of the United States Constitution, as it should? Or, is it complicit with Congress, functioning beyond its constitutional powers?
The Consitution v. the federal government
The Declaration of Independence states, “. . . these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.” This sentiment was reaffirmed in 1781 in the Articles of Confederation which states, “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States . . . .”
The Bill of Prvileges
The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution, was ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1791. The Constitution was ratified four years earlier in 1787.
“Humans are more important than hardware”
On Christmas day, a Nigerian man boarded Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit with a bomb he planned to detonate over the United States, his success prevented more by luck than skill.
Politically correct bad science
The accuracy of environmental science research is critical because decrees by the United States impact the world, along with the consequences of that science. So, shouldn’t we question environmental science? And, if that science is solid, shouldn’t questioning be welcomed, rather than feared?
What is public and what is private?
Does the public have a right to know everything? Does freedom of the press have any limits? Is anything private? Is everything fair game? How might Tiger Woods answer these questions? “Yes, no, no, yes.” Moreover, these questions have little to do with any claimed right to privacy, and all to do with the Constitution.
The damnpolitician and the farmer
They assumed people like you and me would give time to our country and return home to live as everyone else, rather than staying in Washington becoming a member of the political aristocracy, becoming a career politician. Perhaps one of the greatest failures of the Founding Fathers was not anticipating the career politician.
Teaching children to murder
Littleton, Colorado, 1999; Santee, California, 2001; Cold Springs, Minnesota, 2003; Jacksboro, Tennessee, 2005; Cleveland, Ohio, 2007. These are just a few of the 60 school shootings occurring since Columbine in 1999, double previous decades.
Our children, violence, and murder
What is happening to our children? Children with guns murdering children. Does this support the need for gun control, as advanced by the media and the politically correct, both with a fanciful capacity to not allow facts to interfere with their opinions?
The healthcare agenda
Why is the government continuing to push healthcare reform, ignoring, dismissing and disparaging anyone who disagrees? Why have so many members of Congress refused to have town hall meetings during the August recess? Why are they afraid to face us, their employers?
Claiming racism be racist
Four police officers and two men; one black, a noted Harvard professor, and one Jewish, a famous singer –each with a recent police encounter.
Is it too late?
Is it too late for the United States of America? Are we doomed to follow the timetable Sir John Glubb outlined in “The Fate of Empires,” surviving about 250 years? Or, are we different from the failed empires he studied? The outcome is our choice.
“…equal protection of the laws”
New Haven, Connecticut, discarded a fire department promotion exam when white firefighters outscored minority firefighters. The city did so because it feared lawsuits, not because the exam was unfair. The United States Supreme Court ruled against the city, with Chief Justice John Roberts suggesting that had the scores been reversed the city would not have discarded the exam.
