I'll be right upfront about this: I think our current President of the United States is a marble mouthed chimp who managed to stay in office because there are enough simpletons in middle America that voted a straight party line without considering the alternatives. And if that didn't shoot my credibility to hell, here's my main point.
In his "plan" for the Iraq War, President Bush wants to commit another 20,000 or so troops to Iraq. The Democrats of Congress, who have had just about enough of being slapped around like Tina Turner, have stood up and collectively said "Nuh-uh." They're not going to give the President a blank check to wear his cowboy hat, fire pistols in the air and yell "Yee-haw!" while he tries to slap a Band-aid on the problem.
President Bush's reply is "Well, what would YOU do about it?" Don't fall for that. You don't have to step in a pile of dog mess to know that it smells like crap, and President Bush is trying to dodge the issue by putting the question on the party in power. Whether the Democrats want to convert all of Iraq to Christianity, or raze the whole thing and put in a Muslim-themed amusement park doesn't matter; they don't have to answer a fallacious question like "If you don't like my plan, why don't you come up with something?" Because they already have: not supplying an infinite number of people to stay around and make sure that Iraq grows in the President's wishes.
Soldiers are not Army Men. When they get shot, or run over, or other horrible circumstances, they get hurt, and die. I don't think the President grasps this. To him, the Army really is the equivalent of a bunch of two-inch tall green guys that will go back into the white tub after playtime is over.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Legal Slavery
One of the first acts of the 110th United States Congress was to raise the national minimum wage from $5.15 to $5.85, $6.55, and finally $7.25 on March 11, 2009.
As a note, the state of Washington has the highest minimum wage in all of the land, at $7.93, just raised this past week from $7.63.
This is not just a bad idea. This is crippling to small business, inviting illegal immigrants to stay here, and encourages people to suckle at the government teat for as long as possible, coming to trust the government to provide everything for them.
Small businesses (such as small retailers, service companies and others) live and die by their profit margin. Every time the minimum wage increases, they have two choices: increase prices and potentially drive away customers, or eat the difference.
Immigrants who come here for their piece of the American Dream don't do the kind of work that you would be paid $20 an hour to do. They're picking fruit and things like that.
A wage is your reward for a job performed. People should earn an amount of money similar to the amount of skill or experience it takes to do the job. You do not need life skills to stack boxes, pick fruit or assemble widgets on an assembly line. Those are the stepping stone jobs that you take in order to earn pocket money and experience. Those jobs should pay $5 and $6 an hour. If that, really. There's no reason that running a cash register should be worth $10 an hour to a teenager. But the government thinks it's what's right, so they're going to crush small businesses left and right just because they can.
Finally, and most importantly, if people rely on the government to provide a living wage, it's no stretch to ask the government to provide health care, car insurance, and all sorts of other stuff. We'll become peons at their whimsy. (Of course, some people are already there, and they won't know the difference.)
As a note, the state of Washington has the highest minimum wage in all of the land, at $7.93, just raised this past week from $7.63.
This is not just a bad idea. This is crippling to small business, inviting illegal immigrants to stay here, and encourages people to suckle at the government teat for as long as possible, coming to trust the government to provide everything for them.
Small businesses (such as small retailers, service companies and others) live and die by their profit margin. Every time the minimum wage increases, they have two choices: increase prices and potentially drive away customers, or eat the difference.
Immigrants who come here for their piece of the American Dream don't do the kind of work that you would be paid $20 an hour to do. They're picking fruit and things like that.
A wage is your reward for a job performed. People should earn an amount of money similar to the amount of skill or experience it takes to do the job. You do not need life skills to stack boxes, pick fruit or assemble widgets on an assembly line. Those are the stepping stone jobs that you take in order to earn pocket money and experience. Those jobs should pay $5 and $6 an hour. If that, really. There's no reason that running a cash register should be worth $10 an hour to a teenager. But the government thinks it's what's right, so they're going to crush small businesses left and right just because they can.
Finally, and most importantly, if people rely on the government to provide a living wage, it's no stretch to ask the government to provide health care, car insurance, and all sorts of other stuff. We'll become peons at their whimsy. (Of course, some people are already there, and they won't know the difference.)
Monday, January 8, 2007
Whose rights are more important?
In Minnesota, cab drivers who ferry people from the airport to wherever they need to be are claiming that they will not take fares from people who have service dogs, or who are carrying alcohol. The former is deemed unclean, and the later outlawed, so both are outside the realm of what is allowed by the Qur'an. The cab drivers are asserting their First Amendment rights to their freedom of religion.
If this sort of hair-splitting is allowed, we as a country are in for a world of hurt. The freedom of religion grants the freedom to practice whatever religion you want, not to impose your standards on other people. Blind people are being discriminated against, because they are denied a fare if they have a service dog. I would rather grant rights to someone who has a physical challenge than someone who is choosing to run a business in this country.
In this case, the drivers are trying to have it both ways. They want the freedoms of living in our country, but when they have a problem with something, instead of making the decision to undertake a different profession, they cry that their rights are trampled.
I realize that I've been on a "rights" kick as of late, but these stories keep cropping up in the news, and I don't like where our country is headed.
If this sort of hair-splitting is allowed, we as a country are in for a world of hurt. The freedom of religion grants the freedom to practice whatever religion you want, not to impose your standards on other people. Blind people are being discriminated against, because they are denied a fare if they have a service dog. I would rather grant rights to someone who has a physical challenge than someone who is choosing to run a business in this country.
In this case, the drivers are trying to have it both ways. They want the freedoms of living in our country, but when they have a problem with something, instead of making the decision to undertake a different profession, they cry that their rights are trampled.
I realize that I've been on a "rights" kick as of late, but these stories keep cropping up in the news, and I don't like where our country is headed.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Ends vs. Means
This news item has me scared, in more ways than one. Here's the link. The guy is a total creep, or was, depending if you believe him when he says that he hasn't looked at the hidden camera video bits. Even so, putting a hidden camera in your own home for the purpose of spying on people in your bathroom is deplorable. I'm glad that he was caught, and that he won't be teaching anymore.
But if only things were ever that easy. The "evidence" in this case was found by a house sitter while the teacher was on vacation. The sitter did not have permission to use the computer, but she went online to determine if the power had been restored to her neighborhood. After that, she opened a folder and found a second-rate version of the Spice Channel. If this was a police investigation, that sort of evidence would be inadmissible, because it was obtained illegally. There are laws in place to protect the accused against this sort of trampling.
I want to be absolutely clear on this: I'm all for personal responsibility, and I think that criminals are by-and-large too lightly punished for the crimes they commit. But when we have people snooping on each other in the name of gathering evidence, we're about one teeny step away from becoming a police state.
There's no easy solution here. If the ends do justify the means, then that opens the door to all kinds of violations of personal space and privacy. If not, then a complete sleaze gets away because his rights were trounced. I don't have the answer. I'm not sure where my opinion is.
But if only things were ever that easy. The "evidence" in this case was found by a house sitter while the teacher was on vacation. The sitter did not have permission to use the computer, but she went online to determine if the power had been restored to her neighborhood. After that, she opened a folder and found a second-rate version of the Spice Channel. If this was a police investigation, that sort of evidence would be inadmissible, because it was obtained illegally. There are laws in place to protect the accused against this sort of trampling.
I want to be absolutely clear on this: I'm all for personal responsibility, and I think that criminals are by-and-large too lightly punished for the crimes they commit. But when we have people snooping on each other in the name of gathering evidence, we're about one teeny step away from becoming a police state.
There's no easy solution here. If the ends do justify the means, then that opens the door to all kinds of violations of personal space and privacy. If not, then a complete sleaze gets away because his rights were trounced. I don't have the answer. I'm not sure where my opinion is.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
How Many Must Die?
At 7:20 am, PST, Douglas Chanthabouly entered Foss High School and murdered 17-year-old Samnang Kok. The suspect was found and captured without a struggle later on, and is reportedly cooperating with Tacoma police. Much has been made about how Douglas snuck a gun unto his school bus, into the school and committed murder. Now, district officials are running around trying to figure out how to not let this happen again. Too bad it's already too late for Kok.
The school district has set up a narc hotline, so students can call in when they see guns or other weapons that are brought to school. I don't know when the whole "code of the schoolyard" thing started, where you don't tattle no matter what, but I think that time has passed.
The problem is that the hotline does nothing. The gun is already there at school. The district feels good because they think they've taken steps to prevent the problem, but they haven't.
Solving this problem will require money. Spending money isn't popular, but how many more students have to be cut down in a spray of bullets before people decide that it's time to lay out some green? I see no problem with metal detectors at every entrance, vetted police officers roaming the halls, and teachers who can actually command respect--and possibly even fear--in the classroom.
Until these changes are made, we'll just be spinning our wheels.
The school district has set up a narc hotline, so students can call in when they see guns or other weapons that are brought to school. I don't know when the whole "code of the schoolyard" thing started, where you don't tattle no matter what, but I think that time has passed.
The problem is that the hotline does nothing. The gun is already there at school. The district feels good because they think they've taken steps to prevent the problem, but they haven't.
Solving this problem will require money. Spending money isn't popular, but how many more students have to be cut down in a spray of bullets before people decide that it's time to lay out some green? I see no problem with metal detectors at every entrance, vetted police officers roaming the halls, and teachers who can actually command respect--and possibly even fear--in the classroom.
Until these changes are made, we'll just be spinning our wheels.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
New Year, Same Problems
A Seattle Times article from yesterday confirms my worst fears. Puget Sound region highway construction costs will increase 31% over the projected costs for one made-up reason or another. And where, oh where, does the government expect to make up the shortfall? Project cuts? Sure, no one will notice that the promised six-lane highways now have two-lanes. An increase in the gas or sales tax? Absolutely! People are already strapped at the pump, they'll gladly pay a few pennies more per gallon for their roads to be finished.
The government of the Puget Sound has been lying to their people for the last twenty years. Anyone could have predicted the prices of cement and steel, but those amounts were not taken into account beforehand, so the extra cost is shlepped over to the sheep of the area.
The worst part is not so much that anyone with an ounce of sense could have seen this coming. The worst part is that the people who we elect to the top positions in the area don't represent us. They're out for their own gain, and to that end they want to move as much money as possible from our pockets to their portfolios. The only thing we can do is to vote in people who--shock of all shocks!--actually represent us.
But we're not willing to do that. Or at least those of us with an ounce of sense who are willing to do that are out voted by the hundreds of thousands of sheep who believe whatever their elected officials tell them.
The government of the Puget Sound has been lying to their people for the last twenty years. Anyone could have predicted the prices of cement and steel, but those amounts were not taken into account beforehand, so the extra cost is shlepped over to the sheep of the area.
The worst part is not so much that anyone with an ounce of sense could have seen this coming. The worst part is that the people who we elect to the top positions in the area don't represent us. They're out for their own gain, and to that end they want to move as much money as possible from our pockets to their portfolios. The only thing we can do is to vote in people who--shock of all shocks!--actually represent us.
But we're not willing to do that. Or at least those of us with an ounce of sense who are willing to do that are out voted by the hundreds of thousands of sheep who believe whatever their elected officials tell them.
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