common sense: 1, utopianism: 0

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Americans believe the National Security Agency (NSA) should be allowed to intercept telephone conversations between terrorism suspects in other countries and people living in the United States. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 23% disagree. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Americans say they are following the NSA story somewhat or very closely. Just 26% believe President Bush is the first to authorize a program like the one currently in the news. Forty-eight percent (48%) say he is not while 26% are not sure.

AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
I love it when the American people are smarter than half the Senate.

pick a side, any side

Munich mastermind spurns Spielberg's peace appeal
The Palestinian mastermind of the Munich Olympics attack in which 11 Israeli athletes died said on Tuesday he had no regrets and that Steven Spielberg's new film about the incident would not deliver reconciliation.
The Hollywood director has called "Munich," which dramatizes the 1972 raid and Israel's reprisals against members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), his "prayer for peace." ...
"If he really wanted to make it a prayer for peace he should have listened to both sides of the story and reflected reality, rather than serving the Zionist side alone," Daoud told Reuters by telephone from the Syrian capital, Damascus.

So Spielberg makes a movie that engages in rampant moral equivalency in an attempt to move the dream of peace in TLCKAI (The Land Currently Known As Israel) forward. Someone asks a prominent Palestinian terrorist what he thinks about this. The terrorist calls Spielberg a Zionist and says he should have portrayed both sides.
Is anyone still wondering why this conflict hasn't been solved yet? I'm just throwing out ideas here, but maybe it's because one side won't be happy until the other side is wiped off the face of the planet. Could be...

rap in a body bag

Six injured during CD release party
Three men were stabbed and three were shot during the New York release party for slain rapper Notorious B.I.G.'s CD, "Duets: The Final Chapter." The stabbings happened early Wednesday in the VIP room of the nightclub Exit while the shootings occurred in a parking garage across the street, the New York Post reported Thursday.

No, there's nothing inherently violent or dangerous about hip-hop culture. How intolerant of you... The amazing thing is that they were two separate incidents. I could understand if there was one big fight at a party, but people were stabbed in one place, then more people were shot in another place at a different time during the same event.
You notice nothing like this ever happens at raves.

domespionage

I'm not quite sure what to make of the recent news that the Bush administration (with the advise and consent of members of Congress, the Department of Justice, and the FISA court) authorized warrantless wiretapping of phone and email conversations between persons in the United States and known terrorists. Such information is obviously useful in the defense of the nation, but why were warrants not needed or acquirable? The FISA court that authorizes secret warrants for such intelligence activities almost always grants those requests. Why didn't the president just secure warrants instead of creating a program to do such intelligence gathering without them? There is a large piece of this story missing, and I don't think anyone can formulate a fully rational opinion either way until all the information is in. At this point it looks like POTUS has done something illegal for entirely justifiable reasons, but the jury is still out on this one. [12/19/05]

UPDATE: It has become more clear exactly what President Bush's secret wiretapping program that bypassed FISA was doing. Apparently the NSA was monitoring phone conversations to and from certain al Qaeda telephone numbers and persons (some citizens) in the United States. The reason no warrants were acquired (or acquirable) is that there was not a specific known person in the country that was being wiretapped. They were getting information on calls relayed from international numbers to any number of people domestically. So it was more like fishing than deer hunting.
In this case, I have zero problem with this program whether it is determined to be legal or not. Whine all you want, utopians. The president is doing his job.

Earth: 1, Envirofascists: 0

Careful Where You Put That Tree
Forget planting trees to negate your SUV's contribution to global warming -- according to Stanford University atmospheric scientist Ken Caldeira, forests in the wrong location can actually make the Earth hotter.
Plants absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, so scientists and policy makers have long assumed new forest growth helps combat global warming. At an American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco earlier this month, however, Caldeira rolled out a provocative new finding: Trees may be good at capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but their dark leaves are also very efficient at soaking up sunlight, which is later released as heat. At certain latitudes, the net effect of these two processes is warming, rather than cooling.

Another nail in the coffin of the envirofascists. Next thing you know, someone will discover that carbon dioxide actually is better for breathing than oxygen. Good times.

thou shalt not watch analog

Feb. 2009 Could Be End Of Analog TV
House lawmakers approved legislation early Monday that would complete the transition to all-digital television broadcasts by Feb. 17, 2009. The measure also would allocate up to $1.5 billion to help consumers with older, analog TV sets purchase converter boxes so they would continue to get service in the digital era. The date for all-digital and the subsidy were included in a broader deficit-cutting bill that the Senate could take up later Monday.

Well this is one of the most offensive things Congress has pulled out of its ass recently, and that's saying something.
Why is it any business of the federal government what kind of signals are broadcast by television networks? Why is it any business of the federal government what kind of television signals I can receive in my home? Why is it the responsibility of the federal government to provide new technologies to people who otherwise could not afford it? Why is it the responsibility of the federal government and not the free market to determine what technologies succeed or fail, and who gets to use them?
Answer: IT ISN'T.
The most offensive part of this story is that this program is being setup within the scope of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Congress is actually creating a $1.5 billion program to buy people digital converter boxes while trying to convince us that they're actually concerned about the budget. This is such a joke.
A vote of no confidence isn't looking so bad these days...

George Bush hates white people, too

Louisiana Releases Details on Deaths From Hurricane Katrina and Later Flooding
...
Of the 905 bodies examined at the central morgue set up by federal officials, 511 have been released for burial. Half of those were black, and almost all of the rest were white, according to State Health Department statistics. The latest breakdown, conducted when 488 victims had been released, showed that 248 were men and 240 were women. Most of the deaths, 360, were in New Orleans.

Based on this story and the official numbers so far (PDF), there were just as many non-blacks in Southeast Louisiana killed in and after Katrina than blacks. Of the 690 bodies identified, 48% were black, 42% white, and 10% were something else or undetermined.
Even more interesting, is that these numbers are not even representative of the actual population of New Orleans. According to 2000 Census numbers, the city was 67% black, 28% white, and 5% something else. So not only did just as many non-blacks as blacks die, but proportionally more white people and others died than blacks, in fact by twice as much for "others."
This is obviously preliminary information and not an exact comparison as we only have general Louisiana numbers compared to the specific population of New Orleans, but most of the deaths were in New Orleans, so there is still plenty of information to draw some tentative conclusion. Once we get an exact count of New Orleans residents and compare that to the city's population, we will know for sure what the ratio was.
But in the mean time, someone get Kanye West on the phone...

congratulations

Welcome to the carnival of democracy, Iraq. You're welcome.

insurgency splits

Iraqi insurgents urge Sunnis to vote, warn Zarqawi
Saddam Hussein loyalists who violently opposed January elections have made an about-face as Thursday's polls near, urging fellow Sunni Arabs to vote and warning al Qaeda militants not to attack.
In a move unthinkable in the bloody run-up to the last election, guerrillas in the western insurgent heartland of Anbar province say they are even prepared to protect voting stations from fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Well, isn't that special? The Ba'athists have officially denounced the Islamofascists and are formally participating in this week's parlaimentary elections. I bet Zarqawi is cutting random people's heads off in frustration. We can only hope that those people are his underlings.
Now what was it that all the "peace" loons were saying? "Those silly little brown people over there can't handle democracy. They've never had it, so they wouldn't know what to do with it." Right? Well it seems to me that democracy has now officially converted terrorists into citizens. So much for another Vietnam, eh?

one down, millions to go

Air marshal fatally shoots man at Miami airport
An agitated passenger who claimed to have a bomb in his backpack was shot and killed by a federal air marshal Wednesday after he bolted frantically from a jetliner that was boarding for take off, officials said. No bomb was found.

As a wise man once said, "He's an idiot. He's dead. Good."
I heard people today defending the actions of the officer, but qualifying their stance with the obligatory "But it's still a tragedy." Fuck that. Anyone who possesses the mental vigor to claim he has a bomb on his person and then refuses to comply with police orders gets zero sympathy from me, terrorist or not, surviving family or not.
Most strict libertarians would likely moan about increasing state power perpetuating a state of fear or some such nonsense. I on the other hand hold no grudge against state officers striking down those of us either too dangerous or simply incompetent to be trusted during wartime.

Why so down, Bill?
We're missing a moron. We're missing a moron!

no parlaiment, please

Canadian Government Falls on No-Confidence
A corruption scandal forced a vote of no-confidence Monday that toppled Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government, triggering an unusual election campaign during the Christmas holidays. Canada's three opposition party parties, which control a majority of seats in Parliament, voted against Martin's government, claiming his Liberal Party no longer had the moral authority to lead the nation. The loss means an election for all 308 seats in the lower House of Commons was likely to be held Jan. 23. Martin and his Cabinet would continue to govern until then.

I am so glad we don't have a parlaimentary system of government here. What utter chaos. These people and their coalition/minority governments are constantly in a state of near-anarchy. I understand the increased advantage of checks on your government, but simple partisan bickering shouldn't have the power to dissolve the entire government. I am much more in favor of short term elections and term limits than spontaneous dissolution at whim. Very strange, these parlaiment things. Federalism forever!
On the other hand, my general philosophy is still "the less government, the better." So I suppose a government than can abolish itself at any given time, and actually uses that power, is a handy government to have around. I am first in line to cheer any potential government shutdown over budgetary battles in this country. With all the Congressional busy-bodying and nannyism going on lately, I would have no problem if the entire legislative branch of the federal government went home and we got to pick new ones. Though with the present primary and two party system still in place, most new ones would be just as bad as the old ones.
So what's the solution? Any Canadians, Britons, Australians, or now Iraqis have any more positive takes on the parlaimentary system?

gasoline market analysis

I filled up my car today at $2.05 per gallon. The average price in the country is now $2.29 per gallon. The market is an amazing thing. Just six weeks ago, we were paying a record average $3.07 per gallon.
Even more amazing is the rampant hypocrisy of blame on this issue (and many others, obviously). A quick search for "record gas prices, bush" yields 1,550 results, while a search for "gas prices fall, bush" yields only 685 results (and even less for "gas prices drop, bush", at 653). Obviously this is an unscientific study. But why in the world would more than twice as many articles mention President Bush when discussing high gas prices than low ones? It couldn't be that inherent liberal perspectives in news organizations would lead them to associate negative information with a Republican president, now would it? No, of course not. There's no such thing as media bias, remember?
The spectacular thing about this simple search experiment is that Google only archives news items in its searches for a couple weeks, meaning that although gas prices have not been at their record levels for a month and a half, Google still has more articles about the record than it does about the decline. Stunning.

...and then what about gay jews?

Question: What do Jews and alternasexuals (my term for anyone not heterosexual) have in common?
Answer: Both are going to hell according to most Christian dogma.

Question: What is the difference between Jews and alternasexuals?
Answer: Only one is routinely protested, boycotted, mocked, and banished by Christians.

This hypocrisy occured to me today. Christians (not all, of course) routinely excoriate homosexuals, bisexuals, etc for their behavior or wanting equal rights or protections under the law, but are they more sinful than people who don't even believe that Jeezus is the Lowerd (hint: say it phonetically)?
Michael Savage was ranting today about how France is burning to the ground because they have been "homosexualized" and can no longer defend themselves. What about all the Jews in France? Do they invite Gawd's wrath too?

Some people...

Congress derides the profit motive

Ayn Rand must be spinning in her grave, the poor woman...

Today the always reliable (for a laugh or a fright) United States Senate was interrogating executives of ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP and Shell as to the source and purpose of their "obscene" profits from the third quarter of this year. These professional nannies have the gigantic balls to suggest that private enterprises do certain things with the money they make on the very same day that they removed portions of the Deficit Reduction Act that would have allowed those companies to invest their profits in new drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and in ANWR. Sheer madness, I tell you. I mean, I know they have that least common denominator to pander to, but this is just incomprehensible.
"["Republican"] Olympia Snowe of Maine, called on the major oil companies to voluntarily contribute to a federal program that helps low-income families pay part of their winter heating bills." The number of things wrong with that statement are incalculable. Oil companies owe nothing to the citizens of this country but a continuous supply of their product at whatever cost they deem necessary. The only thing to which they should be contributing is the increased efficiency of their business model. Maybe the low-income families that so desperately need lower heating bills should get off their asses and create a business that makes enough profit for Congress to haul them in for waterboarding.

Congress shall make no law...

Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...

Yet it's funny how they just keep finding ways to do so.

House Declines to Exempt Political Web Sites From Spending Rules
...
The House voted 225-182 for a bill that would have excluded blogs, e-mails and other Internet communications from regulation by the Federal Election Commission. That was 47 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed under a procedure that limited debate time and allowed no amendments.
The vote in effect clears the way for the FEC to move ahead with court-mandated rule-making to govern political speech and campaign spending on the Internet.

The rollcall was as follows:

Yes: R|179, D|46
No: R|38, D|143

In other words, Democrats no longer believe that prohibiting certain political speech a certain number of days before an election is "abriding the freedom of speech." Funny, I'm pretty sure anyone who can actually read knows that the First Amendment says precisely that.
Oh, and the president is just as illiterate for signing the original campaign finance reform bill in 2001. Just so we don't leave anyone out here...

liberal plantation carries on

In case anyone doubts the existence of the Liberal Plantation, witness:

Editorial: A nomination that will divide
...
In losing a woman, the court with Alito would feature seven white men, one white woman and a black man, who deserves an asterisk because he arguably does not represent the views of mainstream black America.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is of the opinion that US Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas does not count as black because he does not goose-step along with the rest of his race to pull the lever that says 'D' in the voting booth. In other words, Justice Thomas has left his "brothers" on the Liberal Plantation and now has no credibility (and indeed, no justified minority status) with the guys in the big house.

the profit motive

Last week ExxonMobil, Shell, and Marathon Oil all reported double digit profit increases for the 3rd quarter of 2005. While the usual suspects engage in their typical wailing and gnashing of teeth over capitalism doing its job, may I be one of the first to say congratulations. Congratulations to ExxonMobil for $9.92 billion. Congratulations to Royal Dutch Shell for $9.03 billion. Congratulations to Marathon Oil, a local Houston company, for their $770 million. That's how the business works.
What I find amazing is how everyone immediately points to higher gasoline prices as the source of all this "obscene" profit. Is it just me or have gasoline prices been rising since at least 2001? So this increase (which actually lessened in the last couple months) cannot be solely responsible for increased profits during three months of this year.

Furthermore, there is a profit more important and sinister than the one oil companies are legitimately making from the price of their products. According to the Tax Foundation, the federal government has received more tax revenue from gasoline purchases since 1977 than oil companies have received profit from them. While this comparison uses revenue for government and only profit for industry and ignores industry total revenue, the fact that the federal government has received over $1.34 trillion from gas taxes alone since that year should be immediately recognized as as the real "obscene" profit here.
If the federal government were really so concerned about how "high" fuel prices are affecting consumers, they would eliminate or at the very lease halve federal gasoline taxes.

Religion of Peace updates

Blast Kills 5 Israelis, Erodes Peace Hopes
A 20-year-old Palestinian blacksmith blew himself up at a falafel stand in an open-air market Wednesday, killing five Israelis and wounding more than 30 in the deadliest attack in the country in more than three months.
The bombing stifled faint peace hopes following Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip. The blast also embarrassed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who only hours earlier had scolded militant groups for repeatedly violating a truce.
The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, saying the attack was to avenge the killing of its West Bank leader by Israeli forces this week.
The bomber struck while the market in the central town of Hadera was bustling a day after being closed for the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.
After the attack, the bloodied body of a man in his 50's lay on the ground among scattered fruits and mangled metal shards. Rescue workers covered other bodies with blankets, walking on pools of blood and shattered glass. A section of the falafel stand's metal roof hung from a eucalyptus tree high above the market.

Iran's New President Says Israel 'Must Be Wiped Off the Map'
Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told a group of students at an anti-Israel event on Wednesday that Israel "must be wiped off the map" and that attacks by Palestinians would destroy it, the ISNA news agency reported.
He was speaking to about 4,000 students at a program called "The World Without Zionism," in preparation for an annual anti-Israel demonstration held on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. ...
"The establishment of a Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world," the news agency reported him as saying. "The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of the war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land."
Referring to comments by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic revolution, Mr. Ahmadinejad said, "As the imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map." ...
"Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury," he said. He added that any Islamic leader "who recognizes the Zionist regime means he is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world."

Religious war? Why, what makes you say such a silly thing?

so does that make the Pope fallible too?

The Roman Catholic Church has published a document entitled "The Gift of Scripture", which says that '[t]he Bible is true in passages relating to human salvation...but...“We should not expect total accuracy from the Bible in other, secular matters."'

In other words.... "You know those parts of the Bible that tell you what you can and can't do? Sure, those are true. Everything else? Yeah, probably not. But don't worry, we're still going to tell you how to live so you don't have to think for yourself."

I am Jack's progressive evolution.

indict this

So Tom Delay was handed a second indictment today.

...yawn...

It goes without saying that if my Congressman is convicted of any charges, he should immediately resign his seat. I am glad he stepped down from his Majority Leader position until this is all over. It was a very honorable move (though of course required of him) to do it so immediately.
However, there are two very important points:

1) I don't think Delay has a chance in hell of being convicted of any of this. This is obviously politically motivated, probably to weaken his re-election chances next year, since Nick Lampson has announced his intent to run for Delay's seat.

2) I don't think the things with which Delay is charged should be illegal in the first place. Individuals (and thereby corporations) should be able to donate time, money, or services to any political campaign or organization without limits on amount, time, form, or relationship. The whole campaign finance reform movement is nonsense. It is no business of anyone else what I do with my money, ESPECIALLY in the political arena. If I want to express my support for a political candidate or idea, the government is the LAST entity that should be able to tell me I can't do so.

entitlement reigns

Well, I survived a hurricane. We evacuated, but we survived.
We stayed at a company camp of a family friend with about 15 family members and another family. It was a big place.
The entire time we were there, one of the family friends was on the phone trying to register for her FEMA money so she could make sure she could get as much assistance as she could. The day that the guys and I went back to town to survey the damage and gather supplies, she and the rest of the girls went to the local civic center and library where she finished her registration and brought home two large boxes full of food donated by residents of the area. Perhaps I should note here that none of us are wallowing in poverty. Her justification the entire weekend was that she has paid all her taxes all her life and now she's finally going to get something back.
This attitude infuriates me. I can understand if you have a tree through your house, or if it has just been swallowed by the ocean, but these people had no substantial damage to their house. Others in the area weren't so well off. Sure, her husband lost a week of work, but she works for herself selling artistic works. It's not like they're going to have to get food stamps and stand in the unemployment line for 6 months while their city is being rebuilt. Her husband is going back to work on Monday.
Even worse, my mother is planning to apply for food stamps as evacuees. My dad rents heavy equipment, which means the next six months for him are going to be extremely busy and equally profitable. They also have zero damage to their home. My mother has only been working a few temp jobs here and there because she hasn't found a permanent one, so she lost no wages. And my father was actually paid his base salary (no commission) for his time off. Taking any monetary assistance would be nothing short of theft.
But because assistance is available, they're all going to get theirs. They doesn't need it, but they're going to get it. They could just as easily buy the food they need to live at the camp. It's not like they're still paying a light bill or anything while they're up there.
Harris County where I live was finally declared a federal disaster area this past week. That means we too are entitled to compensation and various forms of reimbursement for expenses for our evacuation and/or losses. However, we didn't lose anything except some time off work, and our evacuation was little more than a long weekend vacation.
Sponging off the good will of others or worse, the government, when you aren't in dire need of succor is pathetic and disgusting. Take care of your damn self.

Bright Eyes, bright heads?

I just read in my new Blender mag that the ubiquitously overrated Conor Oberst of the Bright Eyes went off-key at a recent Glastonbury appearance and dissed the Make Poverty History campaign. Not being a fan of either economic and political utopianism or Oberst himself, I decided to check this out. This is what he said:

What am I doing? Making poverty history, that's what kids... This next song is definitely going to make poverty history. Poverty – you're fucked!

I may be missing something, but it just sounds like a dumb joke and not a serious political comment. And here I was about ready to actually go buy some Bright Eyes albums just for spite.

to build or not to build?

You've heard the doom and gloom about the future of New Orleans, right?

Relocate New Orleans
[W]ouldn't it be better to reevaluate the location of New Orleans? Instead of investing many billions in a site that is not suitable for a flourishing city, wouldn't it be simpler to move it somewhere else?

Scientists Say New Orleans Should Not Be Rebuilt
A Utah researcher says New Orleans should not be rebuilt on its existing site. In fact, he calls such a plan "irresponsible." Other scientists are voicing similar concerns today, not only with New Orleans but with other coastal developments.
The United Geological Survey's video of Katrina's devastation offers a different perspective. Erosion, changes in topography, islands that were once there but are no more - the view really questions the wisdom of moving back into harms way.

Well, now how about some reality?

Mayor: French Quarter to Reopen Next Week
In a few days, residents will begin moving back into this city one ZIP code at a time, speeding the revival of the economy in places like the French Quarter the bawdy enclave that suffered relatively minor damage in the hurricane but is still without electricity.
Mayor C. Ray Nagin announced plans Thursday to reopen some of New Orleans' most vibrant and least flood-ravaged neighborhoods over the next week and a half, including the French Quarter. The move could bring back more than 180,000 of the city's original half-million residents.

There were 500,000 people living in New Orleans at the time. Most of them won't go back, but will likely settle in the areas where they are currently displaced (Houston, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Dallas, etc). But the city is going to be back up and running very soon. Utilities are being restored as we speak progressively over the whole city as the remaining water is being pumped out. Sure there is a lot of cleanup and rebuilding to do, but all this whining about relocating the city or bulldozing everything and raising the area 20ft is nonsense. The levees will be strengthened, the canals dredged, and life will go on. It always does.

KBR loses one

I bet you haven't heard this anywhere, have you?

KBR Oil Well Contract Cancelled, Work Give to Iraqi Company
The Iraq Project and Contracting Office and the Joint Contracting Command-Iraq/Afghanistan have terminated a $37-million contract with KBR to refurbish a number of oil wells in southern Iraq. The contract will be transferred to the Iraqi state-owned Southern Oil Co. and the money will be used to fund training and purchase equipment for Southern Oil Co to perform the work. -ENR, 9/5/05

So not only is the evil Halliburton subsidiary not taking over the country and doing all the work, they are reverting the work back to Iraqis once the initial rebuilding process has gotten under way. You may slowly begin putting your tinfoil hats away now.

talk take-back

Today in the last few minutes of Rush Limbaugh, my local talk radio station, KPRC, had short spots saying for instance, "less than 10 minutes to the Savage Nation". I did a double-take the first time I heard this, because for the last 6 months or so, Hannity has been immediately after Rush. Why would they move both Savage and Hannity out of their live slots and put Savage first? But who cares, because I wouldn't have to listen to Hannity anymore!!
I hhhhhhhate Sean Hannity's show. It is the most boring rote political drivel I've ever heard. Three hours of talking points. No thanks. But another local host I listen to on KTRH doesn't come on until an hour later. So rather than work in silence, I keep Hannity on for an hour and just try not to listen.
But having this new programming lineup, I was excited. For an hour I could listen to Savage, who is at least entertaining when he is yelling at his audience, instead of Hannity, who makes me want to register as a Democrat just to spite his immature partisan hackery.
So 2:07 rolls around, and what do I hear, but the same obnoxious intro music that precedes every Sean Hannity show. MOTHER OF MAYNARD!! I guess someone played the wrong station promo TWICE... grrrrrr.

some questions

If the federal government provides $52 billion in disaster relief for hurricane survivors plus countless millions donated privately, why do we have an insurance industry? Why have the choice to pay premiums for flood insurance if everyone gets a handout anyway?

Why is it considered wrong to profit from a disaster? Unless no one charges to rebuild your house, someone is going to profit. Unless news services run no advertisements during disaster coverage, someone is going to profit. Of course exploiting survivors of disasters is wrong, but why is profiting from them?

Why does President Bush get charged with racism if the federal response to the hurricane was slow, but Governor Blanco doesn't if the state response was slow, and Mayor Nagin doesn't if the city response was slow?

...from my cold, dead hands...

New Orleans Begins Confiscating Firearms as Water Recedes
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 8 - Waters were receding across this flood-beaten city today as police officers began confiscating weapons, including legally registered firearms, from civilians in preparation for a mass forced evacuation of the residents still living here.
No civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols, shotguns or other firearms, said P. Edwin Compass III, the superintendent of police. "Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons," he said.
But that order apparently does not apply to hundreds of security guards hired by businesses and some wealthy individuals to protect property. The guards, employees of private security companies like Blackwater, openly carry M-16's and other assault rifles. Mr. Compass said that he was aware of the private guards, but that the police had no plans to make them give up their weapons.

Well, unless martial law has been declared in New Orleans (it hasn't), the NOPD is acting unconstitutionally. If the mayor has anything to do with this, he should be fired immediately. Your mandatory evacuation order does not supersede the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. The mayor should already be fired for not following his official evacuation plan and leaving hundreds of available buses to be ruined in the flood.
I am so sick of all the back and forth in this bullshit. Many people need to lose their jobs, beginning with the mayor of New Orleans and his police chief.

it's the economy, stupid...well, sometimes

In case you hadn't heard amid all the news of biblical proportions, the US unemployment rate fell to 4.9% for August 2005, the lowest since August 2001. *gasp* Yes, that horrible Bush economy strikes again...
Unfortunately, that number will probably increase by about 0.5% since the entire New Orleans metropolitan area is now unemployed. Hopefully the fine citizens of Houston, Baton Rouge, and the rest of the country getting these people back on their feet will inspire them to do just that. I imagine that when the actual rebuilding in New Orleans begins, the unemployment rate will quickly return to its downward slope.

less is more better

For a quick exercise in the benefit of limited government involvement, contrast the brutal horror of New Orleans with the clean efficiency of Houston this week.
In New Orleans local, state, and federal officials began bickering before Hurricane Katrina ever hit as to who was going to supply relief, who was going to enforce order, and even who was going to order evacuations. The obvious and unfortunate result was (or will be) thousands dead, an entire city in chaos, and no one taking responsibility.
In Houston the situation was the complete opposite. Of course there are differences that should be taken into account when comparing the efforts: massive flooding hampering transportation, utilities connected or not, security or not, etc. But here the only government involvement was making the Astrodome available and ready. After the refugees arrived, everything was handled by volunteers and charity organizations. The result has been as far as I can see a very smooth transition into relative comfort for the reported 18,000 New Orleans natives there.
The disaster in New Orleans has and will continue to teach us many lessons. The first (after 'RUN AWAY!') that I can see is that the less government involvement in crisis situations, the better.

Gawd still hates fags

On my way home this afternoon I heard one of the most offensive and ignorant things on the Savage Nation. A caller put forth the idea that as an "act of God", hurricane Katrina was obviously timed to coincide with the Southern Decadence festival that was supposed to have begun in New Orleans today. Yes, that's right. Gawd hates fags so much that he would flatten and flood several hundred miles of populated coastline killing hundreds, possibly thousands of people, and causing billions of dollars worth of property damage, instantly making hundreds of thousands more people homeless.
These ignorant fucks have such pea-sized brains that they feel the need to explain the world around them by blaming gawd or other people of whom they do not approve. Things don't happen because of cause and effect, no no. Gawd, in his infinite compassion and forgiveness wipes entire civilized regions off the planet because some queers want to have fun in a place that accepts them. I could vomit.
While Michael Savage chose not to agree with the caller, he said that he did so because San Francisco basically has a Decadence festival everyday and Gawd has yet to wipe them off the planet. Oh, just wait for the Big One, Mike. Those damn queers will feel Gawd's wrath one day.
Does anyone have a gun? I could use one right about now.

UPDATE: Apparently Savage doesn't listen to his own show. Yesterday he agreed in principle with a caller who said that Katrina was Gawd's wrath for Southern Decadence in New Orleans. Today, Savage called out extremist Muslims who celebrated the destruction of the area since we are unbelievers. So it's bad when Muslims do it, but not when Christians do it? Tsk tsk.

In addition, anyone walking (read: wading) around in New Orleans with anything in their hands other than food, water, blankets, or medicine should be shot immediately. That is all.

armed invasion, anyone?

Border Patrol chopper forced down
Rock-throwing illegal immigrants near Yuma, Arizona, forced a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter pilot to make an emergency landing this week, the customs agency said.
No one was hurt in the incident, which happened Tuesday while the pilot was helping agents on the ground apprehend 17 people attempting to illegally enter the U.S., spokesman Michael Gramley said. They were on the north side of the All-American Canal, a large irrigation canal that runs from California along the U.S.-Mexico border.
While the helicopter was hovering, a group of 10 people on the south side of the canal began throwing baseball-size rocks at it, Gramley said.
One rock hit a rotor, Gramley said. The pilot felt a bad vibration and made an emergency landing about a mile away.

But you're right. They're just coming here looking for work. Who are we to deny people a better chance in life? And the Zetas are just "freedom fighters"... mmmhmm.

the real threat

While Congressman John Hostettler (R-Indiana) has said that divorce is as much a threat to marriage as gay marriage is, until there is a constitutional amendment proposed to ban divorce, I will entertain no arguments to ban gay marriage. One literally disolves marriage, the other allows more people to participate in it. So until there is a legitimate and widespread movement to ban divorce in this country, you can spare me your false concern over the "sanctity of marriage."

fight or flight?

Quick question: Is there no way to detect where a missile attack has originated and fire back in retaliation? I'm no military expert, so I accept the possibility that such technology or intelligence capacity does not exist. But if it does, why in the name of all that is holy did the USS Kearsarge and Ashland turn tail and run when they were fired upon by rockets in Jordan?

will it be messy if I pull out too soon?

I have a scenario that I would like you to ponder.

If President Bush took the "advice" of the feverish Left and pulled our troops out of Iraq immediately, would they then applaud him for doing the right thing and finally give him some long overdue praise?
Ok, ok. You can stop laughing now. I know.
Or more realistically, would they jump right to the finger pointing, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, saying that he failed, made a mistake, surrendered, just like we did in Vietnam? In fact, if the Left is so vehement that Iraq is the new Vietnam, then why in Maynard's name would they not want us to finish the fucking job and achieve decisive victory, as opposed to repeating the mistake of the original and not fighting to win or doing so?

You know why none of this makes any sense? Because nothing the Left has said for the last 6 years has either.

Pascal bets the farm

Just doing some random thinking, and remembered Pascal's wager, an argument given by some in favor of believing in gawd and all that:

If gawd exists and I believe, I get eternal salvation.
If gawd exists and I do not believe, I get eternal damnation.
If gawd does not exist and I believe, I lose nothing (except maybe some earthly pleasures).
If gawd does not exist and I do not believe, I lose nothing.
Therefore it is only rational to believe in gawd out of the pure consequence of probability, since you only lose eternally if you do not believe.

Seems simple enough. But there are plenty of problems here.

1. Which gawd do I believe in? In order to maximize my probability of eternal jackpot, wouldn't I have to believe in the gawd of Abraham, as well as in Allah, Vishnu, Buddha, Zoroaster, Odin, Maynard, and any number of earth spirits?
2. Most protestant Christian denominations do not accept simple belief as one's ticket to Heaven. They require various forms of devotion, sacraments, works, and acceptance of Jesus' divinity as personal savyourah (best said with a Texas accent).
3. Gambling is against the dogma of most religions. Having gambling necessary for believe in gawd would probably not be an acceptable exception.

Any others?

enemy body count?

Why is it that I cannot find a figure for total terrorist/insurgent/regime casualties in Iraq? Why is it that any search for information on any casualties in Iraq, even when specified as "enemy" or "terrorist" comes up with thousands of coalition and US body counts? Why aren't we keeping track of how well we're actually doing in this war? A US casualty figure tells us nothing if we don't also have an enemy casualty figure. This is so absurd.
The closest thing to an enemy body count I can find is a summary of various casualty reports on Wikipedia. It gives estimates of anywhere from 4,895 to 124,000+. The fact that we can't even get a number within a few standard deviations is completely ridiculous. The Defense Department has got to have numbers, and they need to release them.

another step back

Kansas moves to stem role of evolution in teaching
After months of debate over science and religion, the Kansas Board of Education has tentatively approved new state science standards that weaken the role evolution plays in teaching about the origin of life.
The 10-member board must still take a final vote, expected in either September or October, but a 6-4 vote on Tuesday that approved a draft of the standards essentially cemented a victory for conservative Christian board members who say evolution is largely unproven and can undermine religious teachings about the origins of life on earth.
"We think this is a great development ... for the academic freedom of students," said John West, senior fellow of the Discovery Institute, which supports intelligent design theory.

I am so sick and tired of these non-scientists dictating science curriculum. Evolution is a THEORY. No, it is not proven fact. No scientific theory can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be tought. Should no theories be taught in science if they can't be 100% proven? If not, we should probably start including this on textbooks too:

This textbook contains material on Gravity. Universal Gravity is a theory, not a fact, regarding the natural law of attraction. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.

financial dissonance

See if these two stories make any sense to you:

Rate Fears Sink Stocks, 8/5/05
Stocks closed lower Friday and had a losing week overall as traders worried that a red-hot labor market will prompt the Federal Reserve to keep hiking interest rates.

Greenspan Pushes All the Right Buttons, 8/9/05
Tuesday morning, NASA executed a safe landing for Space Shuttle Discovery. Tuesday afternoon, the market seemed to believe that the Federal Reserve, which tapped on the monetary brakes for the 10th consecutive policy meeting, will be able to do the same for the U.S. economy.
Such faith in the Fed helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average gain 78.74 points, or 0.75%, to 10,615.67, and pushed the S&P 500 up 8.25 points, or 0.7%, to 1231.38. The Nasdaq Composite gained 9.8 points, or 0.5%, to 2174.19, continuing its recent trend of relative underperformance.

Yeah, me neither.
So in the span of 2 business days, we go from stocks plummeting due to fears of interest rate increases, to stocks rising after interest rate increases. Did I miss something, or do Wall Street analysts just make this shit up as they go along?

obscenity does not exist

Texas Woman Battling Arrest for Selling Porn
Lori Hemphill was simply working her shift at the Log Cabin under I-20 and I-820 in the Kennedale community of Fort Worth, Texas, when she was placed under arrest by the undercover cop to whom she’d just sold an adult video.
The charge? “Promoting obscenity.” The agenda? A campaign by Kennedale Mayor Jim Norwood — a pastor — to abolish adult stores in the area. This was on March 10, and since then, Hemphill has been placed on probation, denied any other sort of work, forced to put off her plans to attend nursing school, enrolled in state-supported psychiatric and financial assistance programs and even reduced to begging for food.
Meanwhile, the Log Cabin and the other adult stores in the area remain thriving.

Another episode in the Nanny State Police series. Private transactions between consenting adults within the borders of a single state are no business of that state or the federal government. Porn is legal. Selling it or buying it can therefore not be illegal. This mayor and any police involved should be immediately fired and barred from ever holding public office again. The Nanny State must be brought to its knees.

A-C-L-me?

NYCLU Sues City Over Subway Bag Search Policy
In response to the NYPD's unprecedented policy of subjecting millions of New Yorkers to suspicion-less searches, the New York Civil Liberties Union today filed suit in federal court seeking an injunction to halt the policy. ...
"This NYPD bag search policy is unprecedented, unlawful and ineffective, said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the NYCLU. "It is essential that police be aggressive in maintaining security in public transportation. But our very real concerns about terrorism do not justify the NYPD subjecting millions of innocent people to suspicion-less searches in a way that does not identify any person seeking to engage in terrorist activity and is unlikely to have any meaningful deterrent effect on terrorist activity."

Imagine that... I agree with the ACLU on something. Except they probably wouldn't be happy why we agree. Of course the NYPD random searches are ineffective and unconstitutional. OF COURSE. You know why? Specifically because they are RANDOM. The NYCLU argues that the searches are done without suspicion or due cause. Precisely! You know what the due cause should be: potential passenger between the ages of 18 and 30 of Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian origin with a heavy coat or bag. So no, NYCLU bag searches are not illegal, just random ones. As soon as we start profiling with due suspicion, they become legal.

unintelligent design

Bush: Intelligent Design Should Be Taught
President Bush said Monday he believes schools should discuss "intelligent design" alongside evolution when teaching students about the creation of life. During a round-table interview with reporters from five Texas newspapers, Bush declined to go into detail on his personal views of the origin of life. But he said students should learn about both theories, Knight Ridder Newspapers reported. "I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought," Bush said. "You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes." The theory of intelligent design says life on earth is too complex to have developed through evolution, implying that a higher power must have had a hand in creation.

Yeah, except that "intelligent design" isn't a theory, it's an idea. Evolution is a theory based on evidence. Intelligent design is a shot in the dark based on religious convictions. It's not science and has no place in the classroom other than a religion class. Good job, Mr President.

compass, part 2

Our civil liberties are being excessively curbed in the name of counter-terrorism. Strongly disagree. Justifiably, yes. Excessively, no.

A significant advantage of a one-party state is that it avoids all the arguments that delay progress in a democratic political system. Strongly disagree. Sorry, but arguments in a democratic process are not a disadvantage, no matter how much they delay things.

Although the electronic age makes official surveillance easier, only wrongdoers need to be worried. Strongly disagree. Although I think everyone should be concerned, I have seen no abuses yet.

The death penalty should be an option for the most serious crimes. Strongly agree. In fact, I would remove the word "serious" from that statement with little reservation.

In a civilised society, one must always have people above to be obeyed and people below to be commanded. Strongly disagree. While it generally makes things easier, there is no requirement for such a heirarchy.

Abstract art that doesn't represent anything shouldn't be considered art at all. Strongly disagree. Art cannot be defined. It can be criticized, but it cannot be defined. And it sure as hell shouldn't be federally funded either.

In criminal justice, punishment should be more important than rehabilitation. Strongly agree. Though it depends on the crime. Murderers, rapists, molesters, terrorists should get no chance for rehabilitation.

It is a waste of time to try to rehabilitate some criminals. Strongly agree. Incinerators are rather effective for some classes of human refuse.

The businessperson and the manufacturer are more important than the writer and the artist. Strongly disagree. They all contribute to the system. Art can be purchased just as easily as a toothbrush.

Mothers may have careers, but their first duty is to be homemakers. Strongly agree. If a woman has children, her primary responsibility is those children.

Multinational companies are unethically exploiting the plant genetic resources of developing countries. Strongly disagree. If the developing countries don't like it, they don't have the sell multinational companies the land.

Making peace with the establishment is an important aspect of maturity. Strongly disagree. While the establishment is not by definition anathema, if it has problems, they should be confronted.

Astrology accurately explains many things. Strongly disagree. Astrology explains the superstitious, that is all.

You cannot be moral without being religious. Strongly disagree. Religion itself is an immoral suplication of humanity to vague mysticism at the expense of reason.

Charity is better than social security as a means of helping the genuinely disadvantaged. Strongly agree. Voluntary charity is the lifeblood of our nation that is being sucked dry by the government whore.

Some people are naturally unlucky. Strongly disagree. There is no such thing as luck. Only choice and reaction.

I would not wish to send my child to a school that did not instill religious values. Strongly disagree. I would never send my child to a school that instilled religious values. I would send them to a school that instilled moral or civic values.

Sex outside marriage is usually immoral. Strongly disagree. Sex is only immoral when it is undesired.

A same sex couple in a stable, loving relationship, should not be excluded from the possibility of child adoption. Strongly agree. Anyone stable and sane enough should be able to adopt.

Pornography, depicting consenting adults, should be legal for the adult population. Strongly agree. It is mana from heaven.

What goes on in a private bedroom between consenting adults is no business of the state. Strongly agree. What goes in in a private anything between consenting adults is no business of anyone else, much less the state.

No one can feel naturally homosexual. Strongly disagree. Go to next year's Pride parade, and tell me they're all faking it.

It's fine for society to be open about sex, but these days it's going too far. Strongly disagree. When there aren't even open showers in the US version of Big Brother, we haven't gone nearly far enough.

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: 8.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.36

I'm actually almost exactly the same as Milton Friedman. Guess I should read some of his work.

Zeta Zeta Zeta

Mexican mercenaries expand base into U.S.
A renegade band of Mexican military deserters, offering $50,000 bounties for the assassination of U.S. law-enforcement officers, has expanded its base of operations into the United States to protect loads of cocaine and marijuana being brought into America by Mexican smugglers, authorities said.
The deserters, known as the "Zetas," trained in the United States as an elite force of anti-drug commandos, but have since signed on as mercenaries for Mexican narcotics traffickers and have recruited an army of followers, many of whom are believed to be operating in Texas, Arizona, California and Florida.
Working mainly for the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico's most dangerous drug-trafficking organizations, as many as 200 Zeta members are thought to be involved, including former Mexican federal, state and local police. They are suspected in more than 90 deaths of rival gang members and others, including police officers, in the past two years in a violent drug war to control U.S. smuggling routes.

Fabulous. Another casualty of the real war without an exit strategy, the War on Drugs. We in Texas have been familiar with the Zetas for some time now, but this new bounty is just icing on the cake. Simple fact: If drugs were legal, they would eventually be sold by companies and not thugs. There would be no more drug gangs, drug runs, drug trafficking, drug smuggling, and drug violence. We could all get high in peace. Imagine...

compass, part 1

As an introduction to my philosophy, I will post my answers to the Political Compass. While discussion of the entire survey would be quite tedious, feel free to pick out a point or two that interest you and comment.

If economic globalisation is inevitable, it should primarily serve humanity rather than the interests of trans-national corporations. Disagree. It should serve the interest of whomever puts forth the effort to become part of the system.

I'd always support my country, whether it was right or wrong. Agree. While I would support my country, I may not support its leaders and the decisions they make.

No one chooses his or her country of birth, so it's foolish to be proud of it. Strongly disagree. Then all cultural, sexual, intellectual, and regional pride is irrelevant as well.

Our race has many superior qualities, compared with other races. Strongly disagree. Cultures foster "superior qualities," not races.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Strongly disagree. While it may be necessary in some geopolitical situations, it is almost never wise.

Military action that defies international law is sometimes justified. Strongly agree. As the quote says, "international law is what the United States and Great Britain say it is."

There is now a worrying fusion of information and entertainment. Strongly disagree. There is nothing wrong with entertaining information. Why does knowledge have to be boring? Now if that entertainment dumbs down the information, then we have a potential problem, but that wasn't the question.

People are ultimately divided more by class than by nationality. Agree. Because of the actions of some in our political arena, class is an impediment to success.

Controlling inflation is more important than controlling unemployment. Agree. Though I don't care much for "controlling" anything, inflation causes unemployment not the other way around.

Because corporations cannot be trusted to voluntarily protect the environment, they require regulation. Strongly disagree. Corporations should be punished by consumers through the market, not by the nanny state.

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" is a fundamentally good idea. Strongly disagree. It is a fundamentally flawed idea. It assumes the emotional maturity of mankind has reached the level that no longer includes greed. Whereas greed is inherently part of the capitalist system, the socialist system is impossible if it exists.

It's a sad reflection on our society that something as basic as drinking water is now a bottled, branded consumer product. Strongly disagree. If someone can get people to buy it, then it deserves to be bought.

Land shouldn't be a commodity to be bought and sold. Strongly disagree. The right to private property is one of the most fundamental of a free market system.

It is regrettable that many personal fortunes are made by people who simply manipulate money and contribute nothing to their society. Strongly disagree. Personal fortunes by their very nature are a contribution to society. They don't just sit in a hole in someone's backyard. They employ people, they build things, they buy things, and they produce things.

Protectionism is sometimes necessary in trade. Strongly disagree. If it can be made cheaper elsewhere, it should be. Artificially inflated prices are the bane of the free market system, whether by tarriff, subsidy, or welfare.

The only social responsibility of a company should be to deliver a profit to its shareholders. Strongly agree. Everything else comes along naturally. Companies are designed to make money. What they do to make it is not their responsibility, only the creation of wealth.

The rich are too highly taxed. Strongly agree. Everyone is too highly taxed.

Those with the ability to pay should have the right to higher standards of medical care. Agree. While basic emergency services are not and should not be denied to anyone, premium services are premium for a reason.

Governments should penalise businesses that mislead the public. Strongly disagree. Lying is only a crime in court. Consumers will penalise businesses that mislead them.

A genuine free market requires restrictions on the ability of predator multinationals to create monopolies. Disagree. If the market is truly free and not overregulated, monopolies are nearly impossible to create. Even when they exist, they usually exist because their product or service is superior. They are always succeptible to quality alternatives, regardless of size.

The freer the market, the freer the people. Strongly agree. Socialism and communism do not a democracy make. Regulations on companies are by definition limitations on people.

Abortion, when the woman's life is not threatened, should always be illegal. Disagree.

All authority should be questioned. Strongly agree. But with actual questions, as opposed to most of what passes for "dissent" these days (see: "Halliburton!! Oil! Dick Cheney!! Halliburton!!!").

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Agree. Depends on the situation, but in general a good idea. Even better: two eyes for an eye, and four teeth for a tooth.

Taxpayers should not be expected to prop up any theatres or museums that cannot survive on a commercial basis. Strongly agree. State subsidized entertainment has no right to exist, especially if I'm living in the state that's subsidizing it.

Schools should not make classroom attendance compulsory. Strongly agree. Children do not have the right to make such a decision, and a parent who thinks that anything is more important than their child's education should not have that right either.

All people have their rights, but it is better for all of us that different sorts of people should keep to their own kind. Strongly disagree. Who's asking these questions, David Duke?

Good parents sometimes have to spank their children. Strongly agree. Sometimes, sure. As the only means of punishment, of course not.

It's natural for children to keep some secrets from their parents. Strongly agree. Who hasn't? But they shouldn't be encouraged to do so, of course.

Marijuana should be legalised. Strongly agree. As should everything else.

The prime function of schooling should be to equip the future generation to find jobs. Strongly agree. While this shouldn't have to mean career counseling and direction, education by its very nature prepares one for work.

People with serious inheritable disabilities should not be allowed to reproduce. Strongly disagree. While I'm generally in favor of natural selection in any area, this type of selection is not natural. If such a disability is genetic, it will eventually be weeded out of the gene pool. We shouldn't have to sterilize anyone to speed along the process.

The most important thing for children to learn is to accept discipline. Disagree. Important, but not the most.

There are no savage and civilised peoples; there are only different cultures. Strongly disagree. Tell that to the two men who were hanged last week in Iran for being gay.

Those who are able to work, and refuse the opportunity, should not expect society's support. Strongly agree. Does that even need defending?

When you are troubled, it's better not to think about it, but to keep busy with more cheerful things. Agree. Depending on how productive or creative the cheerful thing is, it can sometimes help the troubled feeling.

First-generation immigrants can never be fully integrated within their new country. Strongly disagree. Can never, absolutely not. Can not very likely, probably.

What's good for the most successful corporations is always, ultimately, good for all of us. Strongly agree. Prosperity, wealth, production? Absolutely.

No broadcasting institution, however independent its content, should receive public funding. Strongly agree. Its content can't be "independent" if it's being paid for by the government.

Ok, I think that's enough for now. That was only 3 of the 6 pages of the survey. You'll get the rest later.

grand opening

Welcome to my new home for all things political.
I am a nationalist libertarian. I do not vote for anything or anyone by party; I vote for issues or candidates individually. I believe in ultimate individual rights, up to the point where they interfere with national security. That is not to say that the nation is more important than the individual; but if the republic is not preserved, individual rights will soon follow.
This journal will be a forum for reflection on these ideas and other current social, political, and economic issues separate from my personal website (URL available upon request).

In case you're wondering, the quotes at the top of the page are randomly selected from a list of (currently) 27 quips by persons as disparate as Bill Hicks, Ann Coulter, Ayn Rand, and Rush Limbaugh. The list will undoubtedly grow throughout the lifespan of this blog, so reload often to get the most out of the experience. If you keep an eye on those quotes as well as the ongoing discussions on this site, you will begin to understand how parts of such seemingly incongruous philosophies can come together to create a functioning whole, all supporting or explaining tenets of my political alignment: nationalist libertarianism.

One issue that may come up is the term "nationalist libertarian". I have recently learned that the Nazi party invokes both those terms in its full title. This obviously has ZERO to do with my term. In fact, nearly everything that the Nazi party stands for, I violently oppose. And the only reason I qualify that with "nearly" is that I am not intimately familiar with the Nazi party platform. I think I missed the nominating convention last year.
"Nationalist libertarian" has also been used by some to describe someone who has no concern for the liberty of those outside of the "nation"; an exclusively nationalist libertarian. Those who use this definition conceive of the "internationalist libertarian" as the alternative, one who supports liberty for everyone, regardless of nation of residence. While I support global freedom and liberty, I am wary of the term "internationalist". It has a connotation of concern for those in other countries above those in this country, and that is an idea I just cannot support, whether that is the actual idea of those "internationalist libertarians" or not. I would rather not be associated with the term at all.
Therefore unless someone has an alternative for my political nomenclature, it remains, possible confusion accepted.