I moved to North Carolina in 1999. Today marks the first day that I can remember where I have left my property without my ID on my body.
See, it’s my job to get the kids ready for school in the morning. I do this by rustling them out of bed and getting them to the door, drop them off and then come home. After which I begin my day; calls, reports, e-mails and the normal whatnot. When I get a break, I shower, get dressed and make my way to the office.
Occupy in general and Occupy Raleigh continues to struggle. The message has been lost, the momentum has been dramatically reduced. The reasonable folks making up the movement have left; we’re left with the rest.
Across the nation we hear of vandalism, rape, murder, trespassing and theft. The movement is dead.
And here in Raleigh, there are two examples:
Posted in Economy, Idiots on Parade, Liberty, Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged Occupy Raleigh, OWS
Incentives matter. Obvious when stated but almost always forgotten when policy is considered.
Give away money when an individual doesn’t have a job? A perfectly valid idea; who doesn’t wanna help those facing unexpected difficulty?
Give away food to the individual who may not have enough? Again, absolutely warranted for those in need.
But what does it do to a society that grows up learning that to work, or not to work, often times results in the same short term result? When the concept of individual achievement is removed, squashed? What happens then?
As the United States focuses on South Carolina, the world carries on. I wonder, exactly, if this is what everyone wanted to happen in Egypt:
CAIRO — Egyptian authorities confirmed Saturday that a political coalition dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, the 84-year-old group that virtually invented political Islam, had won about 47 percent of the seats in the first Parliament elected since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. An alliance of ultraconservative Islamists won the next largest share of seats, about 25 percent.
Interesting times to say the least.
Posted in Liberty, Politics: International
Tagged Arab Spring, Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood
From pretty early on I knew that I was going to college. I also knew that I would be going to get a degree that would help me get a job. By the time I was a sophomore in high school I was having conversations with the guidance counselor about degrees and programs. There were two key metrics in the decision-making process:
After graduating high school I loaded up my car and was off to MIT. For those of you who just choked on your Sweet Red Muscadine Wine, the MIT I went to was the Minnesota Institute of Technology; not the other one 😉
I’ve often referred to the Occupy crowd as a bunch of stinky hippies. Not really ’cause I think that they are hippies or even stink; mostly because I’m a hippie of sorts and I enjoy poking fun at myself. But I do think the movement is largely made up of folks who find themselves in a condition that is largely of their own doing. And then they’re mad at that condition.
I stumbled across this video from Seattle where a gaggle of the gentle Occupy movement took over a house that was under renovation and made it their own. And by “made it their own” I mean they destroyed it. To the point that the city began to cite the real owner and he had to call in the SWAT team to remove them.
These people and this movement are not serious. They are not concerned about making positive change in society or creating opportunities that would better allow decent hardworking people to better themselves. Rather, these people are interested in forwarding an agenda that allows them to live off the labor of others while they recline in ease and contemplate life.
I’ve made the point over and over again that gay marriage is an issue that Republicans should be leading on. At its most basic, and perhaps only legitimate, issue, the conversation is one of individual Liberty. That is the ability of one person to consciously and willingly decide who to live with, form a relationship with and enter into financial contracts with.
Any other considerations aside, this is a basic human dignity issue.
But this IS politics. And if we wanna be able to advance the case for Liberty and Libertarian based policy, we need to win elections. We need to support more like-minded folks and generate momentum and a movement. In other words, we need to generate good will that translates into votes. And by alienating a group of people who might otherwise be loyal conservatives, you fail in that mission.
Posted in Liberty, Politics: National
Tagged Democrats, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Republican
Human beings are social animals. We depend on groups, on tribes. In the modern world that translates into families and villages. And by village I mean social construct.
In short we care about those around us. We want those near us to succeed, or, if not succeed, avoid devastating failure. We may not want to subsidize your food bill, but we’ll rebuild your life:
Henderson, N.C. — A Henderson family that lost its home in a fire one week before Christmas said Sunday that it couldn’t be getting back on its feet without the generous outpouring of support from the Vance County community.
“People we’ve never seen in our life, people we will never meet (were) just giving to us,” said Jessica Morgan.
Donations poured in for the family following the fire, including clothing, money and rent to stay in a nearby mobile home. The biggest donation came from Schewels Furniture, which provided the family with all new furniture, free of charge.
Morgan, her two children and her fiance, Scott Weaver, lost all their belongings Dec. 18 when the Christmas tree in their living room caught fire. Five-year-old Gabriella woke the family up and Weaver helped Morgan escape out a front window with the children.
I’m just begging to explore what this means. Why a community will rally around a family it’s never met yet, very defiantly, won’t succumb to legislation that might do the same thing. However, I do know this, the separation exists. There are many things that we do in our private life that we don’t want legislated. We don’t want it even though that legislation might be as good intentioned as the charity above.
Fascinating.
I see these from time to time. Mostly on Facebook, sometimes in comments. The gist is that Republicans are seen as Christians. Christians, well, we have our Jesus. And the theory is that if our Jesus commanded that we take care of the poor and the sick, why are we so against things like Obamacare and Medicaid?
Usually the point is made through a drawing, picture or cartoon:
I’m not so tender and fragile that I don’t find humor in this. And the point is not lost on me either. We SHOULD work to make the world better for all of those in it; especially those who are least able to do this for themselves.
That’s where the point kinda ends though. See, the idea that because Jesus would have us do a thing out of love and goodwill is vastly different that thinking we should create a government mandate to require that same activity.
For example, Jesus also commands us to pray like this:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy Name…..
No one seriously feels that we should pass a law that says all of us should pray the Lord’s Prayer. Additionally, Jesus commands us to:
Go, baptize all the nations.
In a similar manner, no one thinks that we should pass legislation requiring all US citizens go and get baptized.
My reaction to these cute and witty injections is usually to take the message to heart, laugh, think of my friend on Facebook who posted it that I haven’t seen in 20 years and move on. Sometimes I need to comment.
Hat Tip: Gette
Posted in Faith, Health Care, Liberty
Tagged Christianity, Mandate, Obamacare, Socialism
With the wave of Republican victories in the states in 2010 elections, one of the goals has been to tighten Voter ID laws. Currently there is no requirement to show ID in order to vote. Republicans are changing that by passing legislation into law that requires some form of state ID in order to vote on election day.
Democrats are crying foul.
The claim from those on the left is that such laws are aimed to diminish the Democrat vote. The logic, as I understand it, is that the people who don’t have valid state IDs are the poor, minority voters. And these poor and minority voters typically vote Democrat.
As evidence that these laws are being passed to repress voters is the argument that voter fraud is not common; in fact, it’s very rare. While I’m willing to accept the fact that voter fraud is not rampant, I have little faith in the methods that measure it. For example, how are you able to audit such an event? Ballots are private, anonymous and carry no identifying marker. I’m not sure of the science behind the data.
In any event, the whole argument smacks of, “We are willing to allow a certain degree of fraud in order to allow more of my voters to vote.”
The whole of the Democrat argument is one of politics.
However, there IS a certain statistic that is easily validated when verifying voter fraud; dead voters. How surprised was I to see this:
Time and time again the reporters were given ballots. In some cases they even tried to make the case that they didn’t have ID only to be assured that they didn’t need it.
No fraud indeed.
Hat Tip: Larry Volker
Posted in Elections 2012, Liberty, Politics: National
Tagged New Hampshire, Voter Fraud, Voter ID