WE WIN!!!!!!
THE 2007 NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST CHAMPIONS:
« August 2007 | Main | October 2007 »
September 30, 2007
Quote of the Day
"Holy frick'n crap; this could actually happen." -- A member of the Phillies email list
September 29, 2007
First Place!!!
86 % chance of winning the division! This is only going to make it more painful when they blow it.
September 28, 2007
Playoff Odds
Baseball Prospectus' Postseason Odds gives the Phillies a slight advantage in winning the division (51%-49%) and only just over a 1 in 12 chance of winning the Wild Card, so it looks like we should focus on the Mets. Just sweep the Nats this weekend, and we should be fine. If only Adam Eaton weren't pitching tomorrow....
September 27, 2007
First Place!
Thanks to the Mets being on their way to a near historic collapse, the Phillies are now tied for first place in the National League East. (I'm trying hard not to get invested, because I just know the Phillies will break my heart, but they're really making it hard.)
But, here's who to root for this weekend:
The Phillies (of course)
The Marlins (playing the Mets)
The Brewers (playing San Diego, who's still first in the wild card)
The Orioles (playing the Yankees. Yeah, the Yankees have clinched the playoffs, but we must always root against the Yankees.)
Go Phils!
Iran scared out of its mind?
Silence in Syria, Panic in Iran: Israel's recent attack on Syria shows Iran is defenseless if the US and/or Israel (and other allies) decide to launch an attack on Iranian territory. Allegedly this will come within 60-90 days unless Iran seriously mends its ways.
Hat Tip: Instapundit
Liberal Girls are Easy?
One ardent Obama supporter (who declined to give his name because he works in politics) says he'll attend both the rally and the after-party, and he doesn't expect to be going home alone.He's confident for a reason.
"Let's face it: Leftie girls are easy," he says.
(Source)
Conservative friends of mine used to say: "Democrats to bed; Republicans to wed." It also reminds me of stories of men who attended hippie rallies back in the 60s not out of sympathy for their political goals, but rather for the freely available sex.
Hat Tip: The Campaign Spot
Phillies Postseason Chances
Baseball Prospectus' Postseason Odds has the Phillies with a 41% chance of making the playoffs, with the division title being more likely than the wild card.
I'm still not getting my hopes up.
UPDATE: Also note that there is a 1-in-125 chance of a 5-way tie for the three playoff spots up for grabs (NL East & West champs, plus Wild Card). If that happens, I may have to call out of work to watch the tie-breaker games on TV. It'll be friggin' awesome. See the discussion at Baseball Think Factory to see what a tie-breaker scenario would look like. (Start here and read down.)
In addition, The Good Phight point outs:
What's great about this is that the Phillies fan dream scenario is entirely possible: the Phillies could end the season with the best record in the NL and the Mets could fail to make the playoffs. I'll take simply the Phillies making the playoffs, but dreaming ain't bad either.
I love the end of September. I'd love October even more, but Tim McCarver is still announcing the games.
September 26, 2007
"John Rambo" Trailer
It looks very bloody, but there's explicit Christian references, which ties in with his apparent recent reversion to the Catholic Faith. Looks like the movie will be worth seeing.
Quote-a-palooza
"Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence... the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake." - George Washington
"[T]he Constitution does not say Government shall decree the right to keep and bear arms. The Constitution says 'The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed'." - Ronald Reagan
"The punishment of wise men who refuse to take part in the government is to live under the government of worse men." - Plato
"What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?" - Adam Smith
"With every civil right there has to be a corresponding civil obligation." - Edison Haines
"There are two races of men in this world, but only these two- the 'race' of the decent man and the 'race' of the indecent man." - Viktor Frankl
"One basic problem with nationalized health care is that it makes medical services seem free. That pushes demand beyond supply. Governments deal with that by limiting what's available." - John Stossell
"Only two groups of Americans should worry about Hillary Clinton's new health-care plan: the healthy and the sick. The healthy are going to pay more, since one of Clinton's ideas is to prohibit insurance companies from giving them a discount." - National Review
"The president of Iran gave a speech in New York City... and thousands of New Yorkers are really upset about it. The New Yorkers said, 'If we want to hear a short-tempered Iranian man yell at us, we'll take a cab'." - Conan O'Brien
Jay Leno: The president of Iran, Mahmud Ahma-nut job, came to New York to address the United Nations. Why isn't his name on the no-fly list? You don't want to get stuck behind him in the security line. How long would that take? Actually, you know he'd go through the line in two minutes, but they'd strip search the 85-year-old grandmother standing behind him. ... Did you know he was issued a visa to come here? Isn't that amazing? You need a visa to get into the United States now! When did they start with that? ... According to a new report out of Cuba, Fidel Castro is near death, but is clinging to life and he is determined to outlive the Bush presidency. Wow, just like Dan Rather. ... At a John Kerry speech at the University of Florida, a student was asking the senator so many annoying questions that police tasered him. Of course, people in Washington were stunned by this. What? John Kerry's still giving speeches? ... While the cops had him down, did you hear what he yelled to the police? He was yelling, 'Don't tase me bro.' You know something, any time a white guy says the word 'bro,' he deserves to get tasered.
Will religious voters abandon the GOP for Hillary if Rudy is the GOP nominee?
How are religious voters likely to respond to a religious believer who is also a social liberal? Roman Catholics, with their strong commitment to the poor, should be open to a Democratic message of economic justice. A majority of Christians, Catholic and Protestant, support the goals of broader health coverage and increased humanitarian aid abroad. But the most intensely religious Americans of both traditions also tend to be the most conservative on moral issues such as abortion. And it is hard to imagine that these voters will be successfully courted by the most comprehensively pro-choice presidential candidate in American history.That might change under one circumstance: if Rudy Giuliani were the Republican nominee. Whatever Giuliani promised concerning the appointment of conservative judges, a pro-choice Republican nominee would blur the contrast between the parties on abortion. And between two pro-choice options, a larger number of religious voters might support the one with a stronger emphasis on poverty -- because, after all, Jesus did have a lot to say about how we treat the poor.
I think he's right.
Most religiously serious voters choose the Republican Party right now because of abortion and other social issues, even though they have trouble with the Republicans economic policies. After all, what's more important: an increase in the minimum wage, or stopping this? (Warning: Graphic image of the results of abortion contained in the link.) The answer should be obvious to anyone with a conscience.
But if the GOP nominates someone who seems to favor the legality of said procedure, a large number of traditional voters that the Republicans count on will likely defect to Hillary (or whoever the Democrats nominate, although Hillary is looking more and more inevitable). An additional number, like myself, won't go to the Democrats because of their hedonistic and socialistic tendencies, but at the same time won't reward the Republican Party for their nomination of someone who is so out of touch with the mainstream of the Republicans on this issue. So, a third party or write-in vote seems the likely way to go for many of us.
The GOP will see a large number of defections from social conservatives if Rudy is the nominee. The gamble they're taking is that they'll pick up enough non-traditional Republican voters to make up the difference. My guess is they won't.
Hat Tip: The Corner
Then vs Now: 1 Gigabyte
September 25, 2007
The First Amendment Does not Mean "No Repercussions on Speech"
Calls for student editor to resign after 'F**k Bush' column - CNN.com
College students will do dumb things, that's pretty much a given. (As an acquaintance of mine once said, "No one has to apologize for anything they do while in college.") So, given the natural stupidity of virtually all college students, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the editor of The Rocky Mountain Collegian wrote an editorial stating (apparently in full): "Taser this: F**k Bush." Naturally, the school's College Republican chapter took offense to this and began calls for the editor resignation and boycotts of those businesses that continue to advertise in the paper until the editor resigns.
I'm not interested in debating the wisdom of this editorial. (Sadly, there are people in the Delaware blogosphere who would not only defend this, but find it to be an intellectually stimulating argument,) Rather, I want to focus on one of the comments contained in the article from CNN:
The vice President of the Young Democrats stated:
"At some point we have to stand up for our rights. [McSwane, the editor] was just showing that speech, even when explicit, should always be protected by the First Amendment."
I haven't seen anyone denying his right to say what he did, although I think a case could be made on indecency grounds if the asterisks above weren't in the original editorial. Rather, this debate is actually about whether there will be consequences for speech. You have the right to speak, but nothing in our First Amendment rights protects us from private responses against our speech.
As an example, if I state that someone's wife is a whore, then I can expect her husband to take some sort of action in response. If he comes to punch me in the nose, will he (and should he) be dissuaded by an appeal to the First Amendment? Of course not. I exercised my right to free speech, there was no governmental action involved so there was no violation of the First Amendment, but the potential for private action is not nullified by the First Amendment. (As the bumper sticker says, "What part of 'Congress shall make no law...' don't you understand?")
The editor of the paper was within his rights to run this editorial (with the note above about obscenity laws as a disclaimer), but at the same time, the College Republicans are within their rights to call for his resignation and the associated boycott. The First Amendment is not a blanket protection against responsibility and consequences for our actions.
Phillies now have a better than 50% chance of making the playoffs
Baseball Prospectus' Postseason Odds report gives the Phillies a 56.69% chance of making the playoffs, and are also the wild card favorites. I hate this team because they're giving me hope and I should know better than to expect the Phillies to win.
Quote of the Day
"Let the pulpit resound with the doctrine and sentiments of religious liberty. Let us hear of the dignity of man's nature, and the noble rank he holds among the works of God... Let it be known that British liberties are not the grants of princes and parliaments."
-- John Adams (Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1765)
Reference: The Most Nearly Perfect Solution, Guinness, 3-26; and John Adams and the Spirit of Liberty, Thompson, 54.
September 24, 2007
FTC
I got sent this via email this weekend (see full article):
Which gives me an opportunity to tell you the coolest story you ever heard about license plates. It's about Soviet license plates during the Cold War, and the true name of "The Reagan Doctrine."
The story begins with my getting a phone call in 1985 from a buddy of mine working in the Reagan White House, Dana Rohrabacher (who has been a Congressman, R-CA, since 1988). The conversation went like this:DR: "Jack, you know those diplomatic license plates the State Department gives for the cars of ambassadors and their staff?"
JW: "Yeah, they have two letter codes for each country, like AF is Japan, KS is Mexico, XZ is Australia. I happen to know those and maybe a few others."
DR: "Right. Well, they're not supposed to be publicly known. So this columnist in the [Washington] Post just disclosed the code for the Soviet Embassy in his column and the Soviets are all bent out of shape. They say it compromises the security of their ambassador and staff, and are demanding we issue them new plates."
Actually, the story doesn't begin here but almost 20 years earlier. So let's interrupt this conversation and start at the beginning.
It was early 1966 and Dana and I have just met. Ronald Reagan had appointed me State Chairman of Youth for Reagan for his California Governor campaign. Dana, just out of high school, had volunteered and I put him on my staff. He was 19 and I was 22.
He came over to my place and over a beer we talked about why we admired Ronald Reagan. Yes, he wanted to "get the government off our backs and out of our wallets," but what we really loved him for was his Anti-Communism.
It turned out Dana and I felt exactly the same way about the Soviet Union and saw no difference between the Soviets and the Nazis. The more beer we drank, the more exercised we got about Soviet evil, comparing e.g., the Nazis' Jewish Holocaust to the Soviets' Ukrainian Holocaust, Nazi concentration camps to the Soviets' Gulag, Nazi colonization of countries like France with Soviet colonization of Eastern Europe.
Finally, we raised our glasses in a spontaneous toast: "FTC - F**k the Commies."
It sealed and bonded our life-long friendship. Whenever we would get together, we always made the toast: "FTC."
Fifteen years later, Ronald Reagan was President of the United States, and several of the kids in Youth for Reagan were now in their 30s and working in the White House - including Dana. When we got together in his new office, we clinked our coffee cups and said, "FTC." Then I asked - "So, when do we start FTC for real?"
It wasn't long before the toast of FTC became the verbal secret handshake between all the true "Reaganauts" throughout the Reagan White House.
It took the press until 1985 to figure out President Reagan had developed a strategy to win the Cold War. It was Charles Krauthammer, in the April 1, 1985 edition of Time Magazine, who named the strategy "The Reagan Doctrine." But to the small cabal of us who had conceived and were busy implementing it, that was never the name.
For us, what the press called The Reagan Doctrine, we called... FTC. That's the real name of The Reagan Doctrine.
Now we can resume that 1985 conversation:
JW: "New plates? Well, my, my, my. Too bad the code has only two letters instead of three..."
DR: "It turns out that I know the fellow at State in charge of assigning these codes. He told me about this and knows about FTC - but as you say, it has to be two letters and not three."
JW: "What about FC - F**king Communists?"
DR: FC! Yes, that's perfect. I'll give my friend a call right now."
JW: "Problem is, it won't take long for the Sovs to figure out what it stands for. So why not have your guy tell them that this is a pain in the neck so we'll do this only once - they have to agree to not ask for another change ever again."
DR: "Done."
So it was. Before long, Soviet Embassy cars in Washington were displaying diplomatic plates with the two-letter code "FC." Every spook in town quickly knew what it stood for. I was driving around Georgetown one day with this CIA guy when a Soviet limo drove by. "Look!" he exclaimed and pointed, "F**king Communists!" I had to tell him how the FC got there. He laughed his head off.
So now you know and I hope you're laughing your own head off. Of course, the Soviet Commies eventually knew what FC meant but they couldn't complain and ask for another code change - all the way to the fall of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991.
Then the newly-independent Russia with Boris Yeltsin in charge asked for a change and it was given to them: YR. It must be galling for Putin to know what it stands for: Yeltsin's Russia. It's YR to this day and we're not about to change it to PR to satisfy Pootie-Poot.
And yes, Dana's and my toast remains FTC - not only in tribute to Ronald Reagan's winning the Cold War, but in awareness of those Communists remaining, such as in Havana, Caracas, Pyongyang, Hanoi, and most of all, Beijing.
FTC, folks...
Then, Jay Nordlinger relates this story:
Fidel Castro has shown up, speaking to his adoring worldwide public, wearing what has become his trademark tracksuit, holding up Alan Greenspan’s book (of course).
(By the way, Greenspan began his career worshiping Ayn Rand; he is ending it being promoted by Fidel Castro. Nice going, Mr. Chairman. He did, however, have some good years in between.)Anyway, a reader sent me a clever letter about Castro and his new duds: “An article I saw said the tracksuit had ‘F. Castro’ on it, in small block letters. I thought, ‘How appropriate! And I wonder how he’d treat Cubans who wore clothing that said “F. Castro” once he came to understand the double entendre.’”
As I said, clever.
F'in Commies, indeed.
Quote-a-palooza
"The mania for giving the Government power to meddle with the private affairs of cities or citizens is likely to cause endless trouble, through the rivalry of schools and creeds that are anxious to obtain official recognition, and there is great danger that our people will lose our independence of thought and action which is the cause of much of our greatness, and sink into the helplessness of the Frenchman or German who expects his government to feed him when hungry, clothe him when naked, to prescribe when his child may be born and when he may die, and, in time, to regulate every act of humanity from the cradle to the tomb, including the manner in which he may seek future admission to paradise." - Mark Twain
"It's impossible to read King Lear or Hamlet without questioning the deepest human values. Because John Milton is a dead white man, the erudition of his poetry is discounted (or ignored). The political and religious issues he raises in 'Paradise Lost' would animate any discussion of democracy, terrorism and war, but raising questions is not the aim of much that passes for higher education. Milton's debate of the devils over how to perpetuate the war against God, 'which if not Victory is yet Revenge,' has much to tell us about our own times. Students arrive on campus yearning to think big thoughts and often get political polemics from little professors with small minds." - Suzanne Fields
"Our problems are both acute and chronic, yet all we hear from those in positions of leadership are the same tired proposals for more government tinkering, more meddling and more control- all of which led us to this state in the first place... We must have the clarity of vision to see the difference between what is essential and what is merely desirable, and then the courage to bring our government back under control and make it acceptable to the people." - Ronald Reagan
"There has been a void in the Republican presidential race. The GOP candidates have spoken about immigration, taxes, social issues, and the war in Iraq. Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain have also spoken frequently about Ronald Reagan in order to position themselves as the political heirs to the great president. The candidates, however, have overlooked a central idea that animated Reagan's view of government. That was federalism, the constitutional principle that the federal government's responsibilities are 'few and defined' as James Madison put it. That's why I'm pleased that Fred Thompson has thrown his hat into the ring. Thompson has been talking and writing about his belief in federalism. In a recent speech, he argued that 'centralized government is not the solution to all our problems...[T]his was among the great insights of 1787, and it is just as vital in 2007.' Thompson rightly argues that the abandonment of federalism has caused a range of pathologies including a lack of government accountability, the squelching of policy diversity between the states, and the overburdening of federal policymakers with local matters when they should be focusing on national-security issues." - Chris Edwards
"When the entertainment mogul David Geffen, once a Clinton supporter, called both Bill and Hillary liars, Hillary not only decried the remark as a particularly vivid example of the 'politics of personal destruction,' but she demanded that Barack Obama do the same- and return a $2,300 donation Mr. Geffen had given him. Yet when Mrs. Clinton herself was asked to repudiate the abuse of Gen. Petraeus, she either saw no reason to do so or, much more likely, was afraid to alienate an important constituency, the 3.3 million members of MoveOn.org. She would, it seems, rather be president than right... The MoveOn.org ad was the moment for Mrs. Clinton to rise above hackdom... That moment is gone..." - Richard Cohen
"In recent years, the old 'let's tax them more' crowd was on the defensive. But now, with a politically weakened president, the tax increase lobby is out in full force. All the Democrats running for president have promised to increase taxes. Almost every week, some senator or representative advocates more taxes to impose upon the American people. The tax increasing Democrats are betting the new generation of voters does not remember how the old, high tax rates affected the economy. The U.S. has only suffered three 'down' quarters of economic growth since 1982- a record never before enjoyed. To pull off the 'new taxes will not hurt' charade, the Democrats need to convince people the Reagan and Bush tax cuts had nothing to do with the unmatched economic growth and job creation. But the record is very clear about how the economy improved once the Reagan and, subsequently, the Bush tax rate reductions were enacted. Thus, the new line of attack is that the economy would somehow magically have improved without the tax cuts, and that the people behind the Reagan tax cuts were 'crackpots.'...[If the] high tax allies in Congress told the truth about what was proposed and done by whom during the Reagan years, they would have no story; hence... no excuse for proposing destructive tax increases." - Richard Rahn
Quote of the Day
"The State governments possess inherent advantages, which will ever give them an influence and ascendancy over the National Government, and will for ever preclude the possibility of federal encroachments. That their liberties, indeed, can be subverted by the federal head, is repugnant to every rule of political calculation."
-- Alexander Hamilton (speech to the New York Ratifying Convention, 17 June 1788)
Reference: The Works of Alexander Hamilton, Henry Cabot Lodge, ed., vol.2 (17)
Proof that even Alexander Hamilton wasn't right all the time.
September 22, 2007
Dogs helping convicts become better persons
The latest Our Sunday Visitor has an article about a program where inmates in prisons are training dogs to assist the disabled that helps them become better persons.
You don't hear about cats helping people become better persons. But you do hear about them being augurs of death.
September 21, 2007
Quote of the Day
"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
-- Nathan Hale (before being hanged by the British, 22 September 1776)
Reference: The Spirit of `Seventy-Six, Commager and Morris (476); original General William Hull, Campbell (37-38)
September 20, 2007
Mmmm... Scrapple...
I looked up that delicacy scrapple on Wikipedia this morning and was greatly amused by this story:
Scrapple was featured on an episode of "Taste America" with Mark DeCarlo. Upon entering the facility where Scrapple is produced, the host met with the public relations manager who gave Mark a somewhat ambiguous answer as to what Scrapple is. Upon the PR's invitation to "see what it looks like coming in" referring to the cuts of meat, the PR's superior stepped in and told the crew of the show that not only were they not allowed to film the room but that their tour of the facility was over.
I accept that I don't want to know how it's made, but I'm going to keep eating it.
Quote of the Day
"A good government implies two things; first, fidelity to the objects of the government; secondly, a knowledge of the means, by which those objects can be best attained."
-- Joseph Story (Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833)
Reference: Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 206
September 19, 2007
50-50?
Well, not quite, but Baseball Prospectus says the Phillies have a 48% chance of making the playoffs and a 20% of winning the division!
This team makes it hard for me to maintain my lack of faith in them.
Nativity Prep has a Blog
Nativity Prep, a local private school devoted to serving Wilmington's poor, has a new blog to help you learn about their activities and all the good work they do. Nativity Prep is run by the same order of priests that runs the best damn high school, period.
Quote-a-palooza
"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground that 'all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people.' To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, not longer susceptible of any definition." - Thomas Jefferson
"A man slandered is doubly injured- first by him who utters the calumny, and then by him who believes it." - Herodotus
"You should punish in the same manner those who commit crimes with those who accuse falsely." - Thucydides
"[S]ilence supports the accuser's charge?" - Sophocles
"You should not honor men more than truth." - Plato
"Every day you meet a delegation going to some convention to try and change the way of somebody else's life." - Will Rogers
"Clinton defenders suggest that those who make comparisons between the sloppy vetting of Mrs. Clinton's 2008 campaign and her husband's 1996 [election-law violations] scandal are bigots because of the presence of Asian names in both cases... Nonsense. It shows that Team Clinton seems to have a recurring problem vetting its donors. It seems to have learned nothing from its 1996 experience, and just may be repeating it." - John Fund
"I want to know: Where exactly in the Constitution does it say that Mrs. Clinton has the power to dictate healthcare for all Americans? It's going to be a long battle, folks, because they're back, and they're going to go about it in a very stealth-like fashion this time rather than a comprehensive, do-it-all-at-once program like they tried last time." - Rush Limbaugh
"Power as an end in itself- power because it's neat and makes people want to be around you and give you money and beg favors of you- is the great temptation, the overpowering seducer of good men and good women." - William Murchison
"MoveOn has been a cancer within the Democratic Party for years now, and not one leading Dem has had the guts to recommend surgery. Indeed, Democrats are terrified of the group's much-exaggerated power- but, then, it's always been the illusion of power, the bravado, that put totalitarian minorities over the top." - Ralph Peters
"How do go from an also-ran to a contender? Follow the [Mike] Huckabee model. How do you go from a contender back to an also-ran? Follow the Huckabee model's second step: Call for a nation-wide smoking ban. Just because you've gotten healthy doesn't mean the nation, especially Republican primary voters, want to elect Richard Simmons." - Jason Wright
"Bill Clinton is promoting his new book. In an interview, Former President Bill Clinton says although most people don't know it, Hillary has the best laugh. Bill added, 'I get to hear it every time she pushes me down the stairs'." - Conan O'Brien
"[Bill Clinton is] promoting a book called 'Giving.' So far he's collected over $250 million." - Argus Hamilton
Jay Leno: General Petraeus [testified] before Congress and a number of senators accused General Petraeus of lying. You've gotta understand why they're upset. If you are going to deceive the American people, you do it the right way: You run for Congress. ... A New Orleans prostitute has come forward and said she has had sex with married Louisiana Senator David Vitter two or three times a week over a four-month period. This is actually good news for the Republicans. Finally a sex scandal involving a woman. ... Senator Vitter is denying this woman's allegations. Who are you gonna believe, a U.S. senator or a hooker? I've gotta go with the hooker. ... Prison officials in New Jersey, this week, had to use tear gas to break up a prison riot. You know what they call tear gas in New Jersey? Air freshener.
September 18, 2007
Rumor: Pope Benedict to Visit Eastern US in April
Quote of the Day
"[D]emocracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy, such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man's life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure, and every one of these will soon mould itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues and intellectual abilities, all the powers of wealth, beauty, wit and science, to the wanton pleasures, the capricious will, and the execrable cruelty of one or a very few."
-- John Adams (An Essay on Man's Lust for Power, 29 August 1763)
Reference: Original Intent, Barton (338); original The Papers of
John Adams, Taylor, ed., vol. 1 (83)
September 17, 2007
But Chavez is not a tyrant, and it's crazy to suggest he is...
Venezuela's Chavez Warns Private Schools
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened on Monday to close or take over any private school that refuses to submit to the oversight of his socialist government as it develops a new curriculum and textbooks."Society cannot allow the private sector to do whatever it wants," said Chavez, speaking on the first day of classes.
Hat Tip: The Corner
In further honor of Constitution Day...
I present the following James Fenimore Coooper quotes, courtesy of the Mises.org blog:
"[A] republican form of government is not necessarily a free government … "
"It is the duty of the citizen to judge all political acts on the great principles of the government…the representative who exceeds his trusts trespasses on the rights of the people … congress … is merely a special trustee for limited and defined objects."
"[T]he most insidious attacks are made on [liberty] by those who are the largest trustees of authority, in their efforts to increase their power."
"[L]iberty…permits the members of the community to lay no more restraints on themselves than are required by their real necessities and obvious interests."
"Were the majority of a country to rule without restraint, it is probable as much injustice and oppression would follow, as are found under the dominion of one … Were it wise to trust power, unreservedly, to majorities, all fundamental and controlling laws would be unnecessary … Constitutions would be useless … The majority does not rule in settling fundamental laws, under the constitution … "
"[T]he liberties of the mass, are of the negative character … not power of themselves, but merely an exemption from the abuses of power."
"[T]he tyranny of majorities … To guard against this, we have framed constitutions, which point out the cases in which the majority shall decide, limiting their power…within the circle of certain general and just principles … it is a great mistake for the American citizen to take sides with the public in doubtful cases affecting the rights of individuals, as this is the precise form in which oppression is the most likely to exhibit itself in a popular government."
"[G]enuine liberty…can not exist…without many restraints on the power of the mass. These restraints are necessary and numerous."
"Liberty…[requires] certain general principles that shall do as little violence to natural justice as is compatible with the peace and security of society."
"All attempts in the public, therefore, to do that which the public has no right to do should be frowned upon as the precise form in which tyranny is the most apt to be displayed in a democracy."
"In Democracies there is a besetting disposition to make public opinion stronger than the law…for wherever there is power, there will be found a disposition to abuse it."
"The power of the people is limited by the fundamental laws, or the constitution, the rights and opinions of the minority, in all but those cases in which a decision becomes indispensable, being just as sacred as the rights and opinions of the majority; else would democracy be… the worst species of tyranny."
"The considerate, and modest, and just-minded man … In asserting his own rights, he respects the rights of others … in pursuing his own course, in his own manner, he knows his neighbor has an equal right to do the same…"
"In the cases that plainly invade the constitution, the constituents, having no power themselves, can dictate none to their representative. Both parties are bound equally to respect that instrument, and neither can evade the obligation, by any direct or indirect means. This rule covers much of the disputed ground, for they who read the constitution with an honest desire to understand it, can have little difficulty in comprehending most of its important provisions, and no one can claim a right to impose sophistry and selfishness on another as reason and justice."
"The constitution contains the paramount laws of society. These laws are unchangeable, except as they are altered agreeably to prescribed forms, and until thus altered, no evasion of them is admissible … the constituents of a particular representative can have no right even to request, much less to instruct him to support their local constituents at the expense of others, and least of all can they have a right to violate the constitution in order to do so."
"[T]he member of congress…although he has no right to further [a state's] interests at the expense of the interests of other states, he is not called on to sacrifice them for the benefit of the sisters of the Union."
"The pretense that the public has a right to extend its jurisdiction…without regard to the principles and restraints of the fundamental compact that binds society together, is, indeed, to verify the common accusation of the enemies of democracy, who affirm that by substituting this form of government for that of a despotism, people are only replacing one tyrant by many."
"Individuality is the aim of political liberty. By leaving to the citizen as much freedom of action and of being as comports with order and the rights of others, the institutions render him truly a free man. He is left to pursue his means of happiness in his own manner. It is a curious circumstance that, in endeavoring to secure the popular rights, an effect has been produced in this country totally opposed to this main object."
"The habit of seeing the public rule is gradually accustoming the American mind to an interference with private rights that is slowly undermining the individuality of the national character. There is getting to be so much public right, that private right is overshadowed and lost. A danger exists that the ends of liberty will be forgotten altogether in the means."
"[Government], when perverted from its proper aim, is most productive of evil…that which was established in the interests of the right may so easily become the agent of the wrong."
"The disposition of all power is to abuses, nor does it at all mend the matter that its possessors are a majority. Unrestrained political authority, though it be confided to masses, cannot be trusted without positive limitations, men in bodies being but an aggregation of the passions, weaknesses and interests of men as individuals."
Being Humble
While reading a writing by Saint Robert Bellarmine a few minutes ago (it's his feast day today), it occurred to me that one way or another, we will be humbled. Either we will humble ourselves and recognize the need we have for relying on God, or we will try to do it all ourselves and eventually realize how much we need Him.
One way or another, we will be humbled. It will be far less painful if we do it ourselves.
Interesting article on sleep disorders
Five disorders that make sleep scary - CNN.com
I was especially interested in this bit on sleep paralysis:
During normal sleep, your brain sends a signal to your body to inhibit your movement while you're dreaming. This keeps you from thrashing around and possibly hurting yourself.But when Sleep Paralysis occurs, the brain either switches on your muscle inhibition feature too soon or doesn't switch it off when you wake up, which can lead to very creepy experiences. In addition to being unable to move, many people will dream while they're awake -- basically hallucinating.
The most common hallucinations that occur with Sleep Paralysis include sensing or seeing another person in the room, being touched, hearing footsteps, floating, or even hearing someone call your name.
First, I wonder if this could explain a lot of ghost sightings. When I was about six, I woke up one night and thought I saw a ghost in my roon. Maybe the above was occuring. (Although, it was many years before I slept with my bedroom door open again.)
Second, there have been many times I've felt like I was touched by someone while in bed or had the classic "falling off a cliff and wake up hitting the bed" scenario. There was one time when I was a teenager I woke up and saw my dad standing next to my bed. Even in that sleep-induced state, though, I could tell it wasn't him: the "person" I saw was wearing a cap, and my dad would never wear a cap inside the house. (Once a Marine, always a Marine.) So I just rolled over and went back to sleep.
Happy Constitution Day!
Today in 1787, the Constitutional Convention held their last meeting, with attending delegates signing the document they had spent months laboring over.
