Thoughts On The News.
From God’s Country:
KORAN BURNING:
From today’s New York Times:
QUOTATION OF THE DAY
“How can you compare the dishonoring of the Holy Koran with the martyrdom of innocent civilians? The whole goal of our life is religion.”
MULLAH KHALIQ DAD, a religious leader in Afghanistan, on the relatively muted reaction to the massacre of civilians apparently by an American soldier.
(Full article, if the link lets you in: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/world/asia/disconnect-clear-in-us-bafflement-over-2-afghan-responses.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120315 )
That is my point exactly. The burning of a holy book, the word of God but manufactured and printed by humans, supersedes the mass murder of 16 humans, mostly children and women. Protestants, Catholics, and B’nai Briths everywhere would do the same thing. I rest my case. You be the judge.
CONTRACEPTION
I have to wonder, and agree with those that ask, why are Republican Primary candidates spending so much time talking about contraception? Isn’t the economy the number one issue? And (I feel an Andy Rooney moment coming on) who decides what is a ‘right’, such as health care ‘rights’, anyway? Why do some insist their ‘rights’ must be ‘free’ (paid for by an employer, a government, or another taxpayer)? What happened to INDIVIDUAL freedom, freedom of choice, SELF-responsibility, RATIONAL self-interest? Take better care of your SELF (NOT at the expense of others) and might the world be a better place?
Philosopher Leonard Peikoff expounded at length on Health Care Is Not A Right. Oh wait, that was in 1993! I think it is still applicable.
Of course the recent congressional testimony on contraceptive rights by Sandra Fluke leads right into…
THE WAR ON WOMEN
I don’t think there is a war on women but conservatives are always inadvertently looking for an opportunity to shoot themselves in their ample behinds. Rush Limbaugh did it big time with his comments about Ms. Fluke wanting to be paid to have sex (have her contraception paid for by health care insurance). This is a huge disservice to the actual facts and gives credence and prominence where none was due. I often, undevotedly, listen to Limbaugh because he frequently speaks of individual freedom and self-responsibility. He blew this one.
Ms. Fluke’s LinkedIn resume speaks volumes. (Look it up if you have the interest and a sign on.) One example is: Co-President Georgetown Law Chapter at Law Students for Reproductive Justice which substantiates those referring to her as a ‘reproductive rights activist’.
Elsewhere is mentioned her Cornell degree:
http://biggovernment.com/tag/sandra-fluke/ (link no longer accurate)
…Fluke, who was awarded a B.S. in Policy Analysis & Management, and a Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies degree from Cornell in 2003…
I’m glad she is so devoted to social issues. (Her LinkedIn resume is quite a laundry list.) We definitely need more socialism in this country.
OFF THE CUFF:
Billionaire women – The war on women aside, I fully support billionaire women (and wish at least one would support me in a lavish style to which I could become accustomed). According to the recent Forbes list there are few self-made such women:
One self-made exception is Ms. Sara Blakely, a role model for a robust ECONOMY. Let ‘others’ fight the hard fight for socialism.
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eiif45lll/sara-blakely/#gallerycontent
Raptors killed at Altamont
Where is PETA when you really need them? Admittedly the raptor killings at Altamont first occurred many years ago by early model turbines. I don’t know if those models have been updated but newer models elsewhere are reported to somehow kill less birds. Eco-minded responders say more birds are killed by running into windows, so I guess that makes it OK. But still, Golden Eagles and other fine, presumably rarer, raptors? Hmm. Not to mention the economic viability of wind energy. (If it saves just one barrel of oil from polluting…) Following are Google search parameters if your dying for more info on the subject.
IN CONCLUSION:
I sometimes think I should write more often, or perhaps not at all. I’m struggling with information overload and quality reading. With the internet, ebooks, et al, we are blessed and cursed with a surfeit of data.
I know I read too much ‘stuff’, a lot of good things, and not enough high quality reading. Ultimately it is a nice problem to have. Most mornings I spend an hour or two reading a lot of the WSJ Opinion Page online and some of the main current issue (which I pay for). I also read the items in the online New York Times (which I will not pay for) that pique my curiosity. I read the NYT because so many others do. I wouldn’t mind if that far-left liberal rag, as a true public service, just closed up shop. Off and on the rest of the day I wander aimlessly through other information sites.
How appropriate the Spring 2012 issue of Lapham’s Quarterly is Means of Communication.
John's Space ..... 