June 11, 2005
It might be argued that civilization hasn't returned to the area since the collapse of that Neolothic culture, but thats just one snide POV....
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10:37 PM
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Update: And here's PART TWO.
Posted by: Delftsman3 at
10:23 PM
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From a partisan standpoint, I for one am elated about this, as it means that I can look forward to my choice of candidates to be the winners. That said, there are a Democrats that could be excellant leaders, if they would run with what is really in their hearts, and not with the party's Elitetist heirarchy's packaged meme's.
There are Democrats that know this fact and have tried to clue the Party decision makers in, but those leaders have turned a deaf ear, preferring to listen to marketing and one issue lobbyists instead.
I found THIS PROFILE of one such Democrat that really does have a handle on how to win in America. After listening to him talk, even I would take a long, hard, second look at a candidate he would back, if it was a personal choice of his, and not just a campaign job.
I hope that "Mudcat" remains an outsider in the Democratic stratedgy councils; should they ever become wise enough to really listen to him, and heed his advice, the GOP would be in for big trouble.
Fair warning, the piece is a really long one, but assure you, that if you take the time to really absorb it, you'll be pleased with the insights it can give you, and it's well worth the time.
Raisinettes ?....hmmmm
Posted by: Delftsman3 at
10:13 PM
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June 10, 2005
A. More of the same. (just tweaking rates and adjusting loopholes.)
B. Flat Tax (everyone pays the same flat rate, no loopholes)(and if you believe THAT, I have this bridge...)
C Fair Tax (moving to a consumption tax, rebates issued for basic necessities of life, no taxes on business, death, etc)
As far as A goes, thats what got us in the horrendous mess we're in now, and all the tweaking that can be done will only further sink us in it's stinking morass.
Option B would be better than we have now, but there are some problems from an economic growth standpoint.
Option C would be my choice, were I in the position to take the decision.
I wanted to compare B and C to show why I favor the Fair Tax Plan, but I found that Neal Boortz had already done the job for me, better than I ever could, so here it is:
AND WHAT ABOUT THE FLAT TAX?
Yes, I know. Some of the people that we would love to have supporting the FairTax have weighed in in support of a flat tax instead. So ... here's some flat tax vs. FairTax issues some of you may want to consider.
1) In 1986 the Congress reformed our tax code to essentially give us a flat tax ... a flat tax with two rates. Fifteen and twenty-eight percent. Most deductions were eliminated. Today's tax code is the result of that effort.
2) A flat tax leaves the IRS in place. You'll still have to report your income to the IRS every year, and you'll still be subject to audits.
3) Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes? Still there.
4) Do you get 100% of your paycheck? No. Withholding will still be there.
5) Business taxes? Still there .. and they'll remain embedded in the price of every good and service you buy, so you'll be paying them.
6) Corporate board meetings? They'll still spend an inordinate amount of time working on the tax implications of business decisions, rather than just basing their business moves on what's best for their customers and shareholders.
7) K Street lobbyists? They're still there too. They'll still be drawing their six-figure incomes while they game the new flat-tax for the benefit of their clients.
Bring American businesses back home? Nope. Business taxes are still there, so American businesses will still locate their operations overseas in order to escape our punishing business income taxes.
9) Death Tax? Gift Tax? Still there in all the flat tax proposals I've seen.
10) Will the flat tax bring American wealth back home? The latest estimates put $10 trillion of American wealth in offshore financial corporations. There is only one reason that money isn't back here working ... and that's our income tax structure. Will the flat tax bring that money back home? Nope. The FairTax? Yup.
11) What about the poor? They're not paying income taxes now ... will they pay the flat tax? No way! But politicians will still be looking for a way to raise taxes on the rich so that they can relieve the poor, poor pitiful poor of the responsibility for paying for their own Social Security and Medicare.
12) Will all Americans be able to buy the basic necessities of life without any federal tax consequences under the flat tax? No. The FairTax? Yes.
13) Will foreign visitors to our shores contribute to our Social Security and Medicare programs under the flat tax? No. The FairTax? Yes.
There's just a few points. If you have some good counterpoints, let me know! From my point of view, the flat tax pales in any comparison to The FairTax.
**************************************************************
There you have it. Your opinion?
Posted by: Delftsman3 at
11:07 PM
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I have had an ongoing dicussion with a number of individuals of the opposite political spectrum on the topic of Socialized Medicine, and Canada was often offered up as the example that we should follow. I tried to inform them that such a system invariably resulted in a lessoning of quality, and as noted in the story, the CSC AGREES with me, to wit: "Despite this, governments are unable to provide timely tests and treatment to many patients, resulting in suffering and death"
Whenever you get Government involved in what are essentially private sector areas, service always suffers. The more they become involved, the greater the loss. The Candians have finally come to realize that this is just a fact of life.
The ultimate direction they will take still remains to be seen, but I feel that this ruling is my opportunity to indulge in a minor gloat and say "I TOLD you so".
This would have occurred much sooner, had the NHS not had the neighbor to the south providing a safety valve for their system. But eventually, as it always happens, the chickens have come home to roost and they must be attended to.
We certainly have many problems with health care here in the US too, that can't be denied, BUT, we still have the highest level of service for the greatest number of people any health care system in the world.
Government intervention in health care is one reason for high costs...have you EVER seen a bureucratic system that didn't generate inordinate amounts of red tape paperwork, adding to costs and diverting personell from their primary task to (mostly) needless paperwork?
The largest problem with our health care system has nothing to do directly with medical care at all, but the need to "CYA" in an ultra-litiginous society. Tort reform would do more to lower the cost of health care than any other action. Reform in the way Insurance companies assess premiums should be examined and evaluated as well, all to often the insurred pay for projects the companies engage in that have nothing to do with health care.
Some streamlining in the area of medical research and bringing the products of same to the market would help also. Yes, testing need to be done to ensure safety and efficacy, but the present system is rife with built in cost ineffencies, leading to multiple increases in costs above where it is possible for them to be.
Last, but not least, reforming our tax system can help free up large amounts of private and public funds that could help drive down costs through competition. FAIR TAX NOW!
Posted by: Delftsman3 at
08:56 PM
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Posted by: Delftsman3 at
07:25 PM
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She felt that this tribute to Sydney written by NRO's John Podhoretz was the most fitting for her site, and who am I to argue?
jaunty, principled, intellectually engaged, politically astute, wise.
What finer tribute could a man ask for than that he was truly loved and will be sorely missed?
All that we can know about those we have loved and lost is that they
would wish us to remember them with a more intensified realization of
their own reality. What is essential does not die but clarifies.
The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude.
-Thornton Wilder
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07:04 PM
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You Are a Rottweiler Puppy |
 Powerful, smart, and protective. You're eager to growl at anyone you hate - but you're a big sweetheart inside. |
Posted by: Delftsman3 at
02:18 AM
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June 09, 2005
Sometimes the law of unintended consequences truly works in mysterious ways, had it not been for a silly little bird in Australia, it may have been months longer before I noticed and corrected such a grave oversight.
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08:31 PM
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Posted by: Delftsman3 at
04:25 PM
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Well, Writing in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters, researchers say previous estimates of collision risk have been "over-inflated". Seems the birds are smarter than the enviromentalists and just bypass the wind farms. And the "experts" are forecasting the demise of caribou herds if Anwar is drilled for oil....these are the same "experts" that predicted the same thing when the Alaska Pipeline was being built...guess what? the herds have almost doubled in size around the pipeline area, because the pipeline heats the area and provides extra food and shelter....
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06:01 AM
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June 08, 2005
It's a difficult subject to try to tackle, to say the least. Religion is personal to all of us, even when we belong to the same basic faith, and the terms of religion tend to get in the way of a basic discussion of morality.
Most of the Progessive Left hasn't even tried to count religious faith in their terms, and have fallen back into relatavism, which furthur polarizes any public discussion on what is "right" and "wrong". In the Progressive worldview, there IS no absolute WRONG, there is only "cultural norms that may be in conflict".
We on the right have the problem of not wanting to impose a rigid religous view, but intuitively knowing that there ARE some things that are wrong, just because they ARE WRONG. And that intuative sense comes from a faith of one type or another. Logic doesn't have the language to explain it, all the public debates can't come to a total agreement on it. Religion and faith lay it out in a way that people can somewhat digest, even though, even there, our own contrary nature leads to even more confusion on just what the norms should be.
Human nature is to continually push the boundries. Moral boundries come strongest in the form of religious doctrine; with an outside source laying down the rules. We call that source God. The trouble lies in our imperfect, and differing, conceptions of that source and it's rules (morality).
But without some type of moral sense of right and wrong, we are no better than any other beast in the jungle. I want to believe that we are better, but everything around me tells me that we really aren't EXCEPT faith that we are.
(yeah, that last paragraph confuses me too; see what I mean about it being an impossible subject to tackle? I know what I MEAN to say, but my writing skills just don't bring it out)
In a nutshell, Man is the only animal that is more than just being what it is. Man has aspirations to a higher plane, indeed, is the only animal that can conceive of a higher state of existance. It is our highest achievement, and the souce of our greatest problems.
I sincerely believe that relatavism only leads us, ultimately, back into the darkness of the jungle, where only strength and speed ensures survival. And only survival of the individual, not a society.
Posted by: Delftsman3 at
11:48 PM
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I'm sure that all the Arabic countries in the ME would have a more egalitarian view. SURELY they would like to have jews participating in every facet of their political stewardships....Funny thing that; seems they have this view that only Arabs, and MUSLIM Arabs at that, have any chance of entering government service. In most of them, you also have to be the CORRECT kind of Muslim. Woe to you if your a Sunni in a Shia controlled area, or vice versa. If you happen to Arab and Christian...well you ARE considered one step up from a Jew in the pecking order...realistically, that means that you'll be tortured second in any pogrom, gives you a little time to observe just what is in store for you.
Yep! The Jews are the racists, for sure!
Note some of the details in the story:"...the prisoner was temporarily in another part of the prison for a bath..." (Yep, sounds like a really HARSH Gulag...They actually expect the prisoners to BATHE!)
"...The entire incident was videotaped, as are all cell-extraction procedures under the tight protocol with which military officials have been running the Guantanamo prison..." (yes, we are SO proud of our Gulag, that we want video evidence on just how brutal we can be.)
"Last week, the Pentagon also acknowledged several incidents of Koran mishandling, although most were inadvertent and all were punished." You have to consider the source of the Koran abuse charges...to some of these fanatics, the mere touch of an "unbeliever" constitutes "Koran abuse". Note that even the inadvertant mishandling of the RoP's Holy scriptures were punished...yeah, sure sounds like a gulag situation to me....
"The military is spending about $2.8 million to construct a psychiatric ward for mentally ill detainees."
"We have an ethical responsibility to provide treatment they need regardless of what they've done or what they're accused of," he said, denying the new psychiatric ward was a response to criticism by human rights groups."(Navy Capt. Steve Edmonson, the head doctor for detainees.)
Um...I thought the purpose of a gulag was the total dehumanization (and ultimately death) of it's subjects? I guess we just don't have the experience to run a gulag the right way....maybe we should ask the Russians? or North Koreans?....I Know! We have a number of VERY experienced contacts in Iraq that we can use for their techhnical expertise in sub-human treatment of prisoners...course we would have to release them from prison to allow them to educate us in the proper methods. And Saddam just might protest that he should have the right to oversee them in their efforts; he WAS the architech(sic) of their program, after all.
Am I cherry picking the article for items that support my contentions? You bet your ass I am! Works for the Left/Socialist/Progressive coallition in THEIR "discussions" of issues, turn about is fair play.
Charles Krauthammer has, as always, an excellent opinion piece on the subject. Would that more pundits would have his clear and logical insights.
What a quote! If this were the case, the Nazi's should have been the free-est people in the world. Apart from the oft-mentioned Nazis, I don't know of anywhere in the world where this has been true. Burma is full of soldiers and it's hardly free. South Korea obtained elections only after numerous occasions in which soldiers (supported by U.S. complicity) massacred student protesters. What could you possibly be thinking when you wrote this, Deftsman? The people you constantly vilify are also "soldiers" (albeit, of a different stripe.)
Riiiight Karlo...just tell me ANY progress that have been engendered by those "soldiers of a different stripe" you put up as your heroes...Lets see...
Affirmative Action? nope, those programs have arguably set back race relations 20 years by creating a divisive atmosphere, where even those that succeed by their own merits are seen to have benefitted by a condescending attitude of "you made it because we let you".
Progressive Education? What a joke! we have the highest drop-out rates in history, with the lowest academic achievment ever,even among those that do graduate. Oh, they can spout memes of "evil conservative" and "power to the poor"...too bad that they can't read the diploma that says that they're "educated". They do have great self-esteem..about WHAT, I have no idea. These are the same graduates that look on no increase in funding of their pet social projects as a CUT in funding.
Social Progessivism...there is an old saying that "you get what you pay for(subsedize)" The social welfare programs have certainly proved that. Progressives blame evil corporations and brutal government...yet, since the "Great Society" programs of Lyndon Johnson, we as a society have spent ever increasing amounts of money to support the poor, with the result of having MORE poor.
Protest Immoral War....Lets see...they have "die ins" tying up the normal conduct of business of the inhabitants of the cities where they occur; they have puke fests on city hall steps and wonder why no one is listening to them (after all they DO have such high self-esteem!) Meanwhile, all their protests serve to do is encourage those working against us, and prolonging the war itself.
On to the gist of your contention that soldiers don't guarantee our rights by exemplifying instances of a conjunction of large groups of soldiers and tyrrany:
The fact is that armies in and of themselves are only tools of the governing regime. A tyrranical regime uses the army to bolster its own sick hold on power. In a free society, that same army guarantees that it remains free.
The freedoms we enjoy were wrested by dint of force of arms. Or I suppose you believe all we really needed to have done was puke on the steps of the Governors Residence, and the British crown would have seen the error of it's ways?
All we need have done was protest how racist we were against the indigenous peoples of Hawaii, and the Japanese would never have bombed Pearl Harbor?
I'm SURE that Hitler was amenable to calm and rational protests against his actions, and WW11 could have been avoided if only those with calmer heads had just said "we'll talk to Chancellor Hitler"
The REALITY is that we live in a world where, in the end, force can and does prevail. The basic moral attitude and sensibilities backing those forces make the difference whether they are used for good or ill.
Posted by: Delftsman3 at
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