antipaucity

Regardless of for whom you voted in 2000, 2004, or 2008, and regardless of whether or not you approve of the out-going president, or his replacement, certainly one thing can be agreed-upon.

Less than 8 months after President George W Bush took office, some group of people hostile to the United States flew aircraft into densely-populated buildings in one of the largest cities in the world.

Had our president NOT reacted, Americans worldwide would have been on the road to kill or impeach him. And hostiles worldwide would’ve looked at us as a bunch of pansies who turn and run when the going gets tough.

In 2000 I voted for Mr Bush. I wanted someone else to get the Republican nomination, but he didn’t. I personally could not have voted in good conscience for Mr Gore.

But regardless of who could’ve won, I would not have wished such a monumental situation on any elected official – even those I vehemently disagree with.

Had Mr Gore, or anyone else, won the presidency in 2000, all things being equal, what would their reaction to 9/11 have been? Could anyone else have made a “better” decision with what little data we had? I don’t think so. I think many worse decisions could’ve been made, and I’m convinced that equally valid, but different routes could’ve been employed in prosecuting those who attacked us.

I hope and pray that the man about to take over from Mr Bush doesn’t have another issue to deal with the way Mr Bush did. I’d like to see Mr Obama recant his liberal leanings and at least move to the center, if not be converted to a conservative. But mostly I hope that nothing happens for the term of his presidency – and that he goes home when he’s done the way Mr Coolidge did 80 years ago.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/washington/20military.html?_r=1

“The commander of American and allied naval forces off the coast of Somalia has begun efforts to halt a spike in piracy, urging merchant vessels to sail with armed guards on board and to travel only within lanes now patrolled by warships. The commander, Vice Adm. William E. Gortney of the United States Navy, said crews of merchant ships were being taught measures that did not involve the use of force to prevent pirates from boarding their vessels.”

“The techniques include complicated rudder movements and speed adjustments that make it hard for pirate speedboats to pull alongside, as well as simple steps like pulling up ladders that some ships leave dangling for an entire voyage.”

I understand pulling-up your ladders – if you’re at sea, why have them down? Plus, if the pirates are on a speedboat (5-10 feet of the water) and you’re on a supertanker (50-100 feet off the water), they can’t board if they have no path.

I do not, however, understand why the Navy would be encouraging the merchant vessels to not use force if need-be.

“Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said this week that there were legal and military obstacles to combating piracy. ‘One of the challenges that you have in piracy, clearly, is, if you are intervening and you capture pirates, is there a path to prosecute them?’ he said.”

It used to be that if someone was trying to board your vessel, steal your stuff (and that of the group for which you work), and potentially kill you had not only the right, but the responsibility to defend yourself. I’ve never heard of “prosecuting them” beyond a simple Captain’s Mast at sea. Hanging them from the yardarm is an encouragement to others to think twice (or maybe three or four times) before trying themselves.

From http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/19/mideast/qaeda.php:

“In Al Qaeda’s first response to the American election, Osama bin Laden’s top deputy condemned President-elect Barack Obama as a “house Negro” who will continue a campaign against Islam begun by President George W. Bush.”
…
“American officials dismissed the new video as spin control and a desperate tactic by a terror group that suffered a defeat in the global war of ideas when the United States elected a black president with a Muslim name.”
…
“And in a blunt personal attack on the new president, Zawahiri painted Obama as a hypocrite and traitor to his race, unfavorably comparing him to ‘honorable black Americans’ like Malcolm X, the 1960s black Muslim leader. The Qaeda video drew extensively on archival footage of Malcolm X, and much of the message juxtaposes a still picture of Obama wearing a yarmulke during a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem with a photo of Malcolm X kneeling in prayer at a mosque.”

…

You all know I don’t especially like our new President-elect, but I’d point to this as a case-in-point that we’re still hated by extremists the world over. Personally, I think it’s a Good Thing™ that we are – if we weren’t, we’d be either a bunch of wishy-washy assholes who don’t believe in anything, or we’d be just as fanatical; neither of those appeal to me.

I read this Reuters story today on Americans being against helping Detroit’s Big Three.

This is the self-same America that just authorized $700 billion (with a “B”!) dollars to bail-out struggling financial services companies.

Now $25 billion is too much to help keep hundreds of thousands of jobs around?

That seems to be a double standard. If it’s OK to bail-out the finservs, then it’s OK to bailout the auto makers. If it’s NOT OK to bailout the automakers, then those finserv bail-out funds should be revoked.

Personally, while I am a Ford Guy™, I don’t want to see the government providing aid to anyone that’s made bad business decisions. If they fouled themselves selling things people [apparently] don’t want, or for more than those people are willing to pay, they need to cut prices, change manufacturing, introduce new models, something.

I’m in London currently, and have seen a host of Ford vehicles I’ve not seen stateside. Coupes, sedans, minivans – all cruising around the city, with the drivers [apparently] happy. Certainly it can’t be THAT difficult to switch what side the steering wheel is on to bring all those models to the US?

If fuel economy is why people buy the Japanese brands, then bring the fuel-efficient Euro models to the states.

Ford – and I presume the others, but haven’t noticed them here yet – needs to do next-to-nothing to get all these cars to consumers in the States.

No government hand-out – just a new manufacturing theory.

“After months of telling the American people that he supports the Second Amendment, and only hours after being declared the president-elect, the Obama transition team website announced an agenda taken straight from the anti-gun lobby.”

For anyone who actually believed this man, he’s living proof he’s a liar.

For more information: http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=4227

The list is short, and simple.

1. He’s pro-death. Anyone who votes to deny medical care to an infant born after a botched abortion is not fit to be a leader. Anyone who is pro-abortion for any reason (not merely in the [uncommon] event of endangering the life of the mother) is pro-death, and I will not vote for anyone who is willing for those who cannot speak for themselves to be extinguished.
2. He’s anti-2d Amendment, which means he’s already failed to live up to the oath he took when entering office as Senator – to uphold the Constitution. If you want to enact a change, that’s fine, but it must go through the appropriate processes as outlined in the Constitution for accomplishing that.
3. He’s a Socialist. Anyone who believes the government should be in the business of forcibly taking what someone has justly earned and give it to someone who has not, without their permission, is a Socialist. America is NOT the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics – we are a Democratic Republic. We are Capitalists. If I want to give to charity, that is my prerogative, not the government’s. And for someone who is so concerned about “spreading the wealth”, why does he not give charitably? Why does he not take care, even in some small fashion, of relatives living in squalor while he resides in [relative] resplendent glory?
4. He wants to raise taxes and spend more. We may or may not be entering an economic recession. But the last time someone proposed to do what he proposes to do, it was Herbert Hoover, followed by Franklin Roosevelt. Hoover proactively worked with Congress to raise taxes and tariffs, and helped catapult us into the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt helped hold us in the Depression by starting socialist work programs for political gain.

I want another Calvin Coolidge or Ronald Reagan to appear on the scene that will reign-in government spending and let America do what it does best: be productive.

We were founded by people looking for escape from oppression.

We were founded by people who were willing, ready, and capable of working hard – very hard – and making a life for themselves.

When politicians get the government out of the way, America does great things.

if you’re undecided. If by now, with a week left, you haven’t picked who you’re going to vote for as President (and I almost don’t care who you pick [I do, but that's another story]), don’t vote.

I’d like to tell you to vote for the guy I want to win, but I don’t like even most of the third, fourth, and ninth party candidates this year.

I’m going to write-in, as long as I can get back to the state to vote on time.

But honestly, if after the past two years of campaigning you haven’t been able to make up your mind, you shouldn’t vote – or you should write yourself in.

I’ve noticed that most technical forums, from user groups to mailing lists, slashdot to stackoverflow, all tend liberal.

I want to know why there seems to be a paucity of conservatives in these settings. I want to know why the libertarians that show tend towards the radical fringe of the party.

With the size of the overall tech/geek population, there should be a more representative cut of political viewpoints.

Yet what I see is that most of the geeks I run across are distinctly left-leaning. They seem to all be in favor of Obama, with only a couple coming out in favor of anyone else in this presidential campaign.

Personally, I don’t like either major candidate: Obama is far too liberal for me, and so is McCain – there isn’t any form of conservative mainstream alternative, so I’m voting 7th party this year.

I want to know why, though, it seems that all the nerds I run across are liberal, and almost none are conservative.

I emailed the Rush Limbaugh show Friday, and proffered the following:

What if John McCain picked Sarah Palin because he’s planning to retire before his term is up, and this is a masterful plan to pull the biggest political coup d’etat, a la femme?

If McCain/Palin get elected and McCain retires/resigns, Republicans will have the first female president: a major blow to the Democrats who want someone like Hillary elected.

Full transcript – again, Mr Carlin, you are missed.

You got people like this around you? Country is full of them now! People walking around all day long, every minute of the day — worried about EVERYTHING! Worried about the air, worried about the water, worried about the soil. Worried about insecticides, pesticides, food additives, carcinogens; worried about radon gas; worried about asbestos. Worried about saving endangered species.

Let me tell you about endangered species, all right? Saving endangered species is just one more arrogant attempt by humans to control Nature! It’s arrogant meddling! It’s what got us into trouble in the first place! Doesn’t anybody understand that? Interfering with Nature! Over 90 percent.. over… way over 90 percent of all the species that have ever lived — EVER LIVED — on this planet are gone. Whissshht! They are extinct!

We didn’t kill them all.

They just… disappeared! That’s what Nature does! They disappear these days at the rate of 25 a day, and I mean regardless of our behavior. Irrespective of how we act on this planet, 25 species that were here today, will be gone tomorrow! Let them go… gracefully! Leave Nature alone! Haven’t we done enough?

We’re so self-important. So self-important! Everybody’s going to save something now. “Save the trees; save the bees; save the whales; save those snails.” And the greatest arrogance of all, “Save the planet.” WHAT? Are these fucking people kidding me? Save the planet? We don’t even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven’t learned how to care for one another, we’re gonna save the fucking planet?

I’m getting tired of that shit. Tired of that shit. Tired! I’m tired of fucking Earth Day! I’m tired of these self-righteous environmentalists; these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren’t enough bicycle paths. People trying to make the world safe for their Volvos. Besides, environmentalists don’t give a shit about the planet. They don’t care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don’t. Not in the abstract they don’t. You know what they’re interested in? A clean place to live. Their own habitat. They’re worried that some day in the future, they might be personally inconvenienced. Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn’t impress me.

Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are fucked. Difference. Difference! The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years. We’ve been here, what? A hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we’ve only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion. And we have the CONCEIT to think that somehow we’re a threat? That somehow we’re gonna put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that’s just a-floatin’ around the sun?

The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles; hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors; worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages… And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet… the planet… the planet isn’t going anywhere. WE ARE!

We’re going away. Pack your shit, folks. We’re going away. And we won’t leave much of a trace, either. Thank God for that. Maybe a little styrofoam. Maybe. A little styrofoam. The planet will be here and we’ll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance.

You wanna know how the planet is doing? Ask those people at Pompeii, who are frozen into position from volcanic ash, “How the planet’s doing?” You wanna know if the planet’s all right, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble, if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. Or how about those people in Kilowaia, Hawaii, who built their homes right next to an active volcano, and then wonder why they have lava in the living room.

The planet will be here for a long, long — LONG — time after we’re gone, and it will heal itself; it will cleanse itself, because that’s what it does. It’s a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover; the earth will be renewed; and, if it’s true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new pardigm: the Earth plus plastic! The Earth doesn’t share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the Earth. The Earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the Earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old philosophical question, “Why are we here?” “Plastic! Assholes.”

So! So, the plastic is here, our job is done, we can be phased out now. And I think that it has already started already, don’t you? I think, to be fair, the planet probably sees us as a mild threat. Something to be dealt with. And I am sure the planet will defend itself in the manner of a large organism, like a beehive or an ant colony, and muster a defense. I am sure the planet will think of something. What would you do if you were the planet trying to defend against this pesky, troublesome species? “Let’s see… What might… Hmm.. Viruses! Viruses might be good. They seem vulnerable to viruses. And, uh…viruses are tricky, always mutating and forming new strains whenever a vaccine is developed. Perhaps, this first virus could be one that compromises the immune system of these creatures. Perhaps a human immunodeficiency virus, making them vulnerable to all sorts of other diseases and infections that might come along. And maybe it could be spread sexually, making them a little reluctant to engage in the act of reproduction.”

Well, that’s a poetic note. And it’s a start. And I can dream, can’t I? See I don’t worry about the little things: bees, trees, whales, snails. I think we’re part of a greater wisdom than we will ever understand. A higher order. Call it what you want. Know what I call it? The Big Electron.” The Big Electron…whoooa. Whoooa. Whoooa. It doesn’t punish; it doesn’t reward; it doesn’t judge at all. It just is. And so are we. For a little while.

Thanks for being here with me for a little while tonight!

Thank you!