INSPIRATIONAL: A negative lesson

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Video-of-marriage-proposal-gone-wrong-at-UCLA-ba?urn=ncaab-wp7324

Tue Jan 03 04:08pm ESTVideo of marriage proposal gone wrong at UCLA basketball game
By Jeff Eisenberg

*** begin quote ***

The most memorable rejection of the UCLA basketball season happened in the stands rather than on the court.

Midway through a 71-63 victory over Richmond Dec. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, UCLA’s “Mistletoe Cam” cut to a couple seated courtside. The man reaches into his pocket, pulls out a ring and says, “I knew that I was going to do this since the first day that I met you, and I figured now was as good a time as any.” His girlfriend’s response when he gets down on one knee and pops the question? Well, let’s just say it involved an awkward pause and running in the other direction.

*** end quote ***

Hey, I can empathize with that fellow. First time, I proposed the girl said “no”.

I’d never ask where a rejection would be so public.

Maybe, like in my case, the second time will be the charm.

Argh! But you really have to feel for the guy.

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INTERESTING: Are “food drives” a symptom of the problem?

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/12/food_drives_charities_need_your_money_not_your_random_old_food_.html?wpisrc=twitter_socialflow

Can the Cans
Why food drives are a terrible idea.
By Matthew Yglesias
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011, at 12:29 PM ET

*** begin quote ***

But a fundamental issue is that many organizations feel that asking for money—like requesting cash as a gift—seems somewhat gauche. So, let me be rude on their behalf: Find well-managed charities in your community and trust them to know how to do their job. They have access to food at a fraction of the price. They know their clients, and they have better things to do than to sort through your canned goods. And from your perspective, it’s much easier to document a monetary donation for tax purposes. Good intentions are lovely, but particularly in hard times it’s more important to make sure your charitable dollars go as far as possible. Can the cans. Hand over some cash.

*** end quote ***

Of course, this IGNORES the fundamental problem of Gooferment “food banks”!

Private charities do a far more effective and efficient job.

When you feed stray cats, you get more of them.

We should be helping people enable themselves to take of themselves. Families should be helping. Churches and Associations should be helping.

Everybody, but the Gooferment. They are structurally unable to help!

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: “Bertrand Russell’s teapot” (BRT); the award for …

Monday, December 12, 2011

http://tinybuddha.com/blog/this-too-shall-pass-and-other-reminders

This Too Shall Pass and Other Reminders
by J.C. Lundberg

*** begin quote ***

Bertrand Russell was a Twentieth Century philosopher in the fields of philosophy of language and metaphysics. When he would debate people, some of them would argue “You cannot disprove such and such a supposition so you must admit that it is possible that I’m right.”

Russell would agree that of course it was possible that they were right, but that does not mean their idea is worthy of respect.

His counterargument was by way of a thought experiment. “Imagine,” he would say, “that I posit that orbiting the sun between Earth and Mars is a small ceramic teapot. Imagine further that I posit that the teapot is small enough and far enough away and has a low enough albedo and therefore our instruments cannot detect it. You would then have to agree that you cannot disprove my teapot.”

Even though we cannot disprove Russell’s teapot it’s not bloody likely that to be out there. “Not bloody likely” are my words, not Professor Russell’s.

The existence of that teapot is not equiprobable, it is not equally likely to be true as to be false.

*** end quote ***

“Bertrand Russell’s teapot” (BRT) is going into my shorthands!

Not sure if it’s just for use with wacky ideas. Or maybe with wacky people? Or maybe unprovable <synonym for excrement>? Or people who keep presenting non-facts?

I think I’ll award BRTs to folks that annoy me.

Have to think about the criteria, but I have someone in mind. :-)

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INTERESTING: Abandoned Water Parks versus houses for people

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/urban-exploration/news-10-creepiest-abandoned-water-parks-earth

Eerie, Abandoned Water Parks

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Interesting in that this is the “malinvestment” that the Austrian School of Economics talks about.

Look at the lost “wealth” in those pictures.

(For those that skipped eckynomics in Gooferment Skrules, those “water parks” might have been “houses”. See the problem?)

Clearly, the free market, where someone risks their own money on an idea, is the best way to minimize the mistakes.

One problem, that Ron Paul points out on the national stage, is the “Federal Reserve System”. It engages in all sorts of non-free market activities that leads directly to those water parks aka malinvestments. The manipulation of interest rates denies the free market critical information about how much investment versus consumption is optimum.

Argh!

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INTERESTING: A “personhood” amendment would be useful

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/personhood-defeat-not-a-serious-setback-for-pro-life-movement

‘Personhood’ defeat not a serious setback for pro-life movement
By Benjamin Mann

*** begin quote ***

Chicago, Ill., Nov 13, 2011 / 06:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Representatives of the Thomas More Society and the Pro-Life Action League say the defeat of Mississippi’s “personhood” initiative does not mark a serious defeat for the pro-life movement.

*** and ***

“Does this ‘personhood’ language have any effect in and of itself on state law? Or does this require the legislature to enact specific pieces of legislation to give it effect?” he asked.

*** end quote ***

Wouldn’t it be useful to have some common agreement about when life does begin?

Even if it was age 21 or 18, it’d be nice to know when life begins so we’d know when we CAN kill people.

Conception, birth, a day, a week, a year, a decade?

When CAN you kill some one?

Maybe it’s when they can do something? Crawl, walk, run, control their bowels.

Or is it when that person can assert their own rights?

It’ll be an interesting discussion!

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INTERESTING: Everyone’s a journalist now

Sunday, November 13, 2011

http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_lewis_crowdsourcing_the_news.html

Crowdsourcing the news

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I found this interesting because: (1) British cops gone rogue AND (2) a new citizen journalistic meme is defined.

Wonder where this will take us?

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INTERESTING: Transplantind Democracy

Thursday, November 10, 2011

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=362981

Democracy in Arab lands? It’s virtually impossible
Posted: November 01, 2011
Walter Williams

*** begin quote ***

What should the West do about the gross violations of human rights so prevalent in North Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere? My short answer is to mind our own business. The only case in which we should interfere with Middle Eastern affairs is when our national defense or economic interests are directly threatened.

*** end quote ***

Sounds like Ron Paul.

It’s easy to hear people you agree with.

MYOB!

I think we should tattoo it on every one of the politicians and bureaucrats in DC!

Plus isn’t “democracy” just another name for mob rule.

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INTERESTING: Prohibition and Drugs

Monday, November 7, 2011

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/KenBur

Prohibition, Civility, and Political Discourse
Ken Burns
National Press Club | Luncheon Speech

Ken Burns talked about his PBS series, Prohibition, which chronicles the ratification, implementation, and eventual repeal of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well as the era in which the movement took place. He also responded to questions from the audience.

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An outstanding discussion of Prohibition and how it relates to our current state with the “(pseudo) War on (some) Drugs”. While I was aware of the relation between the Women’s Rights Movement, I was unaware of of the relation between the Progressives with the Income Tax and the Dry’s who wanted to eviscerate the reliance of the Federal Government on the booze industry taxes. Worth an hour and you can see that past is prologue.

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INTERESTING: Unalienable versus Inalienable

Monday, November 7, 2011

http://dumpdc.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/what-are-unalienable-rights/

What Are Unalienable Rights?

by Russell D. Longcore

Owner and Editor, DumpDC.com

*** begin quote ***

I don’t think I’ve ever seen an expansive article about unalienable rights. We all seem to just refer to the Declaration of Independence and what Jefferson wrote, and then defer to it. But natural law and unalienable rights are where it all starts.

*** and ***

“Unalienable: incapable of being alienated, that is, sold and transferred.” Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, page 1523. One cannot sell, transfer or surrender unalienable rights.

*** and ***

Inalienable rights can be transferred, sold or surrendered if you give your consent. Inalienable rights are not bestowed by the Creator or inherent in humans. ”Persons” have inalienable rights, and the word “Person” is a legal term¹. Inalienable rights can be bestowed to persons by government, and can be likewise removed from persons by government. At times, government itself can be considered a “Person” in a legal sense. Most state constitutions recognize only inalienable rights.

*** and ***

* The Right of Life

* Right of Personal Security

* The Right of Labor

* Right to Acquire and Enjoy Property

* Right to Contract

* Right of Free Speech

* Right of Beliefs or Conscience

* Right of Personal Liberty

* Right to the Pursuit of Happiness

*** end quote ***

And, I always thought old Thom was just careless.

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INTERESTING: The American Revolution legal? Oxymoronical questions

Monday, October 31, 2011

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15345511

19 October 2011 Last updated at 13:14 ET
Is the US Declaration of Independence illegal?
COMMENTS (431)
By Matt Danzico and Kate Dailey
BBC News Magazine

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Who cares? “Might makes right!” I acquire my “rights” by being able and willing to fight for them.

The only reason, that a society “grants” me my rights, is that it can’t afford the price that I will extract if it doesn’t.

If I’m willing to die on a particular “hill”, cause there are always more of them than me, then I put a stake in the ground.

We have examples in history of one person standing up to the mob.

The American Revolution legal? It’s like “jumbo shrimp”. Makes no sense.

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