A Drop in the Bucket

Food for Thought

Will it Take a War?

In the past 150 years, we have seen cycles of economic boom, followed by a bust, followed by hard times, followed by war in one form or another. One theorist of these cycles thinks that each cycle runs for about 60 years. Maybe it depends on how long it takes us to forget. We have a generation now that doesn’t recall the Jimmy Carter years, and they have never experienced a real recession. And I don’t have the impression that much history is being taught these days. If, indeed, those who don’t remember the lessons of the past are condemned to repeat them, it seems we are in for some tough sledding.

Class Trip

Rare look inside a Russian nuclear power plant.

No Justice in Liberal Land

Black belt teen strikes back at bully, and rallies community against racism.

The 15-year-old black belt thought he was doing his tormentor a favour when he elected to fight back with his weaker left hand.

He had heard his white classmate throw an angry racial slur in his direction after an argument during a gym class game of speedball, and now the student was shoving him backward, refusing to retract the smear.

Luckily, in this case, the community is rallying around the innocent 15-year-old.

The white student swung first, hitting the 15-year-old with a punch to the mouth.

The 15-year-old heard his father's voice running through his head: Fight only as a last resort, only in self-defence, only if given no choice, and only with the left hand.

His swing was short and compact, a left-handed dart that hit the white student square on the nose.

The nose broke under his fist, igniting a sequence of events - from arrest to suspension to possible expulsion - that has left the Asian student and his family wondering whether they are welcome in this small, rural and mostly white community north of Toronto, one that has been touched by anti-Asian attacks in the past.

The 15-year-old, the only person charged in connection with the April 21 school fight, faces one count of assault causing bodily harm.

What happens when you fight back against a bully in the liberal world? The innocent victim is charged. He never should have been charged at all. Charge the attacker, not the victim - even if the tables are turned on the attacker, that doesn't make him a victim.

Didn't I just write about this the other day?

Monopoly

Who Regulates the Regulators? --Mark Steyn

There was an old joke in Britain: "Why is there only one Monopolies Commission?" In fact, it's a profound observation about the nature of government. We wouldn't like it if there were only one automobile company or only one breakfast cereal, but by definition there can only be one federal government — which is why, "when the Government's monopolizing", it should do so only in very limited areas.

This isn't an abstract philosophical point, but a very practical one. Fans of big government take it for granted that Barack Obama, Timothy Geithner, Barney Frank, and a couple of other guys can "run" the financial sector better than 8,000 U.S. banks all jostling for elbow room like bacteria in a petri dish. Same with the auto industry, and the insurance industry, and the property market, and health care, and "the global environment." The skill-set required to run a billion-dollar company is the province of very few individuals. The skill-set required to run a multi-trillion-dollar government is unknown to human history.

Gotta Love Adam West

Batman Garage Sale with Adam West from Adam West

The Robot President

Disney Animatronics could do better.

He's only as good as his programming.

How to Get Ready for the Day

Suicide Free Zones

Another suicide at the Shoot Straight Gun Range. There was a murder/suicide at the same location earlier this month. The range has decided not to rent guns anymore. It's a shame, but I understand.

Why don't they just put up a 'Suicide Free Zone' sign on the door? That will keep people from committing suicide and still allow others to rent guns. People rent guns to try out guns they may be interested in buying, it's a helpful service.

I like the Suicide Free Zone idea. Hey, it works for Gun Free Zones, right?

No? It doesn't? Nevermind.

The New Puritans

I kind of like that name for the left. Here's a great post from the Morning Companion blog: Who Decides Your Rights?

I am concerned, however, about the new Puritans, the Puritans of the left. They seem to have an entirely different ethic and even religious fervor that has its own non-negotiable rules of morality. The debate is over, they tell us, on global warming, carbon (dioxide) emissions, same sex marriage, illegal immigration, free speech rights, and whatever else that is a part of the new orthodoxy. Dissent is good, they say, even patriotic as long as they are the dissenters, but now the questions have all been decided. They won the election! Game over!

More importantly, his conclusion is spot on:

Inalienable rights endowed by a Creator is a more sure road to freedom. As for me, I prefer that worldview whether this is a Christian nation or not.

Lenny has a lot more thought provoking posts on The Morning Companion.

Fetch!

That's Cool!

On the Lookout

Health Officials Say Swine Flu May Be In Area

The head of the Orange County health Department says Floridians need to be on the lookout.

If anyone sneezes - RUN!

God's Grief, God's Grace

What we finite human beings do not understand is that God's love and wrath are exactly the same thing. They are two sides of the same coin. What entrances us and warms us about God and draws us to Him is love. He is the God of love who loves regardless of merit. This is what attracts us. But it is because we respond that He appears to us in that way. To those who reject His love, the same quality in God becomes wrath, and it seems to be a wall of fire, burning and consuming everything.

We can see this also in ourselves. It is our love that causes us to be angry at anything that injures what we love. You injure a mother's child in the mother's presence, and watch her love flame out in anger against you. Thus we have here clearly described a time when humanity, in its rejection of God, passes beyond the place of seeing God as love and begins to experience His love as wrath. But it is exactly the same thing. --Ray Stedman

What America Is Becoming Has Become

My bullied son's last day on Earth

Bermudez said she thinks her son felt like nobody wanted to help him, that nobody stood up and stopped the bullies.

This is a really sad story but I think she hits on something in that sentence. We are becoming the culture of the bullied. Almost the first thing we're taught is don't hit back, don't fight back, tell the teacher. If a kid stands up and defends himself, who gets in trouble? The innocent kid, that's who.

When we get out of school, what happens? Same thing, don't defend yourself. Give them the money, the car, whatever they want. Don't fight back, call the police. And in most states, if you defend yourself, if you shoot the bad guy, what happens? They figure every which way to prosecute you for defending yourself. God forbid you made one mistake they can seize on in court to put you away - you, the innocent party who wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

OK, so what happens when you do tell the teacher or call the police? Most times, nothing. They make a report, but most times don't get the bad guy. If they do he's out of jail in no time and preying on his next victim. Teachers for the most part do nothing to stop the bullying, the bullies never seem to get kicked out of school. They love to proclaim their "zero tolerance" policies but that really only applies to innocent kids who bring an aspirin to school, or a pen with a gun manufacturers name on it. The real problem kids get away with it.

Having grown up in that environment it has taken me a while to shake that sickness. And sickness it is. Now the disease is spread fully into the government, top to bottom.

America: nobody stood up and stopped the bullies.

Human Right to Self-Defence

Thanks Kath!

And Now For Something Completely Different

It's Curtains for You!

Trump tower Chicago complaint: Bright lights are a big pain

After moving into her digs earlier this month, Tarbox discovered an unsettling feature at bedtime: The one-bedroom unit (list price: $952,000 and up) is flooded with light like a night game at Wrigley, she said.

Fire Tornado?

I've never seen anything like this before. Awesome. Well, unless that's your house.

Secession?

Interesting, and it does go hand in hand with freedom. If you're not free to leave, you're not free.