When you want to test the depths of a stream, don't use both feet.
Chinese Proverb
Chart of the Day: A Religiously-Diverse Congress
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| HT The Blaze |
"So no, we're all not Charlie [Hebdo] —few of us are that good, and none of us are that brave." - M. Welsh. Incivility to others is virtue?
— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2015
"Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty" - Madison.With liberty comes moral responsibility.Your liberty doesn't rest in my face.
— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) January 8, 2015
Image of the Day
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| Professional Hair Braiding in Texas--Institute for Justice |
Open the Door and Let 'Em In
Facebook Corner
(National Review). When it comes to “religious extremism,” religion matters.
I normally respect Williamson, but this is a bad piece. On the question of abortion, Williamson is breathtakingly uninformed and outright wrong. This is from an Islamic website: "The right to life is God-given. No human should take away that right. The general rule, therefore, is that abortion is not permitted in Islam. However, Islam is a very practical religion. It includes principles to deal with exceptional cases. One such principle is that when a pregnancy threatens the life of the mother, an abortion may be performed. Although the lives of both mother and child are sacred, in this case it
is better to save the principal life, the life of the mother."
Furthermore, I would argue there can be a blurring of religion and nationalism--take, for instance, Kamikaze during WWII. Let me also point out that a number of religions are not highly centralized, say, in the manner of the Catholic Church. To make a single incident in Paris representative of about 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide is analytically absurd.
(Reason). The New York Times believes when cops refuse to enforce petty laws and make unnecessary arrests in minority communities, that's a civil rights violation.
I wonder if the mayor could make this "slowdown" policy permanent and declare victory.
(Judge Napolitano). Shepard Smith and I discuss the tragic attack in #Paris.
Judge Napolitano has this one wrong. Civility tempers the abuses of freedom. One does not compel a respect for tolerance by practicing intolerance. Whereas the murder of others is a violation of natural rights and totally inexcusable, if and when you exercise free expression you should be sensitive to the rights of others and treat them and their beliefs respectfully.
(National Review). Intolerance for free expression is rooted in classical Islam.
A fairly pathetic commentary; I scanned the comments to see if anyone else noticed the elephant in the room (one or 2 comments touched on it). Review the Draconian sanctions in the Old Testament, which is the foundation of the Judaic-Christian tradition, and then apply McCarthy's analysis analogously. http://en.wikipedia.org/.../Crime_and_punishment_in_the...
(Reason). President Barack Obama's response to this morning's attack and murder of 12 people at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo Officiel contains a notable lack of defense of free speech and free expression.
This commentary is pretentious bullshit. Yes, freedom includes uncivil acts, but pretending ridicule of others or their beliefs is not an abuse of liberty is a state of denial. As a pro-liberty conservative, I don't have a problem with the White House statement. The idea that insulting or other forms of aggression is the litmus test of liberty is ludicrous on its face. Exercising intolerance under the banner of tolerance is morally outrageous.
(Citizens Against Government Waste). Despite cost overruns, lawsuits, growing public opposition and a completion date behind schedule, California Gov. Jerry Brown surged ahead in building the California bullet train: a project that, at an estimated cost of $68 billion, will become the most expensive public works project in U.S. history.Taxpayer advocacy groups such as CAGW have long argued that the project will require millions more in wasteful operational subsidies. What should be done to ensure that projects that are not supported by the majority of Americans, such as the high speed rail, are not approved to simply appease parochial interests? Share your thoughts below.
http://www.foxnews.com/…/california-bullet-train-most-expe…/
This California supersized boondoggle is pure political pornography and a rape of both American and Californian taxpayers.
I think your lead-in commentary is confusing(confused). Is this a state funded project or a federally funded project, or both? If it is state only, then what does the opinion of a majority of "Americans" matter in the least? It would be only the opinion of Californians that would matter.This California supersized boondoggle is pure political pornography and a rape of both American and Californian taxpayers.
"Specifically, how was the Authority going to match the $2.25 billion the federal government has provided to the project". Try Google; it works. http://news.heartland.org/.../californias-bullet-train...
(Sen. Mike Lee). "It's important to understand that there's a world of difference between a veto threat and a veto. If the president wants to circumvent the will of the Ameriecan people and veto legislation that would create tens of thousands of jobs and shore up america's energy independence, he'll have to defend that to the american people and that will be a hard thing for him to do." (re: Obama's threat to veto a Keystone pipeline bill)
This is more about trying to rally his demoralized base. Contrary to the partisan trolls below who learned math in public schools, Obama has more than enough Dems in either chamber of Congress to sustain a veto. It has nothing to do with McConnell or Boehner "surrendering"; it's a matter of the Constitution and the reality of the hand one's been dealt. I had been expecting Obama to make this move ever since I heard McConnell make the political blunder of announcing Keystone as his top objective.
I think this was a mistake of the GOP leadership making it the target of an early initiative. Obama has been procrastinating on the issue, but in short he thinks he's "the decider". Very bad political strategy/tactics: you don't want to start off a new GOP-controlled Congress by giving Obama an easy high-profile political victory; it's better to start with some things that both Obama and the new Congress want--say, for example, give Obama fast-track authority on trade deals. Save the pipeline for something Obama really needs--like continuing funding for DHS; you are going to have to give Obama something he wants to let him save face with his base. I'm not even a political pundit, but this is a matter of Politics 101.
(Reason). So no, we're all not Charlie Hebdo—few of us are that good, and none of us are that brave. If more of us were that brave then maybe Charlie Hebdo wouldn't have stuck out so much like a sore thumb.
As Bill Donohue notes: "Madison was right when he said, “Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as the abuses of power.”"http://www.catholicleague.org/muslims-right-angry/
One has every right to be offended; one does *not* have the right to violate another person's right to life, liberty or property because they are offended. I had every right as a Catholic to be offended at the "Piss Christ" display; yet I did not have a right to exact vengance on behalf of Christ. Get the difference?
Don't be an idiot, troll. No one is disagreeing that the violation of another person's natural rights is acceptable. But with freedom comes moral responsibility. There are boundaries of civil behavior; if and when you provoke other people, there are consequences. If someone wielding a weapon approaches you and your response is to insult him, an absent police officer is not there to protect you, and a court ruling is not going to bring you back to life.
(Reason). At least 12 people were killed in an attack by masked gunmen on the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo Officiel.
I see the crackpot neocon trolls are in this thread. Look, violence is an inexcusable response. I will add that a powerful God does not need believers exercising His Vengeance on earth. As pro-liberty, I don't believe in restricting freedom of expression--nor do I intend to blame the victims in this tragedy. However, I don't think it's prudent to mock another religion with hundreds of millions of believers; as a matter of civility, we should be respectful and not engage in provocative actions.
See, and right there, you have surrendered by calling it "provocative actions." That right there is blaming the victim. Some ideologies should be mocked!
I'm referring to the deliberate mocking of Mohammed. As a Catholic, I'm offended by works of "art" defacing Jesus or Mary. I think some Christians would respond aggressively in response. Just because you have the liberty to offend doesn't mean it's prudent. I may have the liberty to insult a cop bearing a deadly weapon, but that doesn't make it a good idea. It's of little comfort for a court to vindicate my rights if the cop reacts disproportionately. I have to assess my risks, and there's a poor reward/risk tradeoff here.
Ok, you're a man with no discernment, no capacity to grasp raw evil with a dozen still warm bleeding bodies right in your face. Great. The world needs lots more neutral cowards just like you. Then, everyone can be pals. Respect for Islamic terrorist barbarians means FEAR them. You further that totalitarian goal. I'm sure your proud of your lack of character.
To the second hostile fascist troll: only a statistically insignificant percentage of Muslims promote and/or participate in terrorist actions. Your infantile attempts to characterize an entire faith by the acts of zealots are a reflection of the way you were raised, engaging in the inability to analyze situations.
Where you err is in believing that its insults that cause then to act violently. It's not. It's anything. They hate people who are not extremist Muslims like themselves and that includes other Muslims who they don't feel are as devout. Us not being dedicated Muslims in the way that they define it is just as offensive to them as the cartoons.
To the first troll: you are in a state of denial. This comes from the Reason piece: "the newspaper has received threats for its satirical depictions of Mohammed, considered a prophet by
Muslims." Next time, read the article before publishing nonsense. They didn't attack random Parisians; they attacked a media source which had been warned about the provocative nature of what was published. Your inability to analyze the situation is pathetic.
(I got personally attacked by a wolf pack of trolls, including anti-Muslim commenters.)
To the other trolls trying to stoke Muslim-Christian differences, I strongly suggest you read your history books and review the Crusades (including atrocities by Christian soldiers), the Inquisition and numerous religious wars in Europe (not to mention relatively recent sectarian differences in Northern Ireland).
To the brain dead Catholic troll who believes that there are no "Muslim/Christian" differences. Go to Arabia, and practice Catholicism.
To the brain dead anti-Muslim troll who thinks that murder and/or rape of, and theft from innocent Muslim civilians during the Crusades in the name of the Prince of Peace weren't hypocritical, go look at the fascist in the mirror.
Political Humor
HT Newsmax
Here in California today, they broke ground on the construction of a high-speed bullet train that will allow people to travel from L.A. to San Francisco in less than three hours. Until it's built we'll have to settle for flying there in 90 minutes. - Jimmy Kimmel
Not to mention more people live or work closer to airports than depots, and even "successful" rail services like Amtrak (Boston-DC) rarely capture more than 5-6% of passenger traffic.
We have a new and now Republican-controlled Congress starting today. The 114th Congress convened today in our nation's capital. I thought Congress got canceled after last season. Their ratings were terrible. - Jimmy Kimmel
Well, Majority Leader Harry Reid did get cancelled after 8 years of dismal ratings.
That’s right, 104 female lawmakers [in the new Congress]. In other words, there's going to be a lot of filibusters that go like this: “You know what you did.” - Jimmy Fallon
And those $600 toilet seats? Yup; the lids were left up....
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of the original artist via Bastiat Institute |
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| Courtesy of Henry Payne via Townhall |
Céline Dion, "Any Other Way"
