Archive for: December, 2006

Will Al Gore Go After Cows Next?

Dec 11 2006 Published by under Miscellany

According to a new UN report, cows, not cars, trucks or my parents big SUV are the biggest threat to our environment. The report says that the emissions from cows account for 18% of greenhouse gasses that cause global warming — more than all other forms of transportation put together. In my opinion this means many things but the most important are that:

First, that I can be the proud owner of an SUV and not feel guilty about it. (Not that I did before.)

Second, that by being a proud meat-eater it means I’m helping protect the environment (more cow on my plate mean less alive emitting dangerous gasses).

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The 08 Field

Dec 07 2006 Published by under Elections, Politics, Republicans

John Hawkins over at Right Wing News has a good look at the 08 GOP field. It largely mirrors a conversation he and I had a few days ago. The simple fact is our choices in the GOP Primary are really pretty weak.

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Racism & Education

Dec 06 2006 Published by under Race, Society, Supreme Court

The LA Times has an interesting editorial running today. It poses a question I find fascinating – is racism in the pursuit of a noble goal any less nefarious than racism in pursuit of a ignoble goal?

Taking account of race to bring children of different backgrounds together is fundamentally different from using race to keep those children apart.

Is it? I don’t know that I agree.

At the heart of the arguments Monday are simple racial quotas. If a neighborhood has a population that is 60% Caucasian and 40% minority, but the school age population (say 2000 kids) is 80% Caucasian and 20% minority, under the existing laws, the district can force the parents of 400 children to ship their kids to a school some distance away.

Never mind the fact that these parents have paid property taxes to the local district to build and maintain that school (which I think is the bigger issue that should be fixed), and ignore the fact that forced integration denies kids the simple joy of attending school with their friends, the use of racial quotas in such a solution serves no purpose that is inherent to the needs of the child.

The arguments made in favor of this practice by educators and administrators (that I have seen) have nothing to do with education or a right to it. The arguments they make are limited to their beliefs in social engineering. They feel the kids should be exposed, by force if necessary, to diversity or, at the very least, a school population that reflects the make up of their neighborhood.

It is really a specious argument.

The larger problem with our educational system is the method by which we fund it. If an argument is made to fund schools through a mechanism other than property taxes – so the value of a neighborhood’s homes does not relegate the children to less than equal educational opportunities – I will get behind it. I do not feel my child deserves a better education simply because my economic circumstances allow me to buy a more expensive home.

I am also opposed to racism in any form and oppose any solution that relies on racial percentages. Racism, in any form, seeks to lift one group up by keeping another down. That is true regardless of the goal and the good intentions of the oppressor.

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Appalling

Dec 06 2006 Published by under Congress, Politics, Republicans

As the Republican house spends its final days passing a meaningless measure on abortion, this Washington Times opinion piece points out a particularly appalling fact:

If any other evidence were needed to confirm Republican futility on the budget front this year, consider the fact that 2006 will be the first year in history that a Congress in which one party controlled both the House and the Senate failed to pass a budget resolution.

I think that is all the evidence we need to confirm Republican ineptitude on just about every front. We came to power in 1994 with an agenda to reform government, rein in federal spending, and to instill in Washington an institutional belief in balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility.

Ironically, it was because of our success that we failed so badly. We elected majorities to both houses and reclaimed the White House. In so doing, we abandoned our fiscal priorities, hocked our children’s future, and spent well beyond our means while promoting a divisive agenda that failed miserably to keep us in power.

It is appropriate that the House today will consider the “fetal pain” bill as one if its last actions. The bill – a measure requiring abortion providers to inform patients that a fetus feels pain – will likely pass the House, and go no further. The Senate will not take it up before they adjourn and and the Senate, under Democrat control, would be more inclined to handle live plague cultures than to pick up that bill in the 110th.

So the GOP’s pandering to the religious base, which has driven the party from power and alienated much of the American middle, is complete. With the completion of this ineffective fundamentalist Christian agenda goes our generation’s chance to right what is fundamentally wrong with Washington.

I sincerely hope the so-con wing of the party is happy with every gift they have received in the past six years, because their insistence on radical social policies to appease their narrow minority have permanently hampered sensible fiscal policies that would have benefited all.

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For Your Holiday Enjoyment :)

Dec 06 2006 Published by under Miscellany

Political Cartoon

This is from my hometown political cartoonist, Joe Heller, who is absolutely hilarious. He’s actually the one who got me started on my journalistic path that somehow led me to Washington…

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