Terrorist Rights Activists

So-called "human rights" activists have targeted U.S. use of its Predator UAVs against Al Qaeda in Pakistan because they don't give any warning before they strike and may kill innocent civilians. (www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/29/predator-drones-face-legal-challenges-liberals/) Of course this happens because it is standard procedure for Al Qaeda operatives to surround themselves with innocent civilians hoping to head off such attacks. Apparently the more vicious and evil Al Qaeda becomes, the more leeway "human rights" activists want to give them. The end result is that the activists are really advocates for terrorist rights and allowing them to go about their business unimpeded of planning and executing strikes that will kill thousands of innocent civilians, albeit Americans and others who apparently don't rate protection of their rights. Interesting mind set.

America's Best

Here are a couple of America's best: my grandson Joey (with the big smile) and two of the Tuskeegee Airmen. The latter broke the color barrier as pilots in the Army Air Force over the skies of Europe in WW II and saved hundreds of American bomber crews flying cover in their red-tailed P-51s. This is what makes America the best - brave heroes who did their duty defending the country and a young boy who some day hopes to be like them.

Make 'Em Pay Their Fair Share

Maryland just learned the hard way how the laws of economics really work. To close a budget shortfall, they upped the tax rate on millionaires. The politicians and the Baltimore Sun all thought they would pay it. Some did, but fully 1/3 of the millionaires living in the state simply left and tax revenues were down despite the rate increase. (online.wsj.com/article/SB124329282377252471.html). Moral: Producing people are not piggybanks for politicians' spending plans - they can and do move. See Detroit, Sweden, etc., etc.

Welcome Henry Christopher Samples!

Welcome to this world young man! May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you your whole life long. May you, in turn, walk in the many good works He has already prepared for you to walk in. You are loved.

Last But Not Least

We just returned from Baltimore and the graduation of the last of our four kids, Amy, from Johns Hopkins University, School of Nursing. As you can see, we are a pair of happy parents. Great job Amy! May you be a blessing to many in the years ahead in your chosen profession.

You Have Got to be Kidding.

We are no longer a serious country, Exhibit 1:

U.S. Will Pay $2.6 Million to Train Chinese Prostitutes to Drink Responsibly on the Job
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
By Edwin Mora

Flag of the People's Republic of China

(CNSNews.com) -- The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will pay $2.6 million in U.S. tax dollars to train Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly on the job.

Dr. Xiaoming Li, the researcher conducting the program, is director of the Prevention Research Center at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit.

The grant, made last November, refers to prostitutes as "female sex workers"--or FSW--and their handlers as "gatekeepers."

The research will take place in the southern Chinese province of Guangxi.

For full article see:
www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=47976

The Wrong Road

George Will has written a brilliant new column ( townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeWill/2009/05/10/upside-down_economy) on what ails America. He quotes one of my favorite authors about democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville, the Frenchman who travelled this country 200 years ago and made a number of incisive observations about how and why the U.S. was quite different from Europe. Will offers this quote as prophetic of the situation in which we currently find ourselves:

"In "Democracy in America," Alexis de Tocqueville anticipated people being governed by "an immense, tutelary power" determined to take "sole charge of assuring their enjoyment and of watching over their fate." It would be a power "absolute, attentive to detail, regular, provident and gentle," aiming for our happiness but wanting "to be the only agent and the sole arbiter of that happiness." It would, Tocqueville said, provide people security, anticipate their needs, direct their industries and divide their inheritances. It would envelop society in "a network of petty regulations -- complicated, minute and uniform." But softly: "It does not break wills; it softens them, bends them, and directs them" until people resemble "a herd of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd."

Well said Monsieur de Tocqueville. It is also critical to remember that while such an all-encompassing goverment may attain power in this benign way, Lord Acton admonishes us that it most likely will not remain that way - power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. We are starting down a dangerous path.

Ready for Health Rationing?

National health care is all the rage in the U.S. today. A majority of Americans apparently believe that they will enjoy their current level of care, but via a government single-payer plan that will be cheaper than what they pay today. Dream on. What is actually delivered will look more like health care a' la DMV, VA Hospitals and Medicare. Too harsh? Perhaps, but I think not. Take Canada as Exhibit 1.

What does government run health care look like in our neighbor to the north? Not so good, I'm afraid and whatever the Canadians did right in banking ( see blog 5/5/09), they have booted it badly in health care to the point that hospitals in this country are targeting a large and apparently growing market of Canadians unable to get timely care in their own county. (www.nytimes.com/2000/01/16/world/full-hospitals-make-canadians-wait-and-look-south.html?sec=health) Even in the Great Northwest, Canadians are coming across the border in force to get medical treatment that is simply unavailable at home. (www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/162/4/547). Basic laws of economics are at work here - there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Most people think of paying a price for something in dollars, but there are many ways to pay a price. Take airlines. For those of us old enough to remember when you got real meals in coach, had room to stretch your legs before you bumped the seat in front of you, and had generally friendly and courteous airline employees - we know flyers have paid a price in the quality of service for $199 transcontinental roundtrips. Flying today is like riding a bus, maybe worse. Passengers are jammed in seats guaranteed to generate DVT, snarled at by gate agents and flight attendants alike, and then blithely ignored when their baggage ($15 please) doesn't show up on the carousel on the other end, having probably been pilfered by a luggage handler or TSA employee. I'd take the train but it never shows up. The dollar price is low, but the aggravation price is off the charts. You pay the price!

Health care is the same. If you pay for health care with taxes instead of through your employer with some nominal co-pay, the first thing you will notice is that your taxes will go up. Then there is the problem of paying for medical services for all those people who pay no taxes, which is currently in the neighborhood of 50% of the total U.S. population. Next there is the administrative cut the government will take. Private insurance companies have to compete on rates against other companies and run efficiently to earn a profit for shareholders. If government has a monopoly on health care, where is the incentive to be efficient? No Federal agencies leap immediately to mind as lean and mean. Bloat is the order of the day and when administrative costs start their inevitable run (and I do mean run) up, will it be the bureaucrats or the rest of us who get first dibs on the actual tax dollars? Hmmm - let me think. Politicians and bureaucrats always put themselves first and thus patient care will go into the tank, just like it has in Canada.

What's your health - or better yet your child's health - worth? We are going to pay a huge price if we take the same failed approach as Canada and the least expensive part will be in dollars. Don't say you weren't warned.

God's Small Platoons Alive and Well

Enough politics. Chuck Colson talks about "God's small platoons" quietly doing the work of building His Kingdom while the greater society is falling apart. This is more true today than ever, so why am I not surprised that giving to Christian non-profits is up despite the gloomy economy:

christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/may/15.22.html

If You Really Want to Know What the President is Up To.

The United States is seeing behavior from the White House worthy of Hugo Chavez. It's nothing less than a Chicago-style shakedown of business on a massive scale. Not all business leaders are taking it, however, as this letter from a hedge fund manager demonstrates.

dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/a-hedge-fund-manager-strikes-back-at-obama/?em

The Canadians did it right,eh?

Apparently Canadian banks did not buy into the greed and politically correct mentality and consequently there have been no bank failures in Canada. Amazing what happens when you stick to basics and stay away from the synthetic reality pushed by the Madoffs of the world and the politicians.

http://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=136383

Cuba is Solved - Part Deux

"HAVANA, April 30 (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Thursday derided U.S. steps toward improving relations with the communist island, saying the United States wants Cuba to act like a slave willing to "accept again the whip and the yoke."

Party poopers! Fidel and Raul just want to wield the whip and pull on the yoke themselves.