Glass Houses, Stones, etc.

Harvey and the boys seem to have been having quite a time in Hollywood. Too bad it was doing things that no woman should ever have to put up with. And it certainly didn't stop them from moral preening vis a' vis Trump and pretty much any and all conservatives. Those who live in glass houses ... Jerks. 

Making Sense of Las Vegas

I watched the heart-breaking aftermath of the tragedy in Las Vegas as the families of the dead and wounded cried bitter tears while asking "Why?" Andrew Klavan has written a reflective column on this and he makes several insightful points that are worth pondering. 

Klavan correctly identifies what happened as evil, pure and unadulterated. It is something that "... each of us is in a constant daily battle against a dark and insinuating force of wickedness that is not only above us but all around us and within us as well." And that day it destroyed a large number of lives, not just the ones who died.

He then turns to the political reactions which took the predictable lines of gun control/no gun control and first says regarding categorizing oponents as evil:

"I hate when people use the word evil when discussing normal American politics. I never used it to describe Barack Obama, whose policies I detested. I won't use it to describe Donald Trump, whose behavior I sometimes deplore. Misused to describe flawed but striving men like these, the word evil is merely a means of demonizing those you disagree with, of shutting down civil debate. It frees you from the responsibility of democratic discourse."
"Understood rightly though, the concept of evil should increase our compassion even for our opponents. It allows us to understand that they are in the same struggle we're in, prone to the same failures, subject to the same defeats. Deep down, our political opponents are painfully aware of the fragility of their own decency, terrified that others will see the blackness of their hearts, and constantly signaling their virtue as a way to mitigate their own self-disgust and fear. Just like you. Just like me."

He then quotes Mollie Hemingway on Fox News with a correct analysis of the political responses of the Left and Right when she said:

"We're pretending we're having a debate about gun control but we're really having a debate about the nature of evil and whether a big enough government can contain it."

There is no government big enough to contain evil - just restrain it as much as reasonably possible. 
And where does that leave us as individuals? The antidote for evil is the individual responses of people in Las Vegas, and in Boston during the bombing there, and in New York on 9/11 when men and women looked evil in the face and ran toward danger, not away. He lists a few of the heroes in Las Vegas:

"My novelist heart was touched to hear that one of the great heroes of the Las Vegas massacre was a man named Jonathan Smith. I mean, really. John Smith — the ultimate everyman moniker — I wouldn't have dared to make that up. The 30-year-old copy machine repairman is said to have helped thirty people escape the kill zone before taking a bullet in the neck — and then another hero, an off-duty cop named Tom McGrath, saved him."

In so doing:

" ... we see the only real response to darkness humans have ever had: individual courage, sacrifice and nobility. In fact, individuals win victories against evil every day — when they tell the hard truth rather than the easy lie or speak words of kindness when they'd rather lash out. And in those moments when evil rises rampant, their victories sometimes become spectacular as they rush into the teeth of death to help both strangers and friends."

Agreed. There is no greater love (John 15:13) and in the end, the very end, such love by the One who is good will finally banish evil and He will not forget those who lived out His message when it counted. 

pjmedia.com/andrewklavan/2017/10/08/american-heroes-universal-evil/

They're Here to Help Us - Part V

Today's Statesman Journal had a front page article that the Oregon prison population should go down by 11% because of new discretionary sentencing guidelines directed primarily at property and drug offenders. That's a nice way to say burglars, thieves, meth heads, etc. and it's deja vu.

Perhaps a little more discretion is warranted but give an inch and they will take a mile. The last time it was finally the voters who put an end to the monkey business by requiring mandatory sentences for a host of crimes. Not surprisingly, crime went down. Now the politicians again want more money to buy votes and are taking it from prisons but they are cloaking it under the "compassionate" mantle of "treatment and transitional care." Does anyone remember "community mental health" and how well that worked? The state threw all but the most dangerous mentally ill out on the street and let them fend for themselves. Compassionate indeed. Bull.

And the rest of us? Let's see - the Great Karnak has looked into his crystal ball and sees property crime rates going up about 11% in the next couple of years. It's probably a good time to buy a home security system.

It's Not That Bad

You will no doubt be interested to learn that California has pased a new law going into effect on January 1 that drops intentionally infecting someone with HIV from a felony to a misdemeanor. This includes not only sex partners but donating blood. 

The Breitbart article reports that the ACLU co-sponsored the new measure describing it as “modernizing” California HIV laws while praising Governor Jerry Brown for reforming “outdated laws that unfairly criminalized and stigmatized people living with HIV.”
Lovely. Coming soon to a blue state near you?

www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/10/09/intentionally-infecting-others-with-hiv-no-longer-a-felony-in-california/

Righteous War?

Nope. UK Prime Minister Teresa May has threatened a trade war over a punitive tariff requested by Boeing against a plane produced in Northern Ireland by Bombardier. Boeing accused Bombardier of "dumping" by accepting state support for its C-series jetliners. Boeing doth protesteth too loudly.

The C-series is a 100-passenger aircraft and this is a market in which Boeing has no models and furthermore has no plans to produce any. In fact, the last time it manufactured an aircraft of this size was 2006. The real gripe: it lost a Delta order for the bigger 737 when Delta instead went with 75 of the C-series. United also reversed a 737 order and may order the C-series as well. Not if Boeing can help it. 

And "state support?" Seriously? Who foots the bill via monstrous defense contracts for the R&D on new aviation materials and applications that are then used in the civilian sector? And for years the U.S. Export-Import Bank guaranteed loans for jets - Boeing jets. Surely that could not be U.S. taxpayers! 

There are certainly cases of trade dumping that occur and the U.S. has to respond with a more muscular trade policy including tariffs, but this is not one of them. Make nice, Mr. President and acknowledge the Right Honorable Lady from Britain has a point. Let's help make Brexit work. 

www.ft.com/content/bfdb3f24-a379-11e7-9e4f-7f5e6a7c98a2?mhq5j=e7

It's Time

Tom Brady and his wife, Gisele Bundchen, are apparently not of the same mind when it comes to him continuing in the NFL. He thinks he's got more tread left on the tires. After last year, I think he's probably right. He is certainly one of the best, if not the best, quarterback who has ever played the game. But with all the information coming out about brain injuries to NFL players, and he's had several concussions in his career, maybe it's time to go out on top and enjoy life in good health. 

Amazing Stories!

A Mexican "coyote" who smuggles illegals into the U.S. said that where new, secure border walls have been built it has made his job job infinitely - wait for it - harder. Well golly - who knew! Behind all the posturing on building a wall is the fact that the Dems want new voters to put them in power and establishment Republicans, on behalf of their patrons (Big Business), want a continuing flow of cheap labor. Neither of these are good for the average American. Build the wall. We can talk later about how to deal fairly with those already here. 

www.dailywire.com/news/21413/shocker-mexican-smugglers-admit-border-walls-work-ryan-saavedra