Big Laws vs Little Laws

"When you break the big laws, you do not get freedom; you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws." - G.K. Chesterton, Daily News, 7/29/1905

1. After 2012, U.S. citizens will no longer choose the type of light bulbs they buy and use. Only the florescent bulbs will be available.

2. Not content to merely outlaw the use of trans fats by restaurateurs, N.Y. Legislators are now crafting a law to prevent them from using any salt when preparing food for public consumption. This is after they prohibited the sale of pate foie gras.

3. Every state has passed adult seat belt and baby car seat laws to save lives. These laws were promoted by the same people who insist on killing babies in the womb and who openly support euthanasia.

4. Daylight savings time laws force us to change our sleep/wake patterns twice a year despite the fact that the rate of heart attacks increases 6% to 10% the first three days after the spring time change. More Americans disapprove than approve it, but it's the law in all but two states.

5. Federal BATF agents recently confiscated a shipment of toy pellet guns made of pot metal because they claimed the guns could be modified to work as machine guns. The fact that the pellets are plastic and pot metal would disintegrate before firing bullets seems to be irrelevant to the case.

6. Officials in two states have barred Christians from holding Bible studies/prayer meetings in their own homes, even though no complaints had been lodged about noise or parking problems.

7. Most Democrat Congressional Clowns are working as hard as they can to put 157 new agencies between every patient and his physician to decide when, how, and if the patient will be treated and the physician paid. There is no mention of the additional costs of the new agencies and the personnel to work in them.

8. Each spring brings a new group of lawsuits over what may or may not be said at graduation services, even by the students. Already most public schools no longer allow even a moment of silent meditation, much less a prayer, during the school day or at sporting events. Under the guise of anti discrimination laws, university level Christian organizations are being threatened with expulsion unless they agree to allow atheists to hold elected office in the group.

9. Federal regulators have developed thousands of pages of rules to "save" the environment which encroach on personal liberty even when dealing with private, not public, property. Recently they officially declared carbon dioxide (which we exhale with every breath and which plants need to survive) a menace to the environment as they prepare the Cap and Trade bill to further limit personal freedom and injure our hopes of economic recovery.

10. Other draconian environmental laws either hinder or stop Americans from engaging in ordinary production and sale of legal substances that everyone needs - oil, gas, and coal. They ignore the fact that we have so much oil that in some areas, it seeps up out of the ground and ruins the pristine beaches. So American consumers pay Muslim countries exorbitant prices for their oil while would-be American producers sit around unemployed.

G. K. Chesterton wrote the quotation above regarding government encroaching on the freedoms of ordinary citizens one hundred and five years ago. He was concerned with the growing tendency to ignore the Ten Commandments (The Big Laws) and the Judeo-Christian heritage of Western Civilization, while governments established more and more regulations that encroached into everyone's daily life. Since then the small laws have continued to grow in number and scope to such a degree that most young people have no concept of individual liberty Americans enjoyed one hundred years ago.

Neuropsychology in Liberals and Conservatives

If you've ever wondered what alternative universe some politicians inhabit, you will enjoy this article in American Thinker today. In in Ms. Tyler explains, "The neurons of the human prefrontal cortex are the only objects in the known universe that are functionally altered by exposure to abstract concepts such as God, truth, freedom, and justice." Read it to find out how different people answer the important questions in life, and why we need to train our children to honor God and seek the Truth at all costs.

Another Call for Moral Clarity

Moral clarity and its relationship to political correctness are the subject of Bill Bennett's column, "Whitewashing Reality," at National Review Online.

The money quote is: There is a rot that spreads outside of Washington into the larger culture. It begins with a confusion of terms, and by not calling things by their proper names, it begins with a disassembling of the moral categories. . . . And so we are reminded again of the notion that the chief purpose of education is to know when a man is talking rot. Because, if unchecked, the rot will settle, it will metastasize.

But you really need to read the whole thing.

Nothing Is Free

This came from my Uncle Sparky who served in WWII and the Korean Conflict. . .

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks from her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.

'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?'

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earned the right to sit at a desk.'

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'

'No,' she said.

'Maybe it's our behavior.'

She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.

Twenty-seven U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall.

By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you... They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens... They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

By the way, this is a true story. Today, thank every serviceman and veteran that you know for their service to you and to our country.

Why Did We Elect Obama?

Robin of Berkely has a thought provoking article about race relations and the Obama election at American Thinker this morning. A younger recovering liberal, she has had experiences and insights that I, an adult who didn't face forced school integration, had no knowledge of.

One quote from the article:

It wasn't the black or the white kids' fault. High minded liberals were culpable for hatching up grand plans without an iota of thought about how it would play out in real time: that if you create a nightmare situation for black children by removing them from their neighborhood and their friends, you traumatize them. And if you then turn them loose and give them carte blanche, some will be out for blood.
Forced busing ended years ago in most places. But over the decades, liberals have concocted new plans, and subjected later generations to fresh trauma.

Extended Labor Day Holiday

Well, lots of parents are considering it an extended holiday now that Obama announced his plans to speak to all public school attendees September 8. I hear that many people are expecting their children to be sick that day after all the revelry over unions in the US or else they'll have trouble getting back into town from the holiday trip. Too bad The Won's captive audience may be smaller than expected.

If you wonder what all the hoopla is about, read Michelle's Malkin's column today. Even though this speech may be innocuous, there is real reason for concern, especially if this administration believes that this first foray into indoctrination of children is successful.

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum or The Truth Shall Set You Free*

The relationship of truth to freedom has been known for so long that it is warp and weft of human existence. Whether or not one believes in God and whether or not one always tells the truth to others, everyone believes freedom lies in knowing the truth and working within the framework of reality, at least for himself.

As James Lewis, in “Indulging Craziness,” reminded us last Sunday, psychiatrists and therapists know that crazy patients will never improve if those around him accept his warped view of reality. Indulging in a flawed version of reality makes the patient and, eventually, those around him crazier than ever. For the last half century, American society has cosseted those with grievances until our ability to function is almost permanently crippled. We have acted like indulgent parents who allow their miscreant children to ignore reality until they terrorize the whole neighborhood instead of growing up to become assets to the community.

At first, many questioned their victim status, but churches, YMCA’s, and other groups began conducting “consciousness raising” workshops to teach different groups just how oppressed they were. It is now part of the curricula from kindergarten to graduate school.

As a result, entire groups of people, including our current President and most Congressional Clowns, know nothing of the generosity and bravery exhibited throughout American history as compared to other nations, but they can speak at length on a moment’s notice about every flaw and misstep of the last 234 years.

Thus, we just had the sad experience of watching a noted Harvard scholar screech “racial profiling” when a patrolman merely checked on the possibility of burglary at his home because of a neighbor’s call. We cringed when Obama insisted on taking sides without checking on the facts. And we suffered with an innocent policeman who was brave enough to answer the call without knowing what he would encounter behind that front door.

Police brutality happens, and rightfully outrages everyone when it does. But it hasn’t happened enough for innocent citizens to cringe at the sight of a policeman or to refuse to offer identification when requested.

After decades of allowing the insanity of grievance politics to dominate the public square, we have begun to accept symbolic acts in lieu of real, honest change by “perpetrators” or their “victims.” It has encouraged the festering of grievances, like cancerous tumors poisoning the whole body.

For example, many Americans believed last November if they did the symbolic act of voting for Obama, it would erase racial tensions in the United States. Instead, we just witnessed a wealthy, influential black professor yelling insane accusation to a while police officer in a town run by a black mayor, in a state with a black governor, while his black president agreed with his crazy accusations.

“The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.” Herbert Spencer

It's time to grow up, forgive our enemies, and insist on facing the truth in every situation, not feel good platitudes or ill founded accusations.

*St. John 8:32

Texas VS California

Way back in September, Nelson Guirado of Assymetric provided an excellent analysis of the current status of California and Texas. This is important now because California has been following the liberal program on taxes, the environment, and social services for years, while Texas has implemented more conservative laws and programs.

Here are Guirado’s highlights (remember these are figures from the middle of September):
1. Education results (with similar ethnic groups): Texas ranks 25th while California lags behind at 47th.
2. Unemployment in Texas is 4.3%, but in California, it’s 7.3%.
3. Taxes: Texas has the third lowest rate among the states while California is ranked eighth highest.
4. Deficits: California has a deficit of $15, 000,000,000 while Texas has a surplus.

From what I’ve observed since January 20, Obama and the Democrat Congress are rushing headlong to emulate or overtake California’s programs. Why? We have a proven life lesson right before our eyes.

Call about HR 1388 Today

The GIVE or the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act will eliminate community based learn and serve programs. Instead it establishes a college level service-learning agenda and another research program that studies and implements similar plans in the primary and secondary levels of education. It makes the federal government the locus for service and organizes our children into a corps of “volunteers.”

There are many things wrong with this approach, not the least of which is that coerced service is not volunteerism. There is the question of expense and effectiveness. Then there is the big problem of its constitutionality, like, does it force citizens into involuntary servitude?

This act will come up for vote tomorrow, so today is the day to let your representative know how you stand.

On a personal note, this is but the latest fad to emerge from “academentia.” The university where I once taught jumped on the bandwagon and insisted that all freshmen participate in a community workday. Even on that level, the program was grossly mismanaged. They assigned an assisted living center to my group, but would not allow anyone tell the students what to expect or give specific instructions beforehand. So most kids stood around in uncomfortable clusters, watching the patients instead of interacting with them. I hate to think of the silly rules and restrictions coming down the pike when the planners are even further removed from the place of action.

Unions Are the New Trump Card

Obama’s last massive spending bill included a provision that stopped funding the scholarships which allowed some children in the Washington, DC area to attend private schools. The program was an outstanding success according to students, parents, and the professionals who were charting its results; it cost about $7,000 for each child. Since the outlay per public school pupil in that district hovers around $14,000, it not only saved money but also improved education. For despite the high expenditure per student, educational test scores in DC consistently appear near the bottom of the chart. But, Obama ranks loyalty to union donors above both children and educational results.

The next program coming down the pike is Card Check. Is there any hope that it can be stopped?