Let’s face it. The Middle East doesn’t like us — an overwhelming majority approves of suicide bombing against us. Yet what would they do if it were not for our oil consumption? If we could to some degree become energy efficient perhaps we could get by without OPEC, though I doubt that Venezuela would forgo exporting oil to us. And there are still Mexico and Ecuador to feed our appetite, along with Canada. And with a caring EPA, ANWAR could be gingerly explored without undue damage to its prist...
Western Civilization takes pride in accepting the principle that the end does not justify the means in terms of violence unless opponents break the principle, or even worse when the ends in themselves are as bad as the means. In the case of Osama bin Laden, the self-appointed caliphal of a twisted interpretation of Islam, together with Zarqwai, the ends are to terminate forever the incursion of modernity that threatens the brutal reign of Islamic values of forgoing comm...
The proposition that it is somehow logical to lure illegal immigrants to do the “dirty and dangerous” jobs that Americans don’t want, strikes me as disingenuous. Picking grapes at a vineyard is not dangerous, nor half that dirty either, neither is landscaping or cleaning up litter. The most dangerous job is arguably coal-mining and is not about to be taken over by immigrants because the poor souls of West Virginia and Pennsylvania — and without fear of outsourcing — have no other means of liv...
Bloggette Wise-Fawn generates immense controversy on the JoeUser site because of her indefatigable defense of government-assistance programs designed for those in permanent or temporary need. Most of the comments against her views come from those who are not in need and exhibit a lack of “compassionate conservatism” for those who have primarily been victimized by circumstances beyond their control. Their arguments as a rule are from the vantage point of “If I can make a living for myself with...
What does it mean to be conscious of? Conscious of the outside world or conscious of oneself? To Heidegger it is the latter. One must first be awed by the, presence, nay, the power and dread of being in the world. Animals of the wild sense the dread, animals domesticated feel comforting presence of being cared for by a structure not their own. Humans feel the power of being in the world by the sheer strength of intentionality, that is the ability to project their being onto a world they have ...
Apparently, blogger Anathema needs some explanation for my blog on individualism. It is not necessarily opposed to holism, which is a theory predicated on collective action springing from a priori ideas similar to Plato’s realm of ideas, except that they tend to omit the required active intellection of an individual to sort out these forms of consciousness. This not simply the chicken or the egg dilemma; it rather presupposes that the collection of forms are already out there whether or not ...
Assault weapons should be shouldered by every citizen except for elementary and high school students, who must carry switch blades at all times. A new kind of mass transportation is necessary — the goal is to put a Lincoln Navigator in every garage. Every homeless person is entitled to a plastic sheet to cover his cardboard shelter. The right wing should end its diatribe against abortion and favor tying up the fallopian tubes of single mothers. The affluent do so m...
Assault weapons should be shouldered by every citizen except for elementary and high school students, who must carry switch blades at all times. A new kind of mass transportation is necessary — the goal is to put a Lincoln Navigator in every garage. Every homeless person is entitled to a plastic sheet to cover his cardboard shelter. The right wing should end its diatribe against abortion and favor tying up the fallopian tubes of single mothers. The affluent do so m...
The philosophy of individualism implies that the universe is made up of individuated material down to the infinitesimal particle, ruling out a holistic responsibility for reality. Even in the big bang theory which ostensibly calls for that mysterious infinitesimal “thing” — the mother of individualism in which all things are at rest in potentiality — to exhale its becomingness but not as some grand scheme of seamless wholeness but rather as helter-skelter free spirit of things finding individu...
The right turn on red was invented to enhance ticket revenue; too often motorists are fined for failing to make a complete stop before turning. …My very first traffic violation many years ago was in not stopping at a yellow light; …I wouldn’t advise anyone now even to slow down, let alone make a full stop, lest you cause a massive pileup from behind.…Those who are illiterate still smoke — unaware of the Surgeon General’s Warning on the pack — and usually Camels because the icon is so fam...
Outsourcing is a corruption of the Ricardo principle [19 th century economist] of comparative advantage: that is, nation’s should specialize only in commodities they are most efficient in producing, rather than attempting to be self-sufficient. In other words, when the US oil production began to wane, oil corporations turned to the huge reserves in the Middle East, and domestic oil was virtually abandoned for some thirty years until OPEC no longer would tolerate the longstanding $3 a barrel....
Those of us blest with creature comfort tend to look down on those who are a generation or two behind struggling to reach the same comforts, such as moving into their own homes, having decent personal transportation, not beleaguered by collection agencies, a successful neighborhood school for the kids. We of the comfort class tend to think that we are ensconced in these relative comforts because we are, well, better than others. Thus, we construe their misfortune as incompetence and ignoranc...
I don’t know about you, but TV commercials rely so heavily on fantasy that it makes me feel like I’m a real loser because I don’t have a super Honda to magically transport me to Maine for a coffee break. Instead I’m stuck home with my soup made from leftovers. Nor do I feel like a Nascar Dad that in purchasing a new SUV I have to test drive it up Mt. Everest--and I'm just too damned old to buy a sports car and find excitement in watching the rpm glare red. I suppose, too, my age controls motiv...
Is it worth a $ million out of the taxpayers’ hides to prosecute Martha Stewart? Apparently her crime boiled down to attitude — she’s not likable and to some degree exhibited arrogance during pre-trial questioning in which she was trapped in her own lies. It would seem that this is not enough to convict, yet polls show that she got what she deserved. The underlying motive for conviction by the jury, in spite of this “petty” cash conspiracy with her broker, is that she nevertheless cap...
Mel Gibson’s controversial film is more of the same nose-rubbing at a time when we can do without sensationalizing religion. This 2000 year old event has had more than enough coverage from the various fields of art and books to satiate a thousand millennia. Riding on the success of “Braveheart” with its excruciating violence, Gibson is now profiteering on the execution of another martyr in a time when martyrdom has been loosely defined by Islamic jihad. Though I have not seen the film, nor int...