Tag Archives: Politics

I have never been to Vegas

Since 1982 I have lived here in San Diego, but I have never taken a weekend in Las Vegas. Principally because that sport of activities that ones goes to Vegas to find do not interest me.

I have never been a gambler and I do know know the game well enough to make me anything other than a mark.

However, next month I am taking a weekend in Las Vegas. I’m going to do two things I have always wanted to do.

First, I am going to catch a show by a singer I like. (Sheena Easton. I like 80’s Pop so sue me.)

Secondly, I am going to go to a firing range and by rental, fire a machine gun. I have shot a number of different firearms over the years. (Owned two for  short while but I am not a collector and I wisely sold them off.) Living in California means I live in one of the most gun-controled states of the union so I could never get the chance to fire a fully automatic weapons here. Nevada is a different story. Frankly if for no other reason than to write about them more competently, I would do this, but  I want to do it as well.

I have made the room reservations and now I only wait to find out if a friend I asked along can go. (It’s really up to how much work he will have. I do hope he can come, such things should be more fun in groups.)

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The Wave appears to be building.

The aggregate of the generic party preference polls has the Republican Party leading the Democratic Party by over 5 points. (There a lot of buzz on the ‘net today from right leaning blog about the 10 point lead in the Gallop polls, but I trust aggregate polling much more than any single pollster.)

Given that there is not about two months to the election, there’s not a lot of time for thing to change, unless it is change for the worse for the Democratic hopes.)

I have no sat down and looked at the senate races in detail — that is close examination of the number race by race — so I will hew to my feeling that the Senatorial Hill is going to be a much tougher climb than the House, but certainly by no mean impossible.

If the trends lines continue my Right-leaning friends will certainly be celebrating come November, but winning is the easy part. Actually taking a hand to solve the very serious problems our country is in is much much harder.

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Has The Republican Party Learned?

I think it is likely that the Republicans will take control of the House this November. The senate is a much steeper hill to climb, but not out of reach. (Personally I think they’ll miss on the Senate, but I withhold final predictions until we are closer and there is more data.)

Regardless of the Senate, I think just from the House we might see some clues to if the republicans truly have becom serious about debt or if that is all just election year smoke and mirrors.

Defunding Obama’s projects and initiatives will be meaningless data. Simple partisianship will compel them that far. What will be telling is if they are willing to cut any program that they are the proponents for and has serious electoral consequences. (Such as Farm Subsidies.)

Color me pessimistic on the odds of this happening. I think that they, the Republicans, have not spent enough time in the wilderness. They’ll attack Democratic spending with vigor, but I think that their own cows will remain most holy and untouched.

I do not think the  ‘Tea Party’ will drive the Republican into serious thought about debt and spending.

I would be happy to be wrong. I think that all empires fade and this could be the twilight of our own. Unless we get serious about bringing our financial house in order, very dire consequences could befall our nation. Ones too painful and terrible to contemplate.

What signs would you read as proof the Republicans were serious about this issue?

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Musing on Marriage

Continuing off from the recent court ruling on marriage I have a few questions for people who feel that the ruling was in error.

Do you feel that marriage is a fundamental albeit unenumerated right or is it a privilege of government?

If you feel it is a fundamental right, who sort of reasonable restrictions can the state place upon it before the government has overstepped its bounds and intrudes in the exercise of that fundamental right?

Can the State restrict marriage to only mixed-gender couples that are fertile? Force infertile people to substitute a civil union for their marriage?

Can the State restrict marriage to mixed-gender couples of only the same political party affiliation?

Can the State restrict marriage to mixed-gender couples of only the same race? (Yes, Loving vs West Virginia said no the state cannot, but you might feel that was another example of judicial tyranny.)

Can that State restrict marriage to mixed-gender couples of only the same religious preferences?

For my own opinion marriage IS a fundamental right, though it is unenumerated in the US Constitution. Any of the above restrictions are infringements on the exercise of that right, as is the restriction that it can only be practiced by mixed-gender couples.

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Sunday Night Movie: The Day The Earth Stood Still

Yesterday I got the news that award winning actress Patricia Neal has passed away and I resolved to make my Sunday Night Movie The Day The Earth Stood Still.

I have not seen very many films with Patricia Neal, but from what I have seen she was a talented actress of diverse skill and range. The films I know her best from are, of course, The Day The Earth Stood Still, and  A Face In The Crowd.

The first film clearly SF and the second very nearly SF. If you have never seen A Face In The Crowd this is a must see movie. A great, absolutely stellar cast, a pitch-perfect scrip and just as relevant today as when it was made.

Back to last night’s movie.

The Day The Earth Stood Still is a classic of SF films, and is a classic of films in general. Made in 1951 it was ahead of the curve for SF films, leading, along with Destination Moon, the charge into SF films of the 50s. Sadly, most of the films that followed were heavy on ray guns, monsters, and adventure and light in the thought and ideas that science-fiction can explore so well.

Very loosely inspired by the Harry Bates short story, Farewell the Master,  the movie is about the arrival of an alien, Klaatu, and his robot, Gort, to the planet Earth. Klaatu is greeted with gunfire and suspicion. The alien has a mission and message, but refuses to share it with any one nation or people, insisting that it must be heard by representatives of all the peoples and nations of the Earth.

This of course is impossible in a world divided between the United States and the USSR. Frustrated by terran stupidity, Klaatu eascape his captivity to learn more about humans and their fears firsthand.

What follows is in part a message film, in part a lovely look at the Earth through alien eyes, and in part a manhunt. (Or an alien-hunt if you prefer.)

I have problems with the specific message delivered in the film, but that’s okay. It’s a wonderful story, wonderfully told. I am not as allergic to ‘smug aliens’ as some of my friends are.

Of course if you have never seen this movie, I urge you to rent it. I own it on Blu-ray and the effects hold up very well for a film nearly 60 years old.

DO NOT see the remake. There is no remake. I refuse to acknowledge it.

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A devastating campaign ad.

Without commenting on how I feel about either of these two Senatorial candidates, I have to say that this ad is exquisitely  damaging like a prison shiv between the ribs.

Using the opponents voice from his audio book is a masterful stroke.

Again please do not infer a position from myself between these two candidates, I am in awe of the skill of the ad, not in the positions of either of these men.

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The California Prop 8 Ruling

So if you have been following the news then you know a Federal Court ruled that the recent change to the California State Constitution defining marriage as only being between a man and a woman is unconstitutional under the United States federal constitution.

I applaude this ruling.

I know that there are many many people who do not, and I will not speculate or denigrate their motives here. My position is that movement towards greater individual liberty is generally a good thing and that movement towards less individual liberty is generally a bad thing.

(Please take note of that word GENERALLY, in the sentence. It is there for a reason. There are exceptions and remember that before you start listing something like healthcare trying to imply I am inconsistent.)

There are and will be of course those who decry this an tyranny from the bench. That the will of the people were overruled by a black-robed jackbooted thug who committed the worst of all judicial crimes — activism. I would be more sympathetic to there arguments if they ever raised the specter of activist judge on a judge who had ruled in their favor. Activism is always found where the judge ruled against your side, not on your side itself.

(Wanna prove me wrong? List three cases that you think should be overturned because the judge was activist, but where what you personally liked — outcome-wise — had been the result.)

The will of the people? That always come second to the protections of the United States Constitution. If Californians passed a change to their constitution outlawing the private ownership of all firearms I hardly think these same objectors would be citing the ‘will of the people’ as a reason to not overturn the law. They would be right because the US Constitution enumerates the right to  bear arms in the Bill of Rights.

Ahh, but people are fond of saying that any right they don’t agree with isn’t enumerated in the Bill of Rights and therefore is not a right at all.

Poppycock.

I give you the 9th amendment to the Constitution and part of the Big Ten Bill of rights.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Certainly I consider the right to marry as an unenumerated right. It is not a privilege, it is a right that the government can restrict only with good cause. Where the state has a compelling interest. (Such as incest which produces deformed and disabled offspring a burden on the state and society.)

Judge Walker — a G.H. Bush appointee — found that the state had no compelling interest in restricting marriage to only mixed gender couples and that such restrictions violated the 14th amendment.

I applaud him.

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No Fear

The title of this post is a play on Andrew Sullivan’s ‘Know Fear’ when posting about Sarah Palin.
Sullivan is quite concerned — putting it mildly — that Sarah Palin is going to run for, and win the republican nomination for President. He obsessed on her since the half-term governor was selected for McCain’s running mate.
This week, with Sullivan on vacation, there has been a minor explosion of Palin news as her daughter and estranged boyfriend announced that they were a couple again and planning to wed.
I have no interest in Bristol Palin’s personal life. She’s profiting well from her notoriety I do not blame her in the least. Grab the money while you can. She’s not robbing, scamming, or stealing from anyone so I really don’t care.
However I expect that when Sullivan returns there may be several posts about Levi Johnson — the boyfriend — and that his silence has been bought.
You see Levi had made a series of scathing attacks on Sarah Palin while he was estranged from Bristol and his child by Bristol. Sullivan, blinded by his obsession, (And that’s the problem with obsession it always blinds you) just ate up all the hints and stories Levi told.
Family fights can be nasty brutish affairs full of lies and distortions from all corners and only a fool gets involved in on if he does not have to.
Now, with Levi’s retractions, Sullivan is looking even more foolish on the Palin-front. (He’s also been obsessing on the Trig is not Palin’s son conspiracy. I reject that theory. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, and there is no proof there.)

Sullivan can be an engaging and thought writer, but on Plain he’s as fear struck as the those running around screaming socialist at everything Obama does.

I have no fear of Sarah Palin. I have no expectation she will run — as I have mentioned in earlier posts — I have no expectation that if she did run she would win. She is an entertainer who has found her niche and will grow rich from her audience.

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A post Westercon report

There is one bit of data I learned at Westercon that truly was depressing.

In the Mohave desert right now, a new industry is being born. Passenger Spaceflight. In the Mohave you will find companies like Virgin Galactic and Xcor racing to establish the first safe, reliable, passenger service to space. Both companies are looking forward to at first sub-orbital hops, but much more could be had further down the road.

This is truly the American spirit. Bold visionary people, taking enormous risks as they build something new from the ground up.

When asked about regular operations and where the Lynx spacecraft would launch from, a member of Xcor told us that due to the business climate it all likelihood the company would move from California. The government climate makes it too difficult form the new industry to be born here. They can get their R&D done here, just as Rutan has with Spaceship One, but it looks like New Mexico is ahead of the nation in the race to make it an industry.

That is truly a shame.

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