Echoes of the Shot Heard Round the World

Happy American Independence Day! While you’re manning the grill, playing backyard football, devouring delicious beef and pork products, and watching big explosions in the sky, think about the spark that lit the flame in 1775 and 1776.

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

(Ralph Waldo Emerson, Concord Hymn)

The shot heard round the world has its echoes today in the TEA PARTY movement, state sovereignty and nullification movements, and even the push for federalism amendments. Likewise the long list of abuses by the British crown against the American Colonies has its echoes in the Democrats’ refusal to read thousand page bills before they are passed, or to allow Republicans to read and debate the bills if they won’t, in Obama’s proliferation of unconstitutional “czar” positions and executive branch organizations without significant legislative oversight, in Obama’s intention to put an organization packed full of people who were convicted of vote fraud in charge of the 2010 Census, in the Democrats’ refusal to protect the country’s borders, in their intentions to nullify the rights to own and manage one’s own property and protect one’s self by force of arms, and in their intention to use the courts to enforce racialist policies under the misleading name of Equal Opportunity. The Democrats are too extreme, too far left, for America. Their bailouts, non-stimulus-stimulus, seizures and nationalizations of key industries, regulatory overreach, and subversion of the press’ role as a watchdog of government are destroying our economy and blinding us to the injury.

Will there be another shot? I am not calling for gunplay, but for a symbolic beginning to the political battle. Will more grassroots TEA Parties do it? Or will it take some great suffering, such as the scourging Sarah Palin has been subjected to since September 2008, to awaken America to the injustice of the Democrats’ plan?

Technorati Tags: 1776, July 4, Independence Day, Appreciation, Culture War, Patriotism

 

Union Corruption: Transparency v. Opacity

Don't be hoodwinked, don't be bamboozled, don't fall for the okey-doke

If any among my dear readers have ever flicked on a light switch at midnight in a kitchen infested by roaches, they will have seen the stomach-turning sight of a room in sudden, swarming motion as hundreds of roaches scuttle for the cracks at the edges of the room. Roaches don’t like the light. They prefer to operate in the dark. The way to cure a roach infestation is to keep the light on and clean the house, throwing out nesting materials (even behind walls) and poisoning the roaches where they hide. Unfortunately, all too many people, in the face of an infested kitchen, simply shudder, turn off the light, and go back to bed. A particularly determined denier of roach-reality might prefer to paint over the light fixtures with black paint. That would hide the roaches from sight for good.

Apparently, under the Obama administration, the Department of Labor doesn’t mind roaches so much as it curses the light that reveals them and tells us, the Americans who live in the house, to go back to sleep. For instead of fostering transparency, one of Obama’s key words when running for president, the Dept. of Labor fosters opacity when it comes to what unions are doing with the money they hold on behalf of their members, just like the AFL-CIO wants.

The Indiana State Teachers Association’s Insurance Trust exists to pay benefits for disabled teachers. It has $19 million in assets against $86 million in liabilities, is the subject of a FBI investigation, and is being taken over by the NEA. The ISTA’s trust is in such bad shape because of funny business from the former executive director and the investment broker he chose to manage the trust. Most likely taxpayers will be stuck with the bill. James Sherk and Dan Lips write about the mess for NRO.

Sunlight protects against corruption and unethical practices. Congress passed the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) in the wake of scandals in the 1950s involving ties between organized labor and organized crime. Congress believed that workers had a right to know how their unions spent their dues. Lawmakers hoped that transparency would discourage kickbacks to the mob.

For over 40 years, however, the Department of Labor barely enforced the law. The disclosure forms allowed unions to list multimillion-dollar line items for “other” and “miscellaneous” expenses with no further details. In practice, the law did nothing to hold unions accountable.

Elaine Chao, President Bush’s labor secretary, made changing that a priority. Her Labor Department enacted reforms that required unions to itemize their expenses and meaningfully disclose their finances. By the end of her tenure, Secretary Chao (who now works with us as a distinguished fellow at the Heritage Foundation) had updated the LM-2 union financial disclosure form, the LM-30 conflict-of-interest-reporting form, and the T-1 forms for union trusts.

Other unions have been caught recently with their hands in the cookie jar: SEIU for instance. The Obama administration’s Department of Labor is rolling back Secretary Chao’s transparency reforms and returning to the previous, opaque standard for union financial reporting. Union members might as well look forward to their pension funds and insurance trusts going broke, just like the ISTA did. For the teeth of the LMRDA are being removed.

Is this the transparency Obama promised? Or is it the opacity his rivals saw in him? To echo the words of Obama:

Don’t be hoodwinked, don’t be bamboozled, don’t fall for the okey-doke no matter what Barack Hussein Obama may say.

Truth to power!

Technorati Tags: Unions, LMRDA, Obama, Corruption, Crime

 

Forty-Seven: A Response to Amy Miller’s Twenty-Four

This story is a response to Amy Miller’s “Twenty-Four.” It is a story about how I became an adult.

But first, I hope you had a Happy Birthday Amy!

THE STORY

After I graduated from the college my parents sent me to, moved back to their house, and tried my hand at a few dead-end jobs I realized I had to make a change to myself and my life. I was 23, just about the same age as you, Amy. My much needed change involved moving a long way away, to Philly, with no friends or family there to support me, no place to stay past a couple of months, no money in my pocket, and no car. It was the first really important choice I made as an adult, independent of my parents’ input, and it was reckless, romantic, and stupid. But it all worked out. I found a job to help me pay off my loans, made new friends, played in a rock and roll band, and over time became who I am now.

All the worms you can eat, kids. Forever!

Now that I look back on those days I realize that when I decided to blindly jump out of the nest, that was the beginning of a journey from the shallow and unprincipled socialist ideas that we who were educated by unionized school teachers and went to progressive churches breathed, via the ignorant and self-consciously transgressive kneejerk social leftism of my rock and roll years, to the principle based classical liberalism of a husband and father who has faced divorce and managed to keep family and marriage together.

All those years spent chasing pleasure and grasping only disappointment: It was the choice to stop chasing pleasure, embrace my family’s needs, and consciously base actions on principle, that brought happiness. But it was the choice to leave my parents’ house and risk total failure that started me on the trip.

THE MORAL

Imagine that I hadn’t been using my parents as a crutch but the government instead. What would I have had to do to get out of the nest if it was the size of the United States? Surely moving from the Midwest to Philly wouldn’t have been far enough. Even Mississippi, where I am now, wouldn’t have been far enough.

In the future will other 23 and 24 year-olds be able to find a place that is free enough for them to make their own way and become adults? I like to repeat the example of Admiral David Farragut, who shipped out as a midshipman in the US Navy at age 10 and commanded his first ship at age 12 (in the war of 1812). Will future Americans be forced to live their whole lives in an extended childhood, even longer than the already extended childhood we now call adolescence? Or will there be an opportunity for 23,18, or even 12 year-olds to make actual adult choices for their own lives? Will there be freedom or confining restraints, arbitrary limits, nonsensical mandates? Will government be a guardian of the unalienable rights with which we were created, rights that preceded and justified government, or a nagging, interfering parent we can never escape?

Or if you have studied the history of the 20th century on your own and recognize certain awful patterns in developments of the last ten years, and especially the last six months, will our own government be a boot stepping on a face for a thousand years?

Trackposted to Allie is Wired, Nuke Gingrich, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, Leaning Straight Up, , Right Voices, and Nill Illigitimi Carborundum, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Technorati Tags: Common Sense, Appreciation, Independence, Freedom

 

Opposing Sotomayor: A Line in the Sand

As Andrew C. McCarthy wrote on Tuesday, “It’s not the rule of law, it’s the rule of lawyers: That’s the central message conveyed by Pres. Barack Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor.” She is, after all, widely admired among the Obamanist left for her empathy, not her temperament or wisdom. That plus her compelling life story and her love of Nancy Drew mysteries.

We also know that she has had many of her decisions reversed on appeal by the Supreme Court, that she is argumentative and unpleasant, that she believes the place of a judge is to create policy, rather than to apply the law impartially, and that she believes her race and gender make her better than whites or men.

Racism does not have a good track record. It’s been tried a long time. And you would think by now that we’d want to put an end to it instead of putting it under new management.

(Thomas Sowell, 5/27/09 on the Glenn Beck Show)

Democrats and the partisan Democrat media have started their campaign for Sotomayor by blackmailing Republicans; saying if they oppose her that Republicans will never get another Hispanic vote. And they are also preemptively accusing Republicans of hypocrisy because George H. W. Bush mentioned upon nominating him that Clarence Thomas’s inspirational life story should arouse Americans’ empathy.

 

BREAKING – North Korea Declares War? Maybe Not

Basically this is unsubstantiated so far. I’ve been getting twitter updates up the wazoo. Here is what I have heard. So far it is rumor, and I will update as I find out more.

One thing to keep in mind is that North Korea engages in sword-waving pretty frequently. This may not be a serious threat. But it sure sounds like more of a serious threat than it usually does.

South Korea’s decision from earlier today to join the anti-proliferation treaty has served as an excuse for North Korea to state that it takes that as a Declaration of War against it. North Korea has stated it is withdrawing from the Armistice. Also that this returns the Korean peninsula to a state of war.

Updates:

Breaking Tweets

Lots of updates here. As Breaking Tweets mentions, this was first broadcast on Twitter by @BreakingNews, which may have exaggerated the state of affairs. CNN @iDesk is fact-checking.

Yonhap News Agency, South Korea

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) — North Korea said Wednesday that it will no longer be bound to the Korean War armistice and will militarily respond to any foreign attempt to inspect its ships, denouncing South Korea’s participation in a U.S.-led security campaign as a “declaration of war.”

“As declared to the world, our revolutionary forces will consider the full participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) by the Lee Myung-bak group of traitors as a declaration of war against us,” the North’s permanent military mission to the joint security area said. [...]

11:23PM CDT: AP at Breitbart confirms. Morning Update

This decision comes after North Korea set off a nuclear bomb in a test, fired five missiles that are capable of reaching Japan, and restarted its shut-down nuclear plant. South Korea responded by stating it would join with the US and stop and search North Korean ships under the Proliferation Security Initiative.

11:33PM CDT: Michelle Malkin is on it

“Joe Biden said our dear leader would soon be tested.” [Read it all.]

11:43PM CDT: Fox News

More backstory, all in one place, with lots of relevant links.

Nothing yet at Kyodo News in Japan

Maybe they think this is just another one of Kim Jung Il’s wacky stunts.

FP Passport – North Korea like you’ve never seen it

Project to map the secret parts of North Korea by Curtis Melvin, PHD

Others

Bookworm Room

@Lileks tweets “So: a country tests a nuke and a passel of missiles, announces it is the subject of a declaration of war, and we wonder what they’re up to. We have the same reaction to everything the Norks do: the wolf who cried boy. That may need adjusting.”

@kurulounge tweets: “@HeyTammyBruce when i was stationed in korea this was a regular occurence. don’t worry until they start moving troops”

North Korea Threatens Armed Strike, End to Armistice Bloomberg
By Heejin Koo May 27 (Bloomberg) — North Korea threatened military action in response to South Korea joining a program to seize weapons shipments, …

BREAKING: North Korea Ends ‘53 Armistace from Dane101

BREAKING NEWS: North Korea Rumored to Be Withdrawing from Armistice from Daily Kos

12:12AM CDT: While I hope they’re awake and sweating this in the White House, CNN, and all the news agencies, nothing more is coming across the wires. I’m going to put this to bed and go to sleep myself.

Good night!

Technorati Tags: North Korea, War

 

30 Years to Electrical Grid Collapse and Renewable Energy Won’t Cut It

Ralph Ellis writes Renewable energy – our downfall? over at Watts Up With That. Anthony Watts introduces the article thusly:

For the record, let me say that I support some of the renewable energy ideas, even putting money where my mouth is, putting solar on my own home and a local school. However, neither project would have been possible without state subsidies. For renewable energy to work in our economy, it must move past the government  subsidy stage and become more efficient. It took over a hundred years t create our current energy infrastructure, anyone who believes we can completely rebuild it with the current crop of renewable energy technologies is not realistic. – Anthony

Mr. Ellis talks about all the technologies available, both the renewable and unreliable choices and the nuclear option. Then he gets down to the wall we are racing towards.

We have about 30 or so years before the shortage of oil becomes acute and our economies and societies begin to falter, and that is not very much time in which to alter our entire energy production industry. It is like relying on the Victorians to plan ahead and ensure that we still had a viable civilisation in the 1930s. And while the Victorians were both successful and resourceful, history demonstrates that new sources of raw materials were never actively planned until the old sources were in desperately short supply or worked-out completely. However, the introduction of a new, nationwide power generating system is an extremely long-term investment, and if we are to make this change without a dramatic interruption to our energy supplies (and our society) we need foresight, vision and a quick decision. What we need is a tough, educated, talented, rational leader to take a difficult but responsible decision to dramatically increase our nuclear energy production capability. However, what we have in the UK is Gordon Brown!

He has Brown. We have Obama, Pelosi, Reid, the Gaia worshipping Voluntary Human Extinction Green Movement, and the partisan media. None of these people or organizations can overcome their own rectal-cranial inversions long enough to see where we are going. They shall have to be expelled from any position of responsibility or influence if they don’t remove themselves voluntarily.

Highly recommended. Read the whole thing, including the very educational comments.

Technorati Tags: Economy, Energy, Environmentalism, Common Sense

 

Memorial Day – Around the Internets

We’ll start with a soundtrack from Trace Adkins.

Pray with me.

God bless the ones who served and gave their all.
God bless the ones who serve our country still.
God guard them and protect them else they fall,
And bring them safely home if it’s His will.
So we pray… Amen

 

Federalism Amendments – Reload

Randy Barnett continues to work on the Bill of Federalism (previously blogged on here). His updated version is here (PDF).

The Bill of Federalism was drafted by Professor Randy Barnett of Georgetown University Law School and is supported by The Nationwide Tea Party Coalition. You can support The Bill of Federalism by downloading the pdf above and delivering it, via email or print, to your local state legislator, requesting that they introduce a bill in their legislative body to petitition Congress to hold a Constitutional Convention for the purpose of passing all 10 amendments of The Bill of Federalism. You can find local contacts to help you in your state here.

So Barnett is moving ahead with the plan to advance it through the states. Individuals are to print the PDF out and give copies to their state and federal representatives, while explaining why it’s a great idea.

I’m still thinking the last clause is the hardest part of that plan to actually perform.

Technorati Tags: Federalism, Constitution, Government

 

Goode Family looks Great!

The Goode Family is the new project from Mike Judge. If I were forced to pitch it in a sentence, it is a satire of greens, vegans, Algoracle, and political correctness that is to King of the Hill what Futurama was to the Simpsons. Except it looks like it raises KotH on funniness instead of being less funny, the opposite of what Futurama did to the Simpsons.

Technorati Tags: Humor, TV, Television, Video, Goode Family, Mike Judge

 

Wayward Republicans need to be herded back to civilization

Want to see what is wrong with the Republicans in elected office? Take a look at the following table from Pew.

Republicans' Road to Ruin

Allahpundit has plenty more. But that table shows where the Republican party has been going wrong for the last 10 years or so. It shows the Republicans have been doing the wrong thing so long it might not be possible to recover. But I still think it’s worth trying to rescue the Republican party from its so-called leaders who have tried to turn it from the party of fiscal responsibility and economic strength into the “slightly less socialist than the Democrats party.”