Climate Change: Part I

I have a lot of thoughts on climate change. Most of them are politically incorrect. This article neatly summarizes the main reason not to panic because average temperatures are getting a little warmer.

News Flash! - this isn't the first time this has happened. It isn't even the first time in recorded history. People have been dealing with climate change forever. Our generation is not unique or special in that regard. We're just arrogant enough to assume that everything we face is unprecedented and grave. We are also the first generation that can really cause some damage if our attempts to "correct" the climate fail.

Some people are talking about dumping iron in the ocean to fight global warming. That will probably cause more problems than it will solve. Instead of knee-jerk reactions, we should assess the possible impact of the warming, and then simply adapt. If the ancient Greeks could adapt, we should have no problems.

As the article points out, this history doesn't mean we aren't impacting the climate. It doesn't mean we shouldn't find ways to pollute less. But, it does mean that mankind has survived this before and to destroy our economy to try to stop what may be unstoppable is not the rational thing to do.

Not very well-travelled, am I?

Monument to Victims of Communism

"We dedicate this memorial because we have an obligation to thosewho died, to acknowledge their lives and honor their memory. The Czech writer Milan Kundera once described the struggle against Communism as "the struggle of memory against forgetting." Communist regimes did more than take their victims' lives; they sought to steal their humanity and erase their memory. With this memorial, we restore their humanity and we reclaim their memory. With this memorial, we say of Communism's innocent and anonymous victims, these men and women lived and they shall not be forgotten." -- George W. Bush, June 12, 2007

Today in Washington, President Bush dedicated a memorial to the victims of communism. Fittingly, today is also the 20th anniversary of one of President Reagan's most famous speeches in which he stood in front of the Berlin Wall and said "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

The monument is a statue in the style of the one erected in Tienanmen Square in Beijing in 1989. Communist Chinese military units later destroyed it while driving tanks over the assembled peaceful protesters. Hundreds were killed.

Communism doesn't get the same bad rap that other brutal ideologies do. Maybe it's because we fought no great war to end it as we did against the Nazis. Or maybe it's because we never had to face it in our own country as we did slavery.

Anyone sickened by the atrocities of the holocaust (about 6 million Jews killed) should be simply horrified at the destruction wrought by communism. Communist atrocities weren't aimed at only one group of people. they weren't confined to only one country, and they have been occurring for 90 years now. In China, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam these atrocities continue. By a conservative estimate the victims of Communism include:

65 million (and counting) in China; 20 million in the Soviet Union, 2 million (and counting) in North Korea, 2 million in Cambodia, 1.7 million in Africa, 1.5 million in Afghanistan, 1 million in Vietnam, 1 million in communist Eastern Europe and 150,000 in Latin America.

In short, communism, an evil ideology unlike any the world has seen, is responsible for the slaughter of more than 94 million human beings. It tops all plagues, natural disasters, crime, and other political ideologies, probably combined. -- Cal Thomas

Other estimates put the total at closer to 150 million.

May they rest in peace.

A Few Good Articles

I read a lot of political philosophy every day. But, rarely do I find a group of articles like this that all seem to mesh together so well. All three speak of the decline of traditional morality and families, and the consequences of that.

First, why Republican presidential candidates should be talking about families more.

Next, what adolescents and intellectuals have in common.

Last, this article really hits the nail on the head. It talks about why people on the "left" find public anger and profanity acceptable. for example, why are there so many "Buck Fush" bumper stickers?

The answer is that parts of the left have little or no belief in the concept of "decency" as traditionally understood by Western civilization. They tend to dismiss such notions as bourgeois anachronisms; they place great value on individuals expressing themselves; and they view self-censorship as a form of fascism.

This latter reason is important: The '60s redefined narcissism as idealism. The individual's feelings became sacrosanct.

That is why the self-esteem movement -- the idea that how an individual feels about himself is far more important than what he actually accomplishes -- arose from the left.

And that is why you almost never hear a conservative say "I am offended" when reacting to a liberal speaker or writer, but it is quite commonplace for a liberal to use those words in reacting to someone from the right.

"Make love not war" was another example of placing one's feelings above other values. That is why it is a very good thing for the world that the previous generation, the one that fought Hitler, didn't believe in making love rather than war.

I told you this blog was random!

Michigan = France

I heard something on the radio this morning that reminded me just how backwards the Michigan economy is these days. The radio host was talking to the heads of both major state political parties. He said something like:

"now there's a proposal in front of the state legislature to make it so that the big 3 auto makers don't pay any taxes until they make money again. This will help keep them in Michigan. I'm surprised no one's thought of this before."

What?!?! Everyone's thought of this. Nowhere else in America are you taxed when you have no income. Michigan has had what's called the Single Business Tax for years. This is a tax calculated on gross revenue, not on income. So businesses here pay taxes even if they lose money. It has finally been repealed, but now they are looking at replacing it with a "revenue neutral" business tax (read: high tax rate). This will hardly improve the business environment.

And the politicians wonder why the economies of every other state are growing, and Michigan's is not. They wonder why car companies find it cheaper to build in Ohio or Indiana and then entice skilled workers to move there from Michigan. They wonder why the state has a huge budget deficit and unemployment that is almost twice the national rate, and no population growth (0.3%/year).

Confiscatory taxes do not work. This lesson has largely been learned by conservatives (and even many liberals). Ireland has learned it, South Korea and Taiwan have learned it. Even Communist China has learned it to some degree. Only Western Europe - such as Germany and France, and Michigan seem to be behind the times.

When you combine this with the hold the unions have on the state, and the weird things Michigan spends money on (MI is the only state with a state surgeon general), a pattern starts to emerge

Michigan = France when it comes to economics.

Honey Baked Buffalo?

This is the scariest pig I've ever seen.



How would you like to run into this guy deep in the forest? My favorite quote:

He said he shot the huge animal eight times with a .50- caliber revolver and chased it for three hours through hilly woods before finishing it off with a point-blank shot.

Eight 50 cal. rounds? And it took 3 hours to catch it! Where the heck do you get a .50 cal. pistol anyway?

I don't think I'd let my 11 year-old hunt anything that size. But I'll take this kid on my team when the shooting starts.

FHE - Family Home Economics

Since Becky and I have made the decision to have her at home with the boys, this article caught my eye. It gives some reasons I never would have thought of to argue that a one-income family is actually better off than a two-income family.

People can argue about this all they want. I think that, individual exceptions aside, it all comes down to following the Prophet and the council contained in the Proclamation on the Family. The benefits and reasons in this article are only temporal manifestations of an underlying divine truth. The underlying truth is that God has made us with a specific optimal familial outcome in mind. Deviating from it through no fault of our own may be inevitable, but so are the consequences. Yes, bad things do happen to good people. But we don't need to invite problems into our family when we have a choice in the matter.

Of course having a one-income family is not all that God suggests we do, far from it! It's only one paragraph in the Proclamation on the Family. It is one paragraph that impacts many others though. It is a key factor in how we organize our time, and in what or who will teach our children. Where do we want them to learn what is right and what is wrong? Where do we want them to learn about what is sacred, and what deserves our respect? Would we rather have Britney Spears, Madonna, Bill Clinton, and the kid down the street teach them about sex, or Mom, Dad, the Ensign and the Holy Ghost?

Tough call, huh?

Thanks, Becky for all you do, and for laboring selflessly for our family by raising our boys.

America is not Rome

There's a great article on National Review's site today. It's nice to read something positive about America hidden among all the negativity. The author's main point is that there have been a series of "crises" over the last century. Over and over, we were supposed to be replaced by a new superpower, or a new economic system. Over and over, all have failed.

Our Constitution is the oldest written constitution in the world. Our economy is open, efficient, and above all, flexible. But the best line of the whole article is this one:

"Does merit — or religion, tribe, or class — mostly gauge success or failure in America? What nation is as free, stable, and transparent as the U.S.? Try becoming a fully accepted citizen of China or Japan if you were not born Chinese or Japanese. Try running for national office in India from the lower caste. Try writing a critical op-ed in Russia or hiring a brilliant female to run a mosque, university, or hospital in most of the Middle East."

In America people rise based on merit, not the station or tribe they were born into. Merit is largely the sum total of a lifetime of individual choices; it is moral agency at work. That is the reason for our strength.

you can read the whole article here:

"No Decline Here"

Al Gore's Environment

Look at all the environmental waste in this guy's office. Why he's got 3 entire old-growth trees worth of paper on his desk. While those 3 Apple 30 inch monitors look great, just imagine the fossil fuels being burned to power those suckers. 150 watts each if you're wondering. That comes out to 7.5 sixty-watt incandescent light bulbs. (who knows how many compact fluorescents). He can't even spring for a TV card to use one of the monitors to watch. Instead, he needs a separate flat-panel TV. Also take note of the huge personal laser printer under the desk - more dead trees.

There are so many ways to make this office more environmentally friendly. Why, if Al Gore saw this he'd have . . . ummmm . . . wait a minute, that is Al Gore!

Never mind. It must be OK, Gore knows what he's talking about.

(I for one intend to follow this environmental example just as soon as I can get the money for three nice big monitors).

Gaps

You'll notice a big gap in posts here. I'll just blame that on moving from Utah to Michigan, having a new baby, and going to law school while working the last two years.