28JAN11 A little about the school system…

There is a lot about public schools that indicates some serious faults.  We see teachers complain that they don’t get enough resources in the classroom, which translates into the local school districts turning to the local, state, and federal government asking for more money (a lot of times through the NEA).  Then we see the money get collected through our taxes at even greater amounts (here in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, over 50% of my property tax goes to pay for the schools…  that doesn’t include what the Federal Government funds using my Income Tax; nor does the FNSB school district like to talk about how much they get from that source…).  However, what is staggering is the fact that students end up not seeing much of this cash flow in the form of learning materials.  Here is one example of why (in another state):  Terry Thompson is retiring to a golden parachute of well over the tun of $1,000,000 in Indiana!  Its no wonder folks like myself don’t trust our school districts.

Its amazing that private schools can do better with less money.  A lot of that is when you see your paycheck go toward an education, you are going to care more about it than you are if its just someone else income tax/property tax dollars (after all, maybe 30% or less pay 90% of all the Federal income tax that Dept. of Education partakes of…).  Maybe its time to change Public School funding dramatically…  Time to charge ‘tuition’?!  Maybe that’ll light the fire under the butts of both lazy parents and lazy students.  After all, when you see a significant amount of your income wasted…

…that, and if we don’t have a welfare system for drop-outs to fall back on, they might just graduate as a diploma and a job would be better than nothing and starvation.  But to re-establish this kind of system, we’d also have to send illegals back to their country of origin (be it Mexico or anywhere else); and get over this ridiculous notion that they do jobs Americans don’t want to.  Once we as a society see ourselves as above cleaning toilets, we are in the toilet!  My father raised me with the notion of “If you can’t clean toilets and mop floors, you can starve.”  Don’t tell me I’m not willing to do so (which I’m moon-lighting as a janitor right now on top of my normal job…).

Well, when we see school administrators making bank, while the teachers and students get shafted, I guess there is a good reason why folks like me don’t trust the NEA and school districts (should I mention colleges as well?  Board of Regents members getting millions while professors get peanuts and tuition shoots through the roof for the student…).

21JAN2011 Arizona Fallout…

Its been a couple weeks since the tragedy of the Tuscon Arizona shootings by Jared Loughler. Since then we have seen loads of fallout, and a lot of this has to do with the instant speculation and jumping around that occurred in the ours after the incident.

I don’t even think the bodies were cold and dead by the time NY Congresswoman Cynthia McCarthy announced that she would be filing her standard response to any shooting, more gun control legislation. Its morbid, yes; but whats worse, that comment or the fact that somewhere in McCarthy’s office and the office of the Brady Campaign that there is a Standard Operating Procedure and Operations Plan setup for whenever a mass public shooting happens? I can see it now, a shooting happens, and both McCarthy and the Brady Campaign pull out a file that matches the event… “Well gee, if we just passed this law NONE of this would have happened!” Because we all know that the laws are what prevents crime!

Then we had the endless speculation about the motives of the shooter within hours of the shooting. First we had speculation that the shooter was an Afghanistan Veteran with PTSD (http://www.burnpit.us/2011/01/arizona-shootings-when-speculation-is-acceptable%E2%80%A6/) who went haywire fulfilling the wet dream of Janet Napolitano and DHS’s report on Domestic Terrorist threats from War Veterans based on the erroneous Vietnam Era Tripwire Veteran profile. New Mexico State Senator Linda Lopez (http://www.blackfive.net/main/2011/01/veterans-demand-an-apology-congresswoman.html) was one of the first to spout off about how Loughler was a war veteran… Once again, the anti-war Left shows its true feelings about this nations Veterans (yet another reason I continue to NOT trust the Left whenever they make claims about supporting Vets) by going to the old fall back of the Vietnam War; war vets are just cold killers. But then, in the next day or so, we learn Loughler couldn’t even pass the piss test to get into the Army in the first place! HE NEVER MADE IT PAST THE FIRST OBSTACLE, the Recruiter’s office. Yet, in spite of this, various news organizations and politicians continue to have credibility and have yet to issue any official appology.

Next bit of speculation involves loads of cheap political shots. Most of which (if not ALL of them) were directed by Liberal Democrats at the TEA Party, Republicans, Conservatives, and the even drew in Sarah Palin somehow… It all seemed to be started by Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupik said: “The kind of rhetoric that flows from people like Rush Limbaugh, in my judgment he is irresponsible, uses partial information, sometimes wrong information,” beginning the blame game. Yet the more we find out about the shooter, the more we find this kind of speculation so soon after the shooting to be nothing more than absolutely unprofessional political bias from the top law enforcement officer in Pima County. Currently, he faces a recall movement (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/20/outspoken-tucson-sheriff-faces-recall-bid/), and while he has won eight strait elections, this might end his career… Honestly, based on this kind of speculation, its a well earned fate for him… I know I’d have lost my job in the military with similar talking out of my anus!

Speaking of learning more about the shooter, there is a lack of transparency from Pima County, and Pima Community College where Loughler went to school. Instead of releasing information required by Arizona State Law, both agencies have been dragging their feet about releasing information about Loughler’s past dealing with each (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/12/20110112gabrielle-giffords-arizona-shooting-pima-county-wont-release-jared-loughner-records.html)… Meanwhile the speculation has led the usual suspects to question Arizona’s Gun Culture (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/11/20110111gabrielle-giffords-arizona-shooting-arizona-gun-law.html).

Once we found what a nut (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/01/10/2011-01-10_chilling_shrine_in_madmans_yard.html) Loughler was, the Left continued to spout the supposed fact that political ‘vitriol’ would continue to foment violence across the country… “Whether [political rhetoric] caused what happened in Tucson or not, it’ll cause the next tragedy,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) predicts on FOX News. Never mind what these people were saying over the last decade prior to the election of President Obama when President Bush was in office… That all wasn’t ‘vitriol’ or ‘inflammatory’ one bit because they were ones using such language. Once again, speculation is rampant, and clearly isn’t about the shooting at all but silencing all dissent against their agenda to radically change the United States forever into their socialist utopia. Its easy to spot once you find out Loughler rarely watched the news or cared about politics (http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/jared-loughners-friend-says-suspect-did-not-watch-tv-disliked-the-news_b48040) (http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/01/jared_loughner_alleged_shooter.php).

Because of the McCarthy/Brady Gun Control rhetoric, and especially with local gun control groups in full campaign mode in Arizona, Glock and extended magazine sales are up in Arizona (http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/jared-loughners-friend-says-suspect-did-not-watch-tv-disliked-the-news_b48040) which leads me to believe, based on the NOV08 rush on fireams and ammo sales, that crime will drop for a time in Arizona as there are more armed citizens running around who will shoot back (this is seen in the 2009 FBI Uniform Crime Reports (http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/ucr) that show a drop in violent crime (http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/violent_crime/index.html) across the states with fewer gun restrictions…).

I should also mention, that during this ‘debate’ about firearms, I am going to ignore any moron who calls the high capacity box magazine Loughler used a ‘clip’. If you use the term ‘clip’ in reference to a ‘magazine’ you clearly have no reason to debate about guns at all as you have no background knowledge at all in the subject you speaking about. If you did, you’d know the difference between a ‘magazine’ and ‘clip’ and know enough not to mistake them as you sound like an ignorant moron if you do make the mistake. Especially if you have a college degree in Journalism or Political Science; and if you are Veteran making that mistake just start knocking them out (by the four count!).

My wife has downloaded the Grand Jury Report of the Philadelphia murder case of Dr. Gosnell I ranted about yesterday… Needless to say, my wife is absolutely shocked.

Go ahead, read the Grand Jury Report with your own eyes. If you cannot see the corruption in the system of both the city of Philadelphia or the state of Pennsylvania (and indeed across this entire country) regarding the excessive legal protections abortion clinics receive you truly are naive. PA Dept. of Health did not inspect Womens Medical Society (the entity Dr. Gosnell ran) from 1993 through 2010 in spite of numerous complaints… Why? Because its an abortion clinic, a political minefield viciously guarded by Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and in Dr. Gosnell’s case likely the NAACP and other minority protection groups because of his ‘concern’ for minorities…

Here are the results:

If my wife’s Veterinary clinic pulled this stunt, the city of Fairbanks and state of Alaska would have their hide; or what was left after the people of Fairbanks, ALF, ELF, and PETA got done with them…

…Its a crying shame that there is more protection, government regulation, and government for cattle at a slaughter house than for unborn children in our society. Not to mention more outrage, just think of what happens when PETA infiltrates a hen house or a slaughter house and shows how brutal humans are to animals. Yet, this shouldn’t surprise us much, as most of PETAs supporters support the idea of ignoring the Dr. Gosnell’s of this world and the brutal murder of our own species prior to birth…

…So while restaurants, slaughter houses, plastic surgeons, and yes the beauty parlor go through annual Health inspections (along with random inspections) Dr. Gosnell was never once inspected for over 16 years!

Thank you Planned Parenthood and American ‘Civil Liberties’ Union! You have done so much good for this country! Thank you all you Progressive Liberal Socialist Lawyers! Look at the wonderful fruits of all your hard work in the way of Civil Rights and the Reproductive Rights! What and advancement in society you have brought about! What were we backwards hillbilly Christian Right Wingers ever thinking about how humans should treat each other!

(originally published 20JAN11 on Sudsy’s personal blog)

Correct Constitutional Interpretation

Today, Rush Limbaugh discussed an interview Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia did with California Lawyer [magazine] recently.

Here is the key part of the transcript:

RUSH: I heard about this when I was gone. “Scalia to Talk About Constitution to House Members,” and the Democrats are livid! This is a Michele Bachmann idea. This from the LA Times: “The decision by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to accept an invitation from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), the founder of the House’s Tea Party Caucus, to speak to incoming House members about the Constitution is drawing fire from some who worry the court is injecting itself into partisan politics. The meeting ‘suggests an alliance between the conservative members of the court and the conservative members of Congress,’ said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, who said Scalia had shown ‘exceedingly poor judgment’” by accepting the invitation.

“He said the association of Scalia, an outspoken conservative, with the bombastic Bachmann…” (pause) Bombastic? She’s just passionate. Anyway, it “could contribute to the high court becoming overly politicized.” I have to laugh at that. So it’s Scalia that makes the court “overly politicized;” not a bunch of liberal hacks that are on the court, but Scalia who does nothing but interpret the original intent of the Constitution when he issues opinions. That’s all he does! He does not impose his agenda, whatever it is. He interprets the Constitution as best he can according to its original intent — and that, the left hates. He’s an originalist.

“But Bachmann’s office said that Democrats and Republicans were welcome to attend the Jan. 24 speech. Also, it is not unprecedented for a sitting Supreme Court justice to confer with the legislative branch. Several justices have met in off-the-record sessions with the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on the Judicial Branch.” Separation of powers, by the way, is the topic. She went to see Scalia. He accepted the invitation. His topic is separation of powers. Yeah, that’s really a threat. Wow! Can you imagine that, a Supreme Court justice accepting an invitation from a member of Congress — legislative branch — to talk about separation of powers?

Well, we can’t have that. No, no, no! Let’s get a Marxist professor in there to talk about it and balance it out. Is that what we should do? Again, this is from the Washington Post by Emi Kolawole: “Justice Antonin Scalia has weighed in on the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, leaving women’s rights activists seething.” I love it when women’s rights activists “seethe.” The thing is it’s their constant state of existence. “Women’s rights activists” (i.e., feminazis) are constantly seething. They are perpetually ticked off, constantly angry, as are most liberals. “In an interview with California Lawyer [magazine], Scalia said the Constitution…” This is why they hate the guy. What did I just say? He searches for the original intent.

“Scalia said that the Constitution itself does not protect women and gay men and lesbians from discrimination.” (Gasp!) The horror! The horror! He’s a bigot, he’s a racist, he’s a sexist, he’s a homophobe! “Scalia said that the Constitution itself does not protect women and gay men and lesbians from discrimination. Such protections are up to the legislative branch, he said.” He’s got a mature idea on the restraints of his branch. Here’s what he said. This is the question to Scalia: “In 1868, when the 39th Congress was debating and ultimately proposing the 14th Amendment, I don’t think anybody would have thought that equal protection applied to sex discrimination, or certainly not to sexual orientation. So does that mean that we’ve gone off in error by applying the 14th Amendment to both?”

Scalia: “Yes, yes. Sorry, to tell you that. … But, you know, if indeed the current society has come to different views, that’s fine. You do not need the Constitution to reflect the wishes of the current society.” That’s key: “You do not need the Constitution to reflect the wishes of the current society. Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn’t. Nobody ever thought that that’s what it meant,” the Fourteenth Amendment. “Nobody ever voted for that.” Sex discrimination, sex-orientation discrimination, nobody even thought of that when this amendment was being proposed, debated and voted on. “Nobody voted for that. If the current society wants to outlaw discrimination by sex, hey we have things called legislatures, and they enact things called laws.

“You don’t need a constitution to keep things up-to-date. All you need is a legislature and a ballot box. You don’t like the death penalty anymore, that’s fine. You want a right to abortion? There’s nothing in the Constitution about that. But that doesn’t mean you cannot prohibit it. Persuade your fellow citizens it’s a good idea and pass a law. That’s what democracy is all about. It’s not about nine superannuated judges who have been there too long, imposing these demands on society.” That’s why they hate him, because that’s precisely what judges are for: Imposing their view, imposing their personal policy preferences, imposing their ideology on society. That’s how the left does it because they cannot win those votes, because they represent 20% of the thinking in this country. No matter what anybody else tells you.

This is exactly how all laws should be interpreted, especially Constitutional Law.

Election thoughts and some articles of interest

So, according the National Endowment of the Arts site, their Federal portion of money was $160 million dollars for the fiscal year of 2010. Meg Whitman’s loosing Gubernatorial run was recorded at $163.1 million…

http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/ because we would all like to know.

Did Obama save Capitalism at the expense of Midterm elections?

Why would any senator vote against a bill that prevented an employee from suing if they were raped by co-workers? For a list of all 30 senators who voted against the bill, click HERE.

Please remember to …

Vote

11SEP10 “Stand To”

Whenever an army runs a camp, they “Stand To” at dawn, the most likely point when an enemy force will attack. When they “Stand To” everyone is in a fighting position along the perimeter, or otherwise in a position in which to carry out battle should an attack possibly happen.

http://www.esquire.com/features/essay/ESQ0307ESSAY

I miss being in, the above essay is the best I’ve seen on the subject.

Currently today I serve with the Alaska State Defence Force, a Title 32 State Militia that falls under Alaska’s Adjutant General (the General in charge of both the Alaska Army and Air National Guard, Alaska Military Youth Academy, and Alaska State Defence Force). I’ve gone from being an Airman fighting for the nation as a whole overseas to a Soldier for Alaska defending the United States from within Alaska. I’ll always likely be drawn to jobs and volunteer opportunities involving security, its forever in my nature now.

I joined the Air Force 10 years ago out of feelings of patriotism and the need to be ready should something terrible happen. Nine years ago something did indeed occur that vindicated my decisions. I found myself right where I was needed when I needed to be there (even if I didn’t go to war where and when I thought I should have!).

Every year this day comes, I’m haunted by two conversations from high school. First was my Creative Writing Teacher laughing at the notion that terrorist could possibly attack our nation. Apparently the 1993 WTC bombing was lost on her, and the more obvious threat was from the McVeigh crowd… She laughed… In 1999… Then there were the Pearl Harbor Survivors that I heard speak when I was a snot nosed Navy JROTC Cadet standing in formation at the US Air Force Academy honouring. I remember the old retired Navy Sailor who survived Pearl Harbor very worriedly with pain in his voice decry how our nation had forgotten the lessons and was not fully prepared… (I even found the article from this event as few of these survivors are left today: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_19991208/ai_n9962942/ it was always a special occasion in Colorado Springs).

On September 10 2001 I was loading Humvees into a KC-135 at Topeka’s Airport getting ready for my first National Training Center rotation (a month of war games out at Ft. Irwin CA). I’d just achieved my Combat Mission Readiness status in JUL01 and was fully deployable. I’d just been in over a year (02AUG00 was when I went to Basic…). The next day I was supposed to have the day off after dropping one of our Airmen off at the stating point as he was part of the Advance Party going to fly with our trucks… Needless to say, it became one of the longest days in my military career. I remember walking out of our squadron break room on Ft. Riley and closing our motor pool gate and putting a holster on my TA-50 gear after watching the Pentagon getting hit. A short time later our Squadron Commander called us into the briefing room and we watched the events unfold on our projector screen, we all had that sick feeling in our guts knowing we were at war right now. As our Squadron Commander released us to go home to our families for the day, and to expect a phone call at any minute, the towers collapsed. Living in the dorms, there was no sleep for me. Just interrupted rest as we rotated who would do a building walk around each hour…

We ended up going to NTC a week later. I didn’t deploy to Afghanistan, ever… However I ended up supporting Operation Enduring Freedom from Kuwait in 2002 by working at the bombing ranges and training pilots (and getting training myself…) that were flying through on their way to Afghanistan. I did go to Korea for a year, and served in the long war that never ended there (its still under the 1953 ceasefire) from 2003-2004, and finally went to Iraq twice before getting out. Now I serve locally in Alaska…

07SEP10 Is Zeal the Enemy?

While not an overly polarizing issue politically, this is still worth discussing in detail as ‘zeal’ and ‘zealots’ have been polarized, and wrongly so…

I say “NO”!  Zeal is not the enemy of mankind.  Nor is religion.  What is painfully obvious to me from recent news events (especially the James Lee incident at Discovery Channel, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/01/AR2010090104795.html and for the demands… http://www.savetheplanetprotest.com/) is that nuts are in every walk of life and point of view.  Atheists and EnvironMENTALists are just as much ‘religious zealots’ as Jihadist’s and Westboro Baptist [sic] Wackos.   Indeed, when one sees the work of Religious Zealots like Mother Teresa, Ghandi, or Martin Luther King Jr.; perhaps zeal in the right area is indeed an HONORABLE trait we need to embrace more often in our society.  Zeal doesn’t mean passion out of control like the current consensus seems to indicate, but rather an adherence to a path above and beyond the normal scope of society.  One certainly doesn’t consider it normal to drop everything, all earthly possessions, all wealth, all status, just to go forth out into the streets of Calcutta and embrace the lepers.   This takes zeal in every sense of the word.

(This is an exclusive re-posting of Sudsy’s webcomic and commentary for especially Politics4Nerds.com)

Sarah Palin: The Political World’s Samus Aran?

The release of Metroid: Other M for the Wii this week inspired me to write something that’s been swirling around the ol’ noggin for a while now.

Is Sarah Palin the political world’s Samus Aran?

Samus Aran is the heroine of the Metroid series of Nintendo exclusive video games.  From Wikipedia, “Metroid chronicles the missions of bounty hunter Samus Aran who protects the galaxy from the depredations of the Space Pirates and their attempts to harness the power of fictional organisms such as the eponymous Metroids. It is noted for having one of the first female protagonists in a video game, and for its nonlinear gameplay.”

You can find the basic Metroid series info here.

This observation about Governor Palin and Samus Aran, although based upon the entire series, is most influenced by the later games, Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion.

The core comparison comes from the general themes of the Metroid games.

A) Samus comes to a strange place (planet or space station) that needs exploration to figure out what is going on.

B) Her armor and weapons, for the most part, are destroyed, taken away, or become limited at first.

C) Through exploration, both new & old weapons & armor upgrades are found and put to use, allowing further exploration and firepower against stronger foes, ultimately resulting in the abilities necessary to defeat the final boss/antagonist.

How does this compare to Sarah Palin on the national level?

Think about it.  She is raised in one of the most rugged and independent states in the union.  Some would even posit Alaska may represent another world.  She is called, much like Samus is called to go on missions, to head to a new and unfamiliar place to explore (her VP selection resulting in exploration of the grand stage of national and presidential politics).  Upon arriving at full power, something happens to destroy or limit Samus’ abilities, much like the Katie Couric & Charlie Gibson interviews (along with a ridiculous media narrative) did to Sarah Palin.

This is happening much like in Metroid Fusion, where the X-parasite nearly kills Samus on a space station, resulting in most of her Power Suit being removed (hence, losing most abilities).  She is saved when researches create a vaccine made from the DNA of the baby Metroid (the X-parasites natural predator) Samus discovers at the end of Metroid II. The vaccine not only stops the X-parasite from harming Samus, but it now allows her to absorb it to power up her energy and weapons.

Couric and Gibson initially did the damage to the Palin Power Suit.  Then, just as the X-parasites and Space Pirates nearly destroyed Samus, the leftist media organizations and those in her own state, saw the opening and attacked mercilessly until Sarah Palin was nearly destroyed…at least in the eyes of the broader electorate.

Then came July 3, 2009.  That day Governor Palin declared she would no longer be held hostage and slowly buried alive by an avalanche of false accusations; that her state should be allowed to move on without the media parasites and the local “space pirate” hacks slowly trying to drain the life out of her, and by extension, paralyze her state.

Her resignation as Governor did what was thought politically suicidal, but in reality was just her getting back on her feet and using the DNA of freedom to start to recoup and, eventually, fight back.

Now, she’s in the exploration and upgrade phase. 

Missiles are one of the first upgrades to be found in a Metroid game, and a larger capacity can be carried as the game progresses via additional “tanks.”  Governor Palin has been acquiring missiles all along…that would be those who happily call themselves Palinistas, mama & papa grizzlies, and just plain supporters.

Sometimes missiles are just not enough and a Super Missile is required to progress in the Metroid universe.  These would be her endorsements; in particular, the one’s who win.

Another weapon Sarah Palin has acquired is the Power Bomb.  Samus can use these to clear entire rooms of enemies (Super Metroid) and gain access to previously unreachable areas (Super/Fusion/Zero Mission).  Palin’s Power Bombs are called Facebook notes.  Is there any doubt that with, as Tammy Bruce states, “Type, Type, Type, Send,” the entire complexion and timeline for Obamacare passage was changed with the simple Power Bomb of “death panels” (still a misunderstood phrase to this day)?

The Ice Beam upgrade allows Samus to freeze enemies in all of the 2D series games.  This device allows her to use enemies to stand on, when frozen, to access further areas, or, just to be shattered with another weapon (usually a missile).  The mere presence of Palin, and in some cases, “Palinistas,” causes most politicos and pundits to, at the very least, pause, if not outright stop, to asses as she zooms on by.  A recent example is when two New Hampshire Democrats had their aspirations for higher office “frozen” after making statements to suggest their pleasure had Palin been on the airplane that crashed resulting in the death of the late Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens.

The Grapple Beam is used primarily to access new areas in Metroid.  Sarah’s Grapple Beam is SarahPAC: “Dedicated to building America’s future, supporting fresh ideas and candidates who share our vision for reform and innovation.” This allows her to spread her influence and access to previously thought unreachable areas.

In the Metroid series, the Plasma Beam is normally the last weapon one acquires.  It is the most powerful weapon in the game, and in the later series games, it is required to defeat the final boss.  Sarah has actually had her Plasma Beam this whole time; her unwavering belief in doing what she feels is right for this country.  Nothing thrown at her has caused her mission to waver.

Lastly, in the comparison realm, the Varia Suit is the most famous and recognizable armor upgrade that greatly reduces the damage Samus takes from enemies and environments.  Sarah Palin’s Varia Suit is her pure and unshakeable faith in God and his purpose for her life.

More interesting to note, is not so much upgrades and their comparison, but how the freedom from her office has allowed her to absorb media attacks like the Metroid DNA vaccine absorbed the X-parasite. There is a quote on texas4palin.com that states, “Every time a Democrat mocks Sarah Palin, an independent gets its wings.”  This is the freedom vaccine at work.  The parasites in the media can’t help themselves with her.  They attack relentlessly, all the while telling us how irrelevant she is.  This solidifies her supporters, and helps others to look into her and, at the very least, sympathize for her against such attacks (especially personal or family related), but potentially rethinking things and becoming full-fledged supporters themselves.  This only makes her stronger.

Is this analogy perfect?  No.  Samus Aran is a video game character who has unlimited chances to eventually reach her goal.  Samus’ next big mission also starts August 31, 2010.  Sarah, like you and me, is a real person.  Her next big mission (should she choose to accept it) is not coming for two more years.  Will she have explored her surroundings enough?  Will she have acquired all the upgrades needed to win?  Will she be ready for the final battle?  No one knows the answer to these questions, but I have a feeling she will have found 100% of the available power-ups/upgrades.  Will you be one of them?

–Jason

P.S. If you search for Sarah Palin as Samus Aran, you will find at least one, really bad picture.  I’d be interested if there are any aspiring artists who could do better.  Shoot them my way via politics4nerds.com.

Notable Quotable…er…Story

I’m not sure how many of you have read this (via chain email), nor the validity of the actual event.  However, I think the point the story tries to make is one worth consideration.  Enjoy and react:

Albert Einstein wrote a book titled God vs. Science in 1921. This is a quick story about Albert Einstein’s Conviction. Interesting …Well worth the entire read.

“Let me explain the problem science has with religion.” The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

‘You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?’

‘Yes sir,’ the student says.

‘So you believe in God?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘Is God good?’

‘Sure! God’s good.’

‘Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?’

‘Yes’

‘Are you good or evil?’

‘The Bible says I’m evil.’

The professor grins knowingly. ‘Aha! The Bible!’ He considers for a moment. ‘Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?’

‘Yes sir, I would.’

‘So you’re good!’

‘I wouldn’t say that.’

‘But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t.’

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. ‘He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Can you answer that one?’

The student remains silent. ‘No, you can’t, can you?’ the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. ‘Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?’

‘Er..yes,’ the student says.

‘Is Satan good?’

The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. ‘No.’

‘Then where does Satan come from?’

The student falters. ‘From God’

‘That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?’

‘Yes, sir..’

‘Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?’

‘Yes’

‘So who created evil?’ The professor continued, ‘If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.’

Again, the student has no answer. ‘Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?’

The student squirms on his feet. ‘Yes.’

‘So who created them?’

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. ‘Who created them?’ There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. ‘Tell me,’ he continues onto another student. ‘Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?’

The student’s voice betrays him and cracks. ‘Yes, professor, I do.’

The old man stops pacing. ‘Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?’

‘No sir. I’ve never seen Him.’

‘Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?’

‘No, sir, I have not..’

‘Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?’

‘No, sir, I’m afraid I have not.’

‘Yet you still believe in him?’

‘Yes’

‘According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?’

‘Nothing,’ the student replies.. ‘I only have my faith.’

‘Yes, faith,’ the professor repeats. ‘And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.’

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. ‘Professor, is there such thing as heat?’

‘Yes.’

‘And is there such a thing as cold?’

‘Yes, son, there’s cold too.’

‘No sir, there isn’t.’

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet.

The student begins to explain. ‘ You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can go down to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat.. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.’

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

‘What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?’

‘Yes,’ the professor replies without hesitation. ‘What is night if it isn’t darkness?’

‘You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and its called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?’

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. ‘So what point are you making, young man?’

‘My point, professor, is that your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.’

The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. ‘Flawed? Can you explain how?’

‘You are working on the premise of duality,’ the student explains. ‘You argue that there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought.  It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it. Now tell me, professor… Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?’

‘If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.’

‘Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?’

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

‘Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?’

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided. ‘To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.’ The student looks around the room. ‘Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?’ The class breaks out into laughter. ‘Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelt the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.  So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?’

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. ‘I Guess you’ll have to take them on faith.’

‘Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,’ the student continues. ‘Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?’ Now uncertain, the professor responds, ‘Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.’

To this the student replied, ‘Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.’

The professor sat down.

PS: The student was Albert Einstein.