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Category Archives: Politics

State Department Changing Passport Applications

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Normally I wouldn’t care, however this for some reason has just rubbed something the wrong way. 

“The words in the old form were ‘mother’ and ‘father,’” said Brenda Sprague, deputy assistant Secretary of State for Passport Services. “They are now ‘parent one’ and ‘parent two.’”

I initially didn’t think much other than, “The economy is in the tank and they have nothing better to do.”  Then I talked to my mom and she pointed out something that I hadn’t considered. You are now placing numbers on individuals, number 1 and number 2, primary and secondary.  You now will be placing an importance on which parent is more significant.  As my mother said, “Most of the time the father will always come first.”  From the continuing conversation she felt it a slight towards women in the home and belittling them into second place.  While some families may have an environment which supports such a description, most do not, furthermore many will feel slighted by it.  Note my mom made that statement as one of her first complaints when I informed her of it, she made that connection in her mind with very little effort.

This is by no means the end of the world, but I do dislike it because it is the further infection of political correctness for the sake of political correctness,  much like rewriting Tom Sawyer.

Update: Side comment from “The Short Lady With the Grey Hair”: If anyone asks about your mother’s feminist standing, you can state that you were raised in a traditional two parent home with each parent holding the traditional roles. She does support many of the actions of feminism but resents the actions of any group that attempts to neutralize the roles that others play in society or the home. Feminists or homosexuals or transexualts or religious nuts. There are too many more important things to be worrying about. Wake up and smell both the coffee and the roses.

Internet ID

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Since our fearless leaders couldn’t pass the National ID bull crap.  Instead they feel that they can back door it.

It’s “the absolute perfect spot in the U.S. government” to centralize efforts toward creating an “identity ecosystem” for the Internet, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said.

So, the government should centralize the Identification system.  Then they say this though:

“We are not talking about a national ID card,” Locke said at the Stanford event. “We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities.”

How can you have a centralized Digital ID system without some sort of national ID if it’s all controlled by the government?  This idea violates the Jews in the Attic test and should be promptly dismissed.

Quote of the Day: Benjamin Franklin (Twofer) – 01072011

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I doubt … whether any other Convention .. may be able to make a better constitution; for, when you assemble a number of men, to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views.  From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected?  It therefore astonishes me, sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection…

– Benjamin Franklin (Speech at the Constitutional Convention, Sept 17, 1787)

[Emphasis mine. Today the Constitution was read on the floor of the Congress.  Some would claim the constitution is no longer relevant and is not a perfect document anymore.  The thing is, at the time it was written it was not considered a perfect document, that is why they provided a method to edit it and change it.  Our current congress critters would prefer to instead of editing it, to relegate it to the dustbin of history.  This is completely contrary to their oath of office.  This brings up another quote from Franklin he made the next day.  We all must ponder this final statement from Mr. Franklin regarding the constitution.]

A republic, if you can keep it.

-Benjamin Franklin Sept 18, 1787

[This was in response to a question by Mrs. Powel regarding the form of government the congress has created.  We are closer than at any other time to actually losing it.  No longer are our elected representatives being held accountable when they break the laws knowingly while creating new legislation.  They also have no issue creating laws which apply to the standard citizenry but exempts the elected officials.  Our elected officials prefer to ignore the Constitution out of convenience because they could not further their agenda otherwise.  Things definitely need to change.]

The Moral Politics Test

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I discovered this quiz while reading Say Uncle’s blog. Normally I would be offended by the results.

Your scored -1 on Moral Order and -6.5 on Moral Rules.

 
The following categories best match your score (multiple responses are possible):

    System: Liberalism

    Ideology: Progressive NeoLiberalism

    Party: Libertarian Party

    Presidents: Ronald Reagan

    04′ Election: Michael Badnarik

    08′ Election: Ron Paul

 
Of the 642,536 respondents (11,571 on Facebook):

    4% are close to you.

    3% are more conservative.

    1% are more liberal.

    51% are more socialist.

    37% are more authoritarian.

However, in this case, the term Liberal was used correctly, so no offense taken.

Liberalism is a political system that blends NonConformance and Independence:

    Children are born good and should be nurtured to become productive members of society.

    Individual initiatives are more effective than collective ones.

Liberalism sees individual liberty as the highest values in social and economical life. It favors the right to dissent from orthodox tenets or established authorities in social or economical matters. This definition blends the social aspects of U.S. Liberalism [NonConformance] with the economic aspects of European Liberalism [Independence].

Progressive NeoLiberalism is a moderate form of Economic Liberalism.

Neoliberalism is a political philosophy and a political-economic movement beginning in the 1970s that de-emphasizes or rejects government intervention in the economy, focusing instead on achieving progress and even social justice by more free-market methods, especially an emphasis on economic growth, as measured by changes in real gross domestic product.

Progressive Neoliberalism is Neoliberalism associated with non-conforming moral values.

Economic Liberalism is the variation of Liberalism that emphasizes Independence over NonConformance.

People in this category will tend to have stronger opinions about favoring individual initiatives (lower taxes, less corporate and environmental regulations, …) than about loosening the moral order (gay rights, ecology, drug legalization,…).

Realistic translation of I-1077 for those in Washington State

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The following initiative is straight from the WA Secretary of State website.

Ballot Title
Statement of Subject: Initiative Measure No. 1069 concerns the state seal.

Concise Description: This measure would require the Washington State Seal to depict a tapeworm attached to a taxpayer’s intestine, encircled by the words: Committed to sucking the life blood out of each and every taxpayer.

Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ]

Ballot Measure Summary
This measure would require the Seal of the State of Washington to be changed to depict a vignette of a tapeworm dressed in a three piece suit attached to the lower intestine of a taxpayer shown as the central figure. The seal would be required to be encircled with the following words: “Committed to sucking the life blood out of each and every tax payer.” The illustration would be selected from submissions submitted by taxpayers.

TMM and I both find it a realistic translation for I-1077, just in a visual form for the State Seal. Given other taxes they’ve pushed this year, we’re all for it.

No one is above the law

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Including Mrs. Obama

“You kind of have to drop the standard for the first lady, right?” the official explained late Thursday. “I mean, she’s pretty well liked and probably doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

She is a Harvard-educated lawyer.
Ignorantia juris non excusat.  Ignorance of the Law is No Excuse, and your status in government provides you no safety, if anything you should be held more accountable for your actions.

QoTD – 11 August 2010 – Thomas Jefferson

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“A noiseless course, not meddling with the affairs of others, unattractive of notice, is a mark that society is going on in happiness. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy.” –Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, 1802.

The government is stealing from those who are working under the pretext of taking care of everyone. Those who are working are becoming increasingly unhappy and disgruntled due to how the government is treating them. Atlas wants to shrug.