Servants of the “Dark Lord!”

The so-called Westboro Baptist Church is again in the news.  All I can think of is that Sauron would be smiling.  This family, and that is about all the Westboro Baptist Church is composed of, is anything but God fearing or holy.  They insult the truly religious.  –  I have a further question.  Who is paying for them to do this?  They are all over the US bleating out their message of hate & bigotry.  Are they rich and can afford all the travelling they seem to do?  Maybe someone is behind these simple minded puppets of hate and bigotry.  It would be interesting to follow the money, as the expression goes.  –  A good primer on dealing with terrorists, [And I consider the so-called Westboro Baptist Churc as such.] such as this group, is found in a very interesting SF novel by Dean Ing: “Soft Targets.” It came out at the end of the 70’s. Well worth looking for.

Burn the library

I wonder if this film will be released in the US.  It looks interesting.

If it’s on the shelves, it’s off the streets

I think, more folk might do well to read this article.

If it’s on the shelves, it’s off the streets byPeter Moskos. [Peter Moskos is an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the author of "Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore's Eastern District."]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/23/AR2009102303457.html

What is the economic impact?

Illegality drives up the cost of the illegal substance.  –  What would the actual cost, with a 6% markup to provide a  suitableprofit, of the more common “illegal” substance such as MJ, cocaine, & heroine?  — Please note, I’m NOT saying they should be legal, just what would the comparative prices be?

Now how would this effect the crime lords?  If an addict, one would have to register, of course, could buy his or her drug of choice from a legal source at realistic prices, what would happen to the economies of drug producing countries.  [Of course, California would now run a surplus as the value of MJ grown in the state is in the billions of dollars.

It would be interesting to see an economic evaluation of this.  maybe money is being allocated in the wrong areas.

Let them go!

“Limits on exec pay cause worries of brain drain!  Will top bosses at bailed-out companies leave as their compensation is cut?”  –  MSNBC.com

Maybe the answer should be: Good, get rid of them.  All they did was take money and run the companies into the ground.  Maybe some new blood will get the companies moving again.

IMHO too many “executives” are vastly overpaid for the work they do.  I really don’t believe, they are worth the pay.  I remember reading a rumor that JP Morgan, that pillar of support for the common man, feeling that the ratio of 20 to 1 between the top salary and the lowest full time employee’s salary, should be enough.  Today, 200 to 1 or higher is more like it.

However, one must realize, these executives are of such a better class of people than ordinary persons that they should be rewarded for just being better than everyone else.  Just ask them.

Let him do hard time!

Film director Roman Polanski, who fled sentencing in California on child sex charges in 1977, after being convicted, should be extradited to the US from Switzerland and do his hard time for drugging and having unlawful sex with a girl aged 13.  –  So he is a brilliant director.  This does not allow him to break the law and get away with it.  –  He is a sicko!

This explains a lot of Politics

It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument. -William G. McAdoo, lawyer and politician (1863-1941)

Do we really need to be there?

The Japanese want to redefine its relationship with the US.  Sounds good to me.  Actually, I wonder, if we need to really be in the Far East at all.  –  Since all the countries there seem to do is gripe about the Yanks being there, why not leave them to their own devices.  –  Japan is apparently pushing the idea of an East Asian Community [Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere ?], a sort of Asian version of the European Union, with China at its core.  Go for it.  –  Yes, let us pack up our toys and take them home.  –  There is no need for the US to be the world’s policeman.  Let them all go to hell in their own hand basket. 

Too much PC

I am bemused by the total lack of any sort of sense of humor when Target is attached for the “Illegal Alien” costume.  Maybe not completely in the best of taste, but no where near as bad as some of the so-called costumes I’ve seen shown for sale.  — Then again, an illegal alien is just that: ILLEGAL.  Go to jail & deport.  –  Yes, they are seeking to better themselves.  However, so are all those folk in line for legal immigration.  –  Hmm, maybe the US should review its immigration policy.  However, being able to speak English is obligatory.  How else can someone from Korea communicate with someone from Russia?  ETC.

Stupid Law!

IMHO the “Zero-tolerance” rules in schools, as in the court system, is too inflexible and causes miscarriages of justice.