Henry Imler February 28th, 2006
Are you a conservative? Russell Kirk gives 10 principles that
conservatism lives by. See how many you identify with using a quarter
scale (1 absolutely yes, 0 absolutely no, .25 kinda, .50 mainly, .75
almost completely).
Ten Conservative Principles
Here they are:
- The conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order.
- The conservative adheres to custom, convention, and continuity.
- Conservatives believe in what may be called the principle of prescription.
- Conservatives are guided by their principle of prudence.
- Conservatives pay attention to the principle of variety.
- Conservatives are chastened by their principle of imperfectability.
- Conservatives are persuaded that freedom and property are closely linked.
- Conservatives uphold voluntary community, quite as they oppose involuntary collectivism.
- The conservative perceives the need for prudent restraints upon power and upon human passions.
- The thinking conservative understands that permanence and change must be recognized and reconciled in a vigorous society.
How did you come out? Here are my answers:
- 1 - I do believe firmly in a God-given morality. How we figure out what that morality is in practice is up for debate, but that does not lessen my belief in the source.
- 0.25 - Our customs might be wrong, there might be better ways to do things. Kirk talks about “the devil we know being better than the devil we don’t know“;
who says we have to know the devil at all? I’ll gamble on a better
future any day of the week. I take exception to the field of law in
general.
- 0.0 - Kirk says “Conservatives argue that we are unlikely, we moderns, to make any brave new discoveries in morals or politics or taste.” See #2 above.
- 1 - “Any public measure ought to be judged by its probable long-run consequences, not merely by temporary advantage or popularity.”
- Absolutely. It is almost ironic that he immediately goes into a hasty
generalization about liberals in the very next sentence. That aside, I
still agree wholly to that statement.
- 0.50
- He talks about different classes and inequality being necessary in a
society. I am not sure about how he thinks it is necessary. I think
that inequality and classes are inevitable. The variance in the
occurrence of talent and drive will secure that independent of the
social structure. I like that part about God and the court of law being
the only two true sources of equality.
- 0.50 - We are imperfect, but that is no reason not to strive for the perfect society. While utopia may never be reached, it can always be our goal and our hope.
- 0.75
- I strongly feel that personal property is heavily tied to freedom and
that a successful society must be based on this. However, I can give no
reason for land ownership philosophically. Why do you own
this parcel of land? ‘Cause you were here first? Why are you rich?
Because your dad was rich? That does not seem fair. Yet, I think that
it sould be your land and that people should be able to pass along
their possessions to their family.
- 1 -
In accordance with love and liberty, the two highest ideals I must say
that we should take part in the community; at the same time we should
not force people to take part. God does not force us to acknowledge
him, yet we should if we know what is good for us.
- 0.50 - While we should act in way X, we should let people act in way Y. See #8.
- 0.50 - Agree in principle, but the argument against progressivism leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Final Talley: I am 60% percent conservative. You?
Henry Imler February 26th, 2006
No, this post is not about that whale of a movie from who-cares ago. Instead it is about mentioning the hilarity of the first-annual Atrocious GM Summit. If you have ever been frustrated with your team’s dealings (or are a Knick’s fan), read ahead.
Simmons: Jim Paxson, let’s start with
you. Last February, you traded a 2007 first-round pick to Boston for
Jiri Welsch. Four months later, after you were fired by the Cavs, they
traded Welsch to Milwaukee for a 2006 second round pick. To my
knowledge, that’s never happened before. Walk us through that.
Paxson: Absolutely. When you’re making a bad trade,
there are some inherent elements that need to be there. First, are you
putting your own short-term interests ahead of the long-term interests
of the team? With the Welsch trade, there were rumors I might get
fired, and we needed another body to make the playoffs … really, why
would I care about protecting future No. 1 picks if I was probably
getting canned?
McHale: Hear hear! I don’t think we have a first-round pick until 2017. And I might trade that one this week.
Henry Imler February 26th, 2006
“The Fair Tax: Stop the Tax Cheats” by Jan Larson
If the tax gap and compliance costs were in and of
themselves not sufficient reason to scrap the tax code, the tax code
also hurts the U. S. in other ways. The income and payroll taxes
ostensibly paid by businesses (but are in fact simply passed along to
consumers) make U. S. products less competitive on world markets. This
leads to job losses in the U. S. and, as we also saw last week, record
trade deficits. The complexity of the tax code also enables politicians
to reward and punish via the tax code. This is probably the single
worst aspect of the U. S. tax system.
The sheer lunacy of a tax system that fails to collect billions
owed, enables political manipulation, hurts the economy and in general
works against the taxpaying public is astounding.
There is a solution however. It is a solution that would eliminate
individual compliance requirements and make April 15 just another day.
This solution would greatly reduce business compliance costs and
similarly reduce the size and scope of the IRS. This solution would
lead to job growth and economic expansion. This solution would
eliminate most of the opportunities for tax cheats and political
manipulation. The solution? The Fair Tax.
Henry Imler February 25th, 2006
For tonight’s lan party, we will be playing the following games:
Counterstrike Source
Counterstrike
Cracked Source
Age of Conquerors
Battle for Middle Earth
Battlegounds II
Henry Imler February 25th, 2006
If Iran is attacked by the US (or, presumably, by Israel), it will in turn attack
Israel’s nuclear sites, chemical factories, and ports. In light of the
US and Israel’s determination in not letting Iran have nukes, it looks
like it will be getting ugly.
Henry Imler February 25th, 2006
National ‘fair tax’ plan is explained
The Fair Tax plan is a bill before Congress (HR 25/S
25). It would abolish all federal personal, gift, estate, capital
gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, self-employment
and corporate taxes and replace them with a federal retail sales tax.
Everyone would get all of their pay each payday. With the embedded
costs of the current system gone, prices of retail items would drop by
roughly the same amount as the proposed sales tax, making the final
price to the customer about the same as before.
The Fair Tax plan includes a monthly rebate to ensure that no one up to poverty level pays any federal tax, eliminating the “regressive” aspect of a sales tax.
Henry Imler February 24th, 2006
John Hardwig, in his paper, Is there a Duty to Die?
suggests that sometimes people have an obligation to allow nature to
take it’s course. I read the article a couple of years ago and made
some rudementary notes from it. Here is his basic argument:
- People’s needs and wants and goods are interconnected. (rejection of the indivualistic fantasy)
- It is immoral to impose serious burdens on others to further one’s needs and wants
- One is not relieved of their moral duties when they are sick and dying.
- Sometimes continuing to live will place serious (and undue) burdens on loved ones.
- ∴ Sometimes one has a duty to die
While it seems to fly in the face of all of our notions about old
age and death, I think he has a point. We are all mortal creatures. We
will all die at some point, why is the onus on everyone else to provide
individuals constant healthcare? I am not arguing against universal
healthcare, just artificially keeping people alive and draining the
energy and resources of the community for something that is ultimately
inevitable. The community can be one’s family, one’s town, one’s state,
ect…
Since this topic is a very sensitive one, Hardwig goes out of his
way to dance around specific instances of when a person has a duty to
die. He does this to avoid stepping on anyone’s toes.
Is a good death better than a prolonged, miserable life? Can anyone
make that determination for anyone? It is a good can of worms.
Henry Imler February 24th, 2006
Henry Imler February 23rd, 2006
You have read the Mr. T facts, the Vin facts, and the Chuck Norris facts. Now, for the facts of facts, the Jack Bauer fact list. There is a list at Boortz.com. If you are a liberal and have that site blocked (I am joking at you Smijer, Gringo, and Dave), there is a random fact for Jack Bauer as well.
Here are some of my favorites:
- If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he’d shoot Nina twice.
- Jack
Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next
half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
- Let’s
get one thing straight: the only reason you are conscious right now is
because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you. (Best line of the
show so far)
- Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.
- If Jack Bauer says ‘This is not the right play’, it’s not the right play.
- The
sole job of the Verizon wireless “can you hear me now” guy is to make
sure Jack Bauer always has cell phone reception. The fate of the US and
all of the free world depends upon it.
- In 96 hours, Jack Bauer has killed 93 people and saved the world 4 times. What the hell have you done with your life?
- After brief discussions with Jack Bauer, Lynn McGill no longer believes in Hobbits, Dragons, Wizards or Magical Mythical Rings.
- Sure Jack Bauer cut off his partner Chase’s hand - the hand that touched his daughter.
- Tony was once shot in the neck, rushed to the hospital,
underwent emergency surgery and was back on the job in just a few
hours. Jack Bauer still can’t believe he went to the hospital first.
- During the commercials, Jack Bauer calls the CSI detectives and solves their crimes.
- On
a high school math test, Jack Bauer put down “Violence” as every one of
the answers. He got an A+ on the test because Jack Bauer solves all his
problems with Violence.
- Jesus died and rose from the dead in 3 days. It took Jack Bauer less than an hour. And he’s done it twice.
- Guns dont kill people, Jack Bauer kills people.
- Jack Bauer removed the “Escape” button from his keyboard. Jack Bauer never needs to escape.
- Killing Jack Bauer doesn’t make him dead. It just makes him angry.
- Every mathematical inequality officially ends with “< Jack Bauer”.
Who is more awesome, Jack or Chuck? Vote.
Henry Imler February 23rd, 2006
Wired News: Actor Tries to Trademark ‘N’ Word
Yup, Damon Wayans has tried to trademark the word “Nigga” for a clothing line. It was rejected because the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office won’t allow “immoral or scandalous” words to be trademarked. There is hope for his claim because a group of lesbians were allowed to trademark “Dykes on Bikes“.
I am not sure about this. On one hand, I think that it is a terrible term,
no matter how it is used. On the other, I think that people should be
free to use terms however they see fit as long as it does not cause
actual harm to other parties. I think this ends up outweighing the
first point. Therefore, while offensive, I think the trademark should
be allowed.
What do you think? I know there are liberal, conservative, religious
and sacrilegious readers out there and I would like to get your
thoughts.
Henry Imler February 23rd, 2006
Chad Ford at ESPN thinks he can fix the Knicks and their newfound problem of having too many scoring point guards.
Here is his trade:
Lakers send Odom and Aaron McKie to New York; Kwame
Brown and Smush Parker to Atlanta; and Devean George, Stanislav
Medvedenko and Laron Profit to Utah.
Utah sends Carlos Boozer to Lakers.
New York sends either Marbury or Francis to the Lakers.
Atlanta sends Josh Childress to Utah and Tyronn Lue and Donta Smith to the Lakers.
It is an insider article, so here is the trade in the free NBA Trade Generator.
Henry Imler February 22nd, 2006
Scottie Pippin pretty much sumarizes my take on the Francis trade.
Pippen on Francis Deal:
I am pretty much befuddled with what New York has done.
I am not a great fan of Steve Francis. He rubbed me the wrong way
when he came into the league and demanded that Vancouver trade him. He
just isn’t the type of player that can make your team better or that
can get you where you are trying to get to. He is very talented, but
his skills are built around his individual success and not around the
success of a team.
and some more…
These are three guys that love to pound the basketball
and create their own shots. Who is going to succeed at that position?
To me it seems like they have just told Isiah to just go out there and
continue to see if we can have the highest payroll.
Henry Imler February 22nd, 2006
Francis dealt to Knicks for Penny, Ariza
Steve Francis is headed to the New York Knicks, who
acquired the three-time All-Star from the Orlando Magic on Wednesday
for Penny Hardaway and Trevor Ariza.
The deal will pair Francis with Stephon Marbury as the highest-paid backcourt duo in the NBA.
Francis playing with Starbury? I don’t see this working out well. In
other news, millions of Chicago, Miami, L.A., San Antonio, and about 25
other team’s fans are happy that I. Thomas continues to screw the
Knicks over. All hail a losing record for Larry Brown.
Henry Imler February 22nd, 2006
Yea,
I saw one at Target, the last one the had and the only one I have seen
in the wild. I snatched it up even though it was a core system. I am
going to try it out for a week and sell it on Ebay if I don’t fall in
love with it. What is keeping me from wanting to keep it is the expense
of all the accessories that come with it.
I bought NBA Live 2006 and Drew and I drooled for three whole games tonight. I am down 1-2 in the 100,000 game serries.
You can kinda see how awesome the graphics are in the gallery.
If I like it I will sell the DS that is on its way to help cover the costs.
Henry Imler February 21st, 2006
See more at: LEGOd Video Games.
Can you Digg it?
Henry Imler February 21st, 2006
The Australian: Most Hamas voters don’t want to destroy Israel [February 22, 2006]
IN the first Palestinian opinion poll since Hamas’s
election victory, only 12 per cent of Hamas voters said they chose the
party for its agenda of calling for the destruction of Israel.
The largest group, 43 per cent, chose Hamas because they were fed up
with corruption in the previous Fatah-led government. The rest voted
for religious reasons or hoping for a better life.
Some Hamas leaders have said the new Government will not recognise
previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements, but 52 per cent of those
polled said they believed the party should honour the Oslo Accord for a
two-state solution in which a Palestinian state exists peacefully with
Israel.
Forty-two per cent said the Government was not obliged to honour the
accord, according to the poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communications
Centre.
Henry Imler February 21st, 2006
Ya’alon: Israel strengthened Hamas
Referring to Hamas’s victory in the Palestinian
Authority elections, Ya’alon said, “There is no doubt that the
disengagement from Gaza strengthened the Hamas and weakened [PA
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas] Abu Mazen.”
The disengagement, Ya’alon said, could have been done differently.
“Many people see the occupation, instead of the Palestinians who
started the conflict, as an obstacle to peace,” the former military
officer said. “The bottom line is that we could have done it
[disengagement] differently and we could have strengthened the Zionist
story and not the Palestinian story. The Hamas saw what happened and
understood that its terrorism had won.”
Unilateral moves without a profit for Israel are wrong, Ya’alon
continued. “Instead of making the Palestinians understand that they
will pay a heavy price for terror, they learned that they are better
off as terrorists and that is a big problem.”
Henry Imler February 20th, 2006
Just be consistent will ya? Nevermind the elephant dung.
See all of the cartoons here: http://muhammadcartoons.com/
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary General of the
international Organization of the Islamic Conference, has called for
the United Nations to adopt a resolution to ban blasphemy of all
religions in all countries of the world.
He has likened the controversial Muhammad cartoons from Denmark to
“a new September 11,” as both events apparently triggered a massive
clash of civilizations between Islam and the West.
It seems a bit distasteful, as one event clearly involved more
actual DYING, but if these violent riots continue maybe that’ll change.
Henry Imler February 19th, 2006
Ethanol Fuel from Corn Faulted as ‘Unsustainable Subsidized Food Burning’
David Pimental, a leading Cornell University
agricultural expert, has calculated that powering the average U.S.
automobile for one year on ethanol (blended with gasoline) derived from
corn would require 11 acres of farmland, the same space needed to grow
a year’s supply of food for seven people. Adding up the energy costs of
corn production and its conversion into ethanol, 131,000 BTUs are
needed to make one gallon of ethanol. One gallon of ethanol has an
energy value of only 77,000 BTUS. Thus, 70 percent more energy is
required to produce ethanol than the energy that actually is in it.
Every time you make one gallon of ethanol, there is a net energy loss
of 54,000 BTUs.
Mr. Pimentel concluded that “abusing our precious croplands to grow
corn for an energy-inefficient process that yields low-grade automobile
fuels amounts to unsustainable subsidized food burning”.
Dammit.
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