Inspiration from New Zealand

Wow. This post, on successful government reform in New Zealand, is remarkable and inspiring. If nothing else, it gives one hope that perhaps there will be at least some last bastion of liberty in the world if the libs have their way here in the U.S. Certainly, I'll have to put NZ on my list of places to visit soon.

Open Letter to the United Nations

A powerful indictment of CO2 restrictions as a means to combat "climate change": It is not possible to stop climate change, a natural phenomenon that has affected humanity through the ages. Geological, archaeological, oral and written histories all attest to the dramatic challenges posed to past societies from unanticipated changes in temperature, precipitation, winds and other climatic variables. We therefore need to equip nations to become resilient to the full range of these natural phenomena...

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Neologist Corner: Chictivism

Chictivism (shēk'tə-vĭz'əm)

n.

  1. the fashionable support of a particular political or charitable cause
  2. the attempt to improve ones social status with peers through political activism

see chictivist, Tibet, ribbons

Controversy over King Statue

There's so much wrong with this story that it's hard to know where to begin: A powerful federal arts commission is urging that the sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr. proposed for a memorial on the Tidal Basin be reworked because it is too "confrontational" and reminiscent of political art in totalitarian states. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts thinks "the colossal scale and Social Realist style of the proposed statue recalls a genre of political sculpture that has recently been pulled down in other...

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Paper or Plastic: The answer isn't as simple as you might think

Guess I won't be shopping at Whole Foods anytime soon: Whole Foods Market won't offer plastic shopping bags at their stores after Earth Day this year. It is a savvy move for the upscale natural foods retailer, who estimates that by the end of the year the policy will have averted use of 100 million new plastic grocery bags at their 270 stores. It won't save the company any money-since the paper and multi-use bags that will replace plastic bags at their stores cost more to manufacture, stock and handle...

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Tax Freedom Day

Almost 4 full months to earn enough to pay your taxes...too much:

Obama on Abortion

In answer to a request from a Democrat in western Pennsylvania to "stop these abortions," Obama reportedly said : "Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old," he said. "I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information." "punished with a baby?" Could it be, perhaps, that part of the reason folks like Obama and...

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Don't Rely on 911 for Your Protection

Here's why : A California woman was shot to death as she pleaded with emergency dispatchers to come and help her. Her death will not make the network news programs this evening, but this is the latest reminder that we must take responsibility for our own safety and not rely on the police. This post shows the difference that owning and knowing how to use a gun in self-defense can make. While I'm sure the woman in that 911 call was traumatized by the experience, thanks to being armed, she is still...

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CFLs more hazardous than previously believed

Who would have predicted this : Compact fluorescent light bulbs, long touted by environmentalists as a more efficient and longer-lasting alternative to the incandescent bulbs that have lighted homes for more than a century, are running into resistance from waste industry officials and some environmental scientists, who warn that the bulbs’ poisonous innards pose a bigger threat to health and the environment than previously thought. Oh yeah, that's right... I did , almost a year ago: So it seems to...

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Jindal Should Wait

There appears to be some enthusiasm for the idea of John McCain choosing Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal as his running mate, to reach out to the GOP conservative base: Even as the Democratic presidential contest seems to be morphing into Dr. Doolittle's mythical beast with a head at each end, the pushmi-pullyu, John McCain has the chance to make a leisurely choice of potential running mates. But he had better not wait too long. The spectacle of a third of voters in the Republican primaries in Texas...

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