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March 7, 2005:
Separation of Church and State:
There is an issue before the supreme court about religious displays.
Where are they legal and where are they not legal and which ones
are legal? The questions are not as simple as the polarized buffoons
want to pretend they are because these religious entities do
have historical significance. We cannot deny that they influenced
our history. At the same time, we should not let these concepts
influence policies. How do we keep our balance with this?
Mythology is part of history. If we ban the ten commandments
from public display shouldn't we also ban religious art? Where
would that leave the national art museum?
We cannot ban history, even if it involves mythology. The Declaration
of Independence contains a direct appeal to God. Should we ban
that from public display or take the offending phrase out of
it? We can get silly about this. The main issue is to prevent
religious philosophy from becoming public policy. That's all!
Our founders understood that. It's not rocket science.
Displaying the ten commandments is not the same as making
them law anymore than displaying a painting of the Virgin would
make her Queen of America. I believe it is okay to display the
ten commandments so long as there is no implicit official endorsement.
Just displaying the ten commandments as an historical document
is not an endorsement. On the other hand, the way that evangelist
judge went about it did imply official endorsement. That was
wrong. It was also dumb.
Choice Point:
That business should be against the law in America. It should
be illegal to collect dossiers on people without their consent,
without their knowledge, and without specific legal grounds.
It is an invasion of privacy and is a clear violation of our
fourth amendment rights. It should be against the law to collect
and sell information about any ordinary citizen. When I become
God Emperor, I will enforce the fourth amendment.
Silly:
I discovered, via the TV news, that Bill Gates has become a knight.
I apologize, but I just could not stop giggling. I don't know
which is sillier, the Queen of England pretending to be royal
or the King of Redmond pretending to be noble.
Almost Everyone:
Everyone behaves irrationally sometimes and we must accept that.
However people who behave irrationally in an aggressive way are
a threat. They frighten me. I need not accept that. It is important
to realize the difference between these sociopathic-psychopathic
personalities and the common inconsistencies of behavior which
plague all of us. Other than these dangerously deranged people,
I like almost everyone. By that I mean I can find something to
like about everyone I meet. It could be a dead beat bum or a
Ghandi, but I will find something to like about him.
Promises:
Several years ago, some eighth grade school kids took some test.
The agreement with the State of Michigan was, if they did well
and graduated from highschool, the state would provide a $500.00
scholarship stipend. Now the Princess of Photo-Op, Granholm,
has reneged on that promise. The kids did their part but they
are not going to get the promised money. The budget you know.
Sure! I'm sure the kids will get a good lesson out of this. What
they will learn is it's okay to be dishonest. You can do it and
still become a governor.
That political hack has 100 K, 1/4 million, and 1/2 million
grants to toss around like candy to her political cronies in
her so-called cool-cities initiative, but no money to keep the
promises to the kids. What happens to the cool-cities grants?
They are urinated away for things like fountains in the town
square. Real cool Princess. How is that going to attract people
to a city that has no industry and no jobs? I deeply regret that
I voted for you.
Betrayal of Trust:
In the Gaffer's Philosophy series I defined Betrayal of Trust
(BOT) as a crime committed by someone who uses a position of
trust as a cover for his crime. I suggested that the penalty
should be trebled for convictions in this type of crime. A local
fireman has just given us an example of BOT. This guy borrowed
a master key from the fire truck's locked box and used it to
enter senior apartment buildings. He then plundered whatever
he could from these poor old people. The news people said he
could get up to four years for that. I say not enough. Four years
for robbery, okay, for robbery involving BOT, twelve years. That's
what I think.
Nineteen Eighty-Four:
We have a new device from our great electronics industry. Now
parents can put a gimmick in the car to monitor the kids driving
and whereabouts continuously. Not only is big brother watching,
Ma and Pa and the cops are watching too. We really trust you
kids! We really do, but.............
Tax Reform:
Everyone in Washington talks about it. When they do, it is best
to grab your wallet and hang on. To these scumbags, tax reform
means reducing taxes in one place a little bit and raising taxes
a whole lot somewhere else.
Boaters:
This was a column in the Detroit News by George Weeks. It said
the State of Michigan is going to enlist the help of Michigan's
boaters in the war on terrorism. There are about one million
licensed watercraft in Michigan. These boat owners are now all
going to become spies for our coastguard. Ain't that swell? Can
you picture a boater who got angry because a speedboat ran over
his trolling lines? Won't it be great when he calls the coastguard
hotline and tells them he thinks he saw an arab with a gun in
that boat?
Puzzles to Ponder:
In 1950 Asimov published his classic robot book, I, Robot. It
is probably in its zillionth printing by now. In that book Asimov
defined what he called a positronic brain. Think about how that
brain could be made a reality. Is it possible? How would you
construct or create a positronic brain?
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