A team at the University of Maryland has created a very impressive robotic bird, realistic enough to get attacked by a hawk! Why is it that some of the most beautiful things people design are inspired by nature? Nicely done, Terps.
The Supreme Court issued two really bad opinions today, both of them intimately linked to marriage. Both of these rulings overturn laws supported by a clear majority of voters. The Court, it seems, has lost its moral compass, and its realization that the Government is answerable to the People. The blind are now trying to tell the rest of the country what to do.
Family is the very fabric of our society, and marriage is what holds families together. This is equivalent to the root system of plants and trees holding the soil together and preventing erosion. The family has been under attack for a long time now, and the already severe erosion of society is in danger of accelerating thanks to these rulings. This is what happens when one is morally adrift in the sea of bad ideologies.
So let me step up and say that marriage between a man and a woman is an amazing miraculous institution that long predates the Court and that will remain long after the Court is gone. Hey SCOTUS: Epic Fail today. Would you seriously look our Founding Fathers in the eye and tell them that the defense of monogamous heterosexual marriage is unconstitutional? What will you do when you are asked to give account for your actions, and how will you answer for your crimes when it becomes clear that you have done more harm to our Nation than our foreign enemies possibly could?
And let’s clear up a misconception about the Supreme Court: People these days seem to believe that the Court is the supreme and final authority in our Nation. Not so. It is merely the Supreme Court of the United States, and it holds no power over the Executive or Legislative branches. This is a factually true statement and there is abundant historical precedent for other branches of the Government ignoring Supreme Court rulings.
I’m well aware that Supreme Justices are appointed, not elected, but those who appoint them are elected. That’s why we need to elect people who do have a functional moral compass. But that’s alright: I’ve chosen my side, and I’ll stand my ground, come what may. One day America will be free again. If we’re under so much attack, it’s only because we have so much potential for good.
My recent letter to my Congressman and Senators about the abject failure of ObamaCare. I should probably have been a little kinder:
Have I badgered you recently about ObamaCare? Are you aware of the recent CNBC poll showing that 51% of small businesses have frozen hiring because of ObamaCare, and another 38% have scaled back plans to grow their business? Of the 51% who have frozen hiring, 19% have already reduced their workforce.
Small business is the lifeblood of the economy, and ObamaCare is killing it. And that’s on top of all the other horrendous things about this political pipe dream. I wonder whether Madam Pelosi has now had a chance to find out what’s in the law. (Of course not, because the IRS and HHS aren’t even finished writing the regulations yet.) Nobody is arguing against improving our medical and insurance systems, but this is not the way to do it, and the arguments for retaining ObamaCare are overwhelmingly political in nature. That same CNBC poll shows 52% of those polled believing that their quality of healthcare will go down because of ObamaCare. On top of that, ObamaCare has already seriously harmed religious freedom in this country, and I won’t even touch on the wrongness of the IRS being charged with enforcing ObamaCare.
Sir, this is an opportunity for you to do the right thing. America hates ObamaCare and doesn’t want anything to do with it, and polls show that the more Americans learn about ObamaCare, the less they like it. Your constituents need you to represent their views before the Federal Government: Put ObamaCare to death, and let’s begin developing legitimate healthcare reform.
Properly addressed and signed, of course.
Free offer to the first taker: I have a 10-DVD set entitled the American Heritage Series, in search of a worthy home. I’ve given out nearly 30 copies already, and this is my last one. Shrink-wrapped. Legit. Contact neil.steiner at my vt.edu address.
It appears the 112th Congress is being criticized for being the “least productive” in modern history, as measured by the number of bills, measures, and resolutions passed. Given that neither they nor anybody else seems to have read the monstrosities that they do pass, their lack of productivity may be the best thing they have going.
I suggest that a very noble and worthwhile endeavor for Congress would be to go through the mess of laws already in the United States Code, and work to remove all of the accumulated sediment. In the software world, we call all that stuff feature creep or code bloat. Our underlying design, the United States Constitution, is short, sweet, and to the point. It wasn’t written by politicians but by people who had risked their lives and fortunes to establish this country, and it remains arguably the most significant and unique political document in existence.
There is agreement across the political spectrum that our Government has egregiously abused its authority. Those who are sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution have in effect abdicated their responsibility to it, but lack the backbone or integrity to either make amends or resign. That leaves it to those of us who love America to reacquaint the country with the Constitution and to reintroduce it into our collective consciousness. I, for one, will die before I give up my country.
I was talking to my good friend Eric about problems in the U.S. and around the world, and pointed out that I can get mad or I can do something constructive. This is an attempt to harness my frustration and do something constructive. Welcome to my blog.