Free Republic

I think you are right.. one example of culture is in most of the world profit is looked at as a bad thing.. or outright evil. So they can't rationally allocate capital with the profit incentive. Or build up capital for that matter.

Merit is another huge factor. I've noticed in America the average person isn't too bright.. but we do have many ultra-bright people and we manage to get them in positions of power, or back them with venture funding. In most of the world your place in society is determined by who your father was.

Still even if we argue it is completely cultural based.. the new arrivals may carry with them their old culture. For example the Mexicans waving their mexican flags and holding up Che Guevera posters.

Its not that I'm against immigration, we should have many coming, but I think it wouldn't hurt to ask which groups are being a net benefit and why.. and weight towards them.

Another advantage of the small predator type of UAV's doing missions where possible.

It is ridiculus people are taxed differently for anything including marriage status. Another advantage of a flat tax.. people with alternative lifestyles won't need to seek acceptance to get the same benefits as others.

I have to think many religious people wanting the government involved in marriage, the sanctifier of marriage.. is making a deal with the devil so to speak.

I'd personally rather be free, but run the risk of dying in a terrorist attack.. then be unfree but safe, like the soviet union was in some ways.

My only complaint about 'Gigson' has always been that he is too anti-English.

Amendment XIV · Rights of Citizenship shall not be abridged.

1 All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

I agree with you on the point about giving rights versus protecting unalienable rights.

Doh! I wish they'd do some journalism and just tell us the facts straight up, apples to apples.

One question I have is also is Arnold at least not growing the state spending as fast as state gdp is growing? Thats been a problem with Bush, as spending grows faster then the economy government becomes more of the economy.

Although one could argue that they were increasing spending to stop the recession in 2001.. but we will see if they roll back this ratio in the expansion we are in now.

Seems like a huge reduction in the deficit.. from $16.5 billion to $2.5 billion.

I've got to give Arnold credit, the California economy is going strong.. the budget is almost under control.

That is a lot of the issue. 99% of parents if their 13 year old daughter got raped and impregnated by a dangerous criminal would want an abortion for their daughter.

Its the exceptions, that most people agree with. Then once you allow that you can't argue from the point of absoluteness with regards to human life of an embryo.

It is arbitrary to some degree. And different societies have different acceptable standards for when to intervene. Some cultures like the Russians have left 'mutant' babies to die after birth. In the US we look at birth as the moment that its no longer acceptable.. I believe because the constitution gives rights to those 'born', not conceived. In different western european countries the bar is set somewhere during the pregnancy.

I think absolute rules, tend not to work, because there is exceptions to every rule anyway. A lot of our legal system is based on setting an arbitrary line.. eg.. what is self-defense what is murder? As you get closer to the line the more arguable it is going to be.

Now that the trade deficit is closing the media needs a new financial barometer to scare everyone. So the falling dollar is the new sky is falling line.

In reality the dollar is falling because of the large trade deficit. The market is dealing with the imbalance, like I predicted it would.

Marie - good post, I agree. The slippery slope argument is a logical fallacy.

I think morality has to be adjusted in the light of new circumstances. For example a rabbi I listened to, explained how the kosher way of slaughtering an animal was the most humane and hygenic way of doing it a few thousand years ago. The morality isn't in the process, its in the goals. Less chance of infection, and trying to minimize animal suffering.

I used to believe in free immigration but I have changed my opinion. I look around and I don't see any black, arab, south american Indian populations producing a technologically advanced society.

It doesn't really matter what the cause is. The heritage foundation types say its a lack of capitalism in these people's nations. Other people say its culture, in various forms. Like work ethic, or cultural moral standards.. racialists point to lower averages in IQ.. Leftists point to omni-present white racism holding these groups of people down(sort of like scientology's aliens holding down human potential).

The reality is it doesn't matter what the cause is. What matters is the consistent results. One definition of stupidity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.

Good news imo. I think the only morally right options if you carry mutant genetics that cause something like eye cancer.. is either don't reproduce.. or use science if available so that you don't pass on that suffering to your children.

Neighbors spying on neighbors to report anti-state behavior.

Good news!!

Yeh! Club for growth is one of the organizations I support financially!

The US is headed towards being another Brazil. Why we would look at Brazil and its big problems, then want to copy them all I dont' know.

The education industry seeks to expand itself like any other industry. The problem is it is part of the government so if it makes up good excuses it can steal more money from the people.

The reality is many of the jobs in our economy dont' need a college education, or even grade 12. And by sending so many kids to college we had to invent a whole whack of new programs that the average person could pass. Simply put most people don't have the will or the innate ability to get through a really useful university program like engineering.

But the education industry doesn't care whether the body in the chair is learning anything useful or not. Its just a way to get increased funding, which is human nature.

Good point.. we know very accurately what the ethnic makeup of 20 year olds in the world will be in say 19 years:).

In other areas where they are playing the same games of endless bureaucracy with managers who dont' understand how cars are made on a technical basis.. like the automobile business they are getting smashed by non-feminist style competitors like the Japanese.

In electricity it is because the business is regulated monopolies that there is no pressure on them. Btw if you want a scary statistic the cost of electricity per unit fell every year since Edison started selling power from his plant. Up until 2000 that is, when for the first time electricity rose in price adjusted for inflation. I believe its been rising since then!