Applying Mr. Spock’s Logic to Eminent Domain

Who could forget that dramatic scene at the end of Star Trek  II: The Wrath of Khan?

The Enterprise was disabled; Khan, realising he had been defeated, fires up the Genesis Device in order to take Kirk out with him. Ignoring pleas from the engineering crews, Spock charges into a room filled with deadly radiation, knowing he had signed his own death warrant, to fix the warp core so that his crew may survive. After the Enterprise clears the blast radius, Kirk comes down to the engineering decks. He watches through the protective radiation barrier, trying to keep his emotions at bay, as Spock slowly withers away.

Spock tells him not to grieve for it is logical. “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one,” he rationalizes.

Cap & Trade Protests in Richmond & Chesterfield

Bearing Drift has a nice little Youtube clip from a Cap and Trade protest. Not sure which city the clip was from. Bearing Drift quotes Sen. Warner’s office from Chesterfield as saying about 200 protestors were outside. I would expect a low ball number from them, but it looked like more than 200 in that clip.

Having the protests simultaneously in more than one city is good way to let our representatives know that the public isn’t happy with some of these recent risky ideas. People really are concerned in cities all over that many of these bills will hurt our economy and way of life. They took time out of their day to express their point in this fashion. Either the concern is great or many are afraid that our Senators haven’t been listening to their constituents.
-Britt Howard

Rally at Sen. Webb’s Office asking him to Stop Both Cap & Trade and Socialized Medicine

Robert Dean's true feelings on Cap & Trade

All photo credits – Petey Browder.

Robert Dean is again typically blunt and pulls no punches. He leaves no doubt as to his position on Cap and Trade. This is one of his finer qualities that makes him so unloved by “Big Government” socialist politicians and operatives.

I was originally told that this rally held in front of Sen. Webb’s office in Towne Center would be concerning Cap & Trade. Many were there for that issue, but many were also there asking Sen. Jim Webb to vote against Obama’s plan for socializing medicine as you will see from many photos after the fold.

More commentary and pictures after the fold.

Massive Resistance in Norfolk

On July 17th in Richmond, there was a symposium examining the effects of “Massive Resistance” and the heroic efforts of many to integrate public schools in the 50’s and after. As dark as that history is, today’s progress lends hope that things can still get better and that other profound problems can one day find remedy.

Which Candidates Take the Tea Party Movement Seriously?

Cuccinelli Campaign's Tea Party Booth with staff

UPDATED!!!
Libertarians and fiscal conservatives might want to know just who takes the Tea Party movement seriously. Just which candidates are fiscally conservative and don’t support all the wasteful federal spending and bailouts. Having been to the Tea Party in Chesapeake on June 26th, I can tell you that the ONLY candidate to have a booth there was Ken Cuccinelli, candidate for Attorney General. There were some operatives from other Republican campaigns that dropped off signs and lit. Would’ve been nice if they stayed and did some work.

What else went on at the Tea Party?

Thoughts on the 4th, been there, done that

Here we go again. We would be a great embarrassment to the men who signed our Declaration of Independence which we celebrate today.

It appears that every generation has to have its little flirtation with socialism. It doesn’t seem to matter that it never works, and never provides for the basic needs of its people or even that it inevitably leads to war and oppression. Each generation convinces itself that socialism has only failed in the past because its leaders were corrupt or villainous, and that with caring and righteous leadership like their own, it will bring a workers paradise just like Marx promised.

But I am optimistic that this will be a brief dalliance, much like my generation’s fling with Jimmy Carter. My optimism springs from the naivete and incompetence of the current crop of socialists.

Ignored to Death

As of yet, the Virginian Pilot has not reported a word about the Tea Party Rally on June 26, 2009, nor has there been any note taken by any of the other local media.

I note, however, that advance notice for the Gay Pride Festival, Out in the Park, was afforded prior notice and promotion in the Pilot.

Perhaps if we wish to to have the message of fiscal responsibility receive attention by our local press, we should cross dress or wear leather chaps to our events.

The Parable of the Bulldozer

Some time ago, while guest hosting on Rush Limbaugh’s program, my favorite living economist, Walter E Williams, explained the necessity for individual capital accumulation as a means for lifting society as a whole out of poverty, in what I have come to refer to as the ‘Parable of the Bulldozer.’

As best I have been able to determine, he has never put the whole of that message into print, and I think it is an important lesson to preserve, and especially vital at this time, so I will retell and expand on that monologue here.

Neither Reasonable nor Necessary

(NOTE: This article is the full text of a rebuttal of an Op-Ed which appeared on Sunday defending the Chesapeake Police Department raid on the home of Ryan Frederick submitted to the Virginian Pilot which had to be greatly edited for printing.)

Former Norfolk Police Lieutenant Rue L. Bagwell asserts that the expedited forced entry search of Ryan Frederick’s home by the Chesapeake Police was reasonable and necessary , but those terms have specific meanings against which those actions should be measured.

The Fourth Amendment to our Constitution demands searches be reasonable.

Health Care, Time to Choose

Liberty or socialism? Choose one.

If we choose to nationalize our health care, we have taken the fork in the road that leads inevitably to socialism, make no mistake in that. This post is intended to serve as a ‘Table of Contents’ for four previous articles on Health Care, which, because of the nature of Blogs and their being written over a period of about a month,have become scattered in the blog and appear out of their logical order.

This series is by far, the most timely I have written.