The right to bear arms

Political protest is a sign of a healthy democracy.

In America, the Second Amendment gives a citizen a right to bear arms. Right wing protesters carrying assault rifles may be a legal right but is it a legitimate protest? How many presidents has American guns assassinated? On the Right we have Ronald Reagan, on the Left we have JFK. If Reagan had died, perhaps the Right would be a little more sensitive.

Is the right to carry arms relevant in today's world? And is that in fact a valid political protest or just perpetuating the myth that being under the threat of random death is a benefit to anyone?

A man mistaken by a security guard was shot in the back, and left his child without a father. In the back. He kept walking when the guard started to shout at him, trying to get away. He was innocent of any crime. Having a gun does not make you right. It makes you into a potential murderer.

Imprisonment and Torture

The Economic Recovery

Signs of an economic recovery are starting to appear. After recapitalising the financial system, President Obama kept the US economy liquid. This is may have averted more depressing news but as the bankers start to return funds they were lent by the tax payer the question arises, where to now for the US economy?

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Shatner does Palin

A view from before the beginning

Time capsule - from 14 March 1998 when the Carlyle Group started to put pressure on Fanny May and Freddie Mac, how quickly the capital on which Bear Stearns dried up and then went super bad. The blog seems to have stopped just as things started to get nasty for the early "victims" of the credit crunch calamities that followed.

Sarah Palin's First Swipe

Sarah Palin has been published in the Washington Post criticizing Barack Obama's "Cap and Tax" energy policy. This appears to be an early evidence of why she resigned her appointment as Governor of Alaska. To take over the role of "Leader the of Opposition" as the now disheveled GOP Republican Party seems to have nobody but the ineligible Dick Cheney to foster its support base? That certainly seems the case, or Dick would have been less assailable in the media. Sarah Palin fares no better.

Sarah Palin, Voice in the Wilderness - full article.

Cultural Definition

The need for culture to define itself in terms of relative values interferes with rightful progress. As we carry past solutions to now non-existent problems, our culture is subsumed by a need for tradition – the tired old call of parents too confused by their offspring to do much else but bark orders to limit action. We exceed our parents as we start where they left off.

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The Dispossesed

Saddam Hussein and Hitler had something in common. From their point of view it was a steel resolve but as a defeated enemy theirs became the view of the discredited. However it could be argued that Hitler’s eventual fate hastened the fate of Palestine whereas Saddam’s fate has given the Kurds more political power.

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Sarah Palin, Politically Spent

In a move universally seen as ridiculous, Sarah Palin resigns as Governer of Alaska. Not during the good times does she hand it over to a well groomed successor, no epic battle, no scars, no situation. Just givin' up is all.

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