Bill's Comments

What do the Israeli airport security people do that American airport security do not do? They profile. They question some individuals for more than half an hour, open up all their luggage and spread the contents on the counter-- and they let others go through with scarcely a word. And it works.

Thomas Sowell in Townhall

The governor-elect of Ohio has declared that the proposed high-speed rail is dead. The howls of anguish from the railfans and the environmentalists have already started. I am a railfan. I would very much like to have a rail alternative from Cincinnati to Cleveland.

HOWEVER, this route had many drawbacks, the first of which was that it was to be paid for with Federal Tax dollars. So either my taxes go up, or the deficit goes up which makes prices go up through inflation. There is no discussion of cutting something else to pay for it. (I have lots of suggestions there.) The second drawback is that with the Federal Government paying for it, the government, in the form of anonymous bureaucrats, will make the rules by which it operates. It would be another version of Amtrak which survives due to employee dedication despite oversight and regulation by the government. The third drawback is that it would not be truly high speed, because of the use of existing roadbeds in many parts. I do not consider 79 mph high speed. I can do that with my car.

Governor-elect Kasich has made one of the hard choices we elected him to make. It is not one I like personally, but it makes sense in the larger picture. Since the Federal government took over the passenger traffic in the US, there has been no valid working model for it. Passenger service was viable as long as there were enough passengers and there was mail and express service to subsidize the cost of the trains. Thanks to the interstate highway system, government subsidies to build and operate airports, and removal of mail contracts from the railroads, passenger service is a complete loser. Until we find a better way to do it, it does not make sense to build raillines that will not pay for themselves.

After ten years one lives with it, but never gets over it. He was truly a gentle giant, 6'5", 240 lbs, easy going, a great comedian, excellent musician, and a very creative writer. When a 19 years-old fills a church to overflowing at his funeral, you know he was a special person. To quote somebody else, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased."

I received the following as a comment to my biographic entry, "About me". I rejected it as a comment but would like to use it to point out somethings about discourse today that are quite troubling.

With your background, I'm concerned how you think you are qualified to criticize the work of Burton Mack, especially so negatively. I can't see any competency match for that at all.

gilhow

Two notes on comment policy, 1) Though anonymous according to Blogger, the person did sign their name, so they avoided having their comment go in the bit bucket for anonymity, and 2) as an attack on me rather than my post, it would normally go in the bit bucket, but I wish to use it as an object example.

Notice how this person focuses on my background as not qualifying me to criticize Burton Mack. In today's society, apparently if you don't have the right piece of paper with the right incantations and runes on it, you cannot practice some kinds of magic. Or less sarcastically, only people with the proper training can discuss certain areas. This is ridiculous on the face of it. I have seen PhD philosophers write bad philosophy, and amateurs write excellent, cogent arguments. The formal training simply teaches the vocabulary and who has written what. It does not guarantee actual expertise. This is akin to the closed, union shop mentality, and is a way of preventing challenges to the established "wisdom". Only those who have been indoctrinated may join the discussion.

Second, notice that it compounds the felony for me to criticize Burton Mack negatively. And just who will point out the weaknesses in his arguments, the true believers? If one publishes, one is inviting comment, positive or negative. When one has the intent of tearing down established Christianity then expect plenty of criticism.

This is a common technique in modern discourse, the use of the ad hominum attack rather than debating the argument. Note that there are at least two posts of mine on Burton Mack that this person could have commented on, pointing out the errors in my arguments that he/she sees. Instead, this person chose to take the shortcut by saying that since I am not "qualified" to discuss this, then I should not do so, and my statements should not be considered. From my point of view this person, by failing to engage my arguments or commentary directly has exhibited either intellectual laziness, cowardice, or incompetence, separately, in some combination, or all three.

Just to belabor the point, gilhow has no knowledge of what informal study I have undertaking over the years, nor has she/he paid any attention to the posts I have generated. The fourth generation of the Vanderbilts (the railroad people) did not have an official citation in marine biology. However, his collection of benthic organisms is considered one of the worlds greatest and has been used as a reference collection for decades. As the old adage says, "Never judge a book by its cover."

Now that the election is over, and we can all think about something else, I do have some thoughts on the results:

1. Combined with the results of two years ago and the possible results two years from now, the people do create term limits, even if imperfectly created by my standards. Republican incumbents fell two years ago, Democrat incumbents fell this time--including some very well-established ones, and there are more in the wings if the country doesn't change to suit the people, including the President.

2. Despite making it a popular election with the 17th Amendment, the Senate still changes more slowly than the House, as the Founding Fathers designed. There are still some fools in that institution by my reckoning, but they are what their voters wanted, including the ones that probably stole elections two years ago. After all, if the race hadn't been close to begin with there wouldn't have been the opportunity. The more determined won, whether legally or not.

3. This election may slow the Federal Government juggernaut, but it is not stopped by any means. As Charles Krauthammer said last night, the President can continue his agenda via regulation and look good on the surface with legislation.

4. The parallels to the pre-Civil War period still hold. With the inability of Congress to completely reverse ObamaCare and do anything about illegal immigration that are hurting the states, they will continue to fight in the courts. The issue now, just as it was then, is who is in control, the States or the Federal Government. Today the trigger issues are ObamaCare and illegal immigration, then it was slavery.

5. The Republicans will be called heartless, cruel, vicious, etc., when they actually start cutting the budget. It will be interesting to see how much spine they have this time. Conservative economics and politics is compassionate by nature but not in a touchy-feely way that is visible. Its compassion is in creating an environment where everyone has a chance not just the entitled. The removal of privilege is always resented by those who lose, regardless of how much it is appreciated by those who pay. Those who lose always have the ear of the press. We can feel sooo sorry for them.

[As a side note: Capitalism is always misrepresented by its opponents, and this is fed by the mislabeling of what is actually corporatism as capitalism. Today's corporations like regulation. It keeps them from having to really compete. A true capitalist hates it. Yes, unregulated markets are chaotic, but it is a milder chaos than the wild swings that occur due to regulation. Yes, people lose their jobs and companies fail, but overall, it is still less than the massive unemployment we see today. It is not just the burden of the labor required to comply with regulations, it is the stiffling of initiative that is the great evil of regulation and corporatism. Nobody pays attention to the statements that today's successful companies could not be started in today's regulatory environment. We are dooming our children to being served by flabby corporate failures rather than strong, dynamic competitive companies.]

6. My own prediction is the President will say all the right things, and do all the wrong ones. He will not change his direction, only his words, and only as long as he thinks we remember. He is convinced he knows what is best for us, regardless of the fact that he has never held a real job, doing real productive work in his life. While we were busy earning a living he was busy having his given to him. It makes for a very different perspective. [I know because I had mine handed to me for years. After I had to really work, I found out a lot about the world.]

7. Two years from now will be a bigger challenge for those of us who are conservative in outlook. Things will be just enough better that the urgency that drove this election will be gone. We have two years to do some effective work and, more importantly, some effective education.

In the meantime, I am grateful for what did happen, and somewhat regretful for what did not.