Big Sky Cairn

232 years ago, the Declaration of Independence was voted on and ratified. It was then ordered to the printer, and just under a month later, on August 2 most of the signatures were affixed. When the Declaration of Independence was delivered to the King of England, it had fifty-six signatures.

Each signatory was, for what they knew, signing a warrant for his own death. In the face of tyranny, however, they embodied the words of Patrick Henry: “Give me Liberty, or give me Death.”

Take a few minutes today to read about some of those fifty-six men. Truly, we owe them the willingness to continue in the path that they forged for liberty.

“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.” - Samuel Adams

“Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people.” - John Adams

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusettes: Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: George Read, Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

“All might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they should.” - Samuel Adams

Steve over at Rabid Sanity has a great post up about Democrats. Undoubtedly, this sort of post really rankles Democrats/progressives/liberals who object to any sort of classification (unless it’s about Republicans/conservatives, of course).

Steve quotes extensively from an article that attempts to make sweeping claims about liberal in general. In my personal experience, many of the claims he makes ring true. Liberals claim to be for the little guy, but wealth redistribution is really just a way to force someone else to take care of the little guy. They are often motivated by jealousy disguised as perceptions of social injustice. They preach diversity while trying to force everyone to live exactly like they do (and hatefully attacking those whose ideals vary).

In any case, a few years back I realized that the assumption I’d long had - that poor people were Democrats because they wanted government services - was actually backwards. I suddenly understood:

People are not Democrats because they are unsuccessful. People are unsuccessful because they are Democrats.

It’s the mindset of modern liberals that runs contrary to just about any book about the habits of successful people. The idea that someone else must be responsible for your well-being. That wealth and ambition are bad and should be taxed or curbed. That social mobility is impossible and failure is always externalized. These are the mentalities that inevitably lead to failure which is why it’s not surprising that so many unsuccessful people are also Democrats.

Of course there are always exceptions. Warren Buffet, for example, is so loaded that he can afford a higher tax rate without a significant change in his lifestyle. But you know what I find ironic? The limousine liberals always advocate broadly sweeping policies - tax hikes and social programs - but they never voluntarily send more money than they owe to the IRS. They don’t use their surplus funds to provide people with the things they think Government should provide. Instead, they advocate Big Government policies be imposed on everyone else.

Overall, however, the impression has long been that Democrats were the best advocates for the poor.  The assumption was always that the poor benefit most from social programs, so the Party that advocates more social programs is advocating for the poor.  Now this notion is being dramatically undermined by the current inaction on high energy prices (which hurt the poor most) at the behest of the tree-hugger lobby.  But beyond that, the policies of the left have created a perpetual poverty class dependent upon the government for survival and unable to fend for themselves.

Now who’s looking out for the little guy?

Just got the following email from Netflix:

Dear Cody,

You spoke, and we listened. We are keeping Profiles. Thank you for all the calls and emails telling us how important Profiles are.

We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused. We hope the next time you hear from us we will delight, and not disappoint, you.

-Your friends at Netflix

Nice.  Obviously, they felt the pressure from here at Big Sky Cairn.  I called a few times, and was told over and over that the decision was final and there was no way to change it.  But it looks like they heard from enough people to reconsider the decision and they made a correction.  Good for them.  Good for us.
I’m so glad I don’t have to move over to Blockbuster - even temporarily - in protest.

If you’ve been reading for awhile, you are probably aware that I am broadly interested in scientific method - especially with regard to its application in the Catastrophic Global Climate Change debate. One of my biggest concerns with modern dogma of science is that matters of faith are conflated with matters of science. Unfalsifiable models - models that can be used to explain all possible data - are proposed as science and expected to receive the same protected position in discussions. I have argued that doing so threatens to dull the scientific scalpel.

An article in Wired is currently getting a lot of attention around the Internets. It declares the end of scientific method. It’s worth noting, of course, that Wired is not a scientific magazine, but a new-media rag that is more likely to overestimate the importance of new technologies in replacing the old.

The big target here isn’t advertising, though. It’s science. The scientific method is built around testable hypotheses. These models, for the most part, are systems visualized in the minds of scientists. The models are then tested, and experiments confirm or falsify theoretical models of how the world works. This is the way science has worked for hundreds of years.

Read the rest of this entry »

Secession
~If Montana Seceded, wouldn’t the Delegation be out of jobs?

Wingnut v. Moonbat
~Didn’t realize that even partisan epithets were partisan. Good info.

18 Debates
~If Schweitzer’s so rhetorical, why’s the left afraid to debate?

Fast Food
~I knew it was the Hamburgler that stole my waistline.

D.C. v. Heller
~If locallities can infringe the 2nd, why not the rest?

Taxing the Rich
~Tax rich people into poverty and they’ll appreciate socialized welfare.

Obama in Montana
~Obama sends flowers, Democrats and media think its a proposal.

Guns in D.C.
~I suspect the police protecting the Supreme Court are packing.

Duke Football
~Duke’s lawyers say Duke sucks. Bad day for Duke fans.

Movies
~Cut ticket prices in half, I’ll watch 3X more movies.

17 high school girls at Gloucester High School are expecting children out of the bonds of wedlock.  What could have caused this lapse in family values among the Catholic community?  I’m sure it has nothing to do with the Church’s stand against contraception… No.

Clearly allowing gays to marry in California has undermined the otherwise strong sense of family values in this country.  I mean, just look at these activists spewing their hatred and venom all over the sacred institution of marriage.  If only they cared about marriage as much as heterosexuals who respect it enough to stay married about half of the time.

In all seriousness, right-wing moralists (who are often just as bad as the nanny-state lefties) should worry about the log in their own eye before they complain too much about the splinter in the eye of the gay community.  To put it in Jesus’ words.  Of course, Jesus spent his time with hookers and tax collectors so I’m not sure he’d be welcome in the Westboro Baptist Church.

I have no problem with gay marriage although I do find many gay activists petty and a bit silly.  I do have a problem, however, with overreaching government involvement in marriage.  Tell me again why I would need a license to get married and why Big Brother should have any say at all about who I choose to make a vow to before God, family or The Love Guru?

I’ve been a Netflix customer since about a month after the service was offered in Missoula. I’ve loved every minute of it. My girlfriend and I now share an account - watching movies is something we like to do together. She has her own queue and I have mine. It’s a great way to change who choses movies so no one dominates the decisions. And then today, I got this from Netflix:

Dear Cody,

We wanted to let you know we will be eliminating Profiles, the feature that allowed you to set up separate DVD Queues under one account, effective September 1, 2008.

Each additional Profile Queue will be unavailable after September 1, 2008. Before then, we recommend you consolidate any of your Profile Queues to your main account Queue or print them out.

While it may be disappointing to see Profiles go away, this change will help us continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers.

If you have any questions, please go to http://www.netflix.com/Help?p_faqid=3962 or call us anytime at 1 (888) 638-3549. We apologize for any inconvenience.

- The Netflix Team

Hmm. This is one of the best features Netflix has. I can’t imagine why they are eliminating it. I’ve loved watching Netflix masterfully dismantle Blockbuster and rework the movie-rental industry. This, in my opinion is the first mis-step - the first time they are rolling back customer service. I hope it’s not the sign of a trend.

[Update] - I called late last night and the wait time was 15 minutes - the operator explained that that they were fielding a lot of calls on this issue. Netflix is hearing from people on this - now we find out if they’ve learned the lessons of a competitive environment with equal alternatives waiting in the wings to scoop up disgruntled customers. Blockbuster has got to be feeling a bit like Rehberg and Baucus did the night of the primary - like they’ve been handed a gift. In the mean time, there’s a pretty long Netflix Discussion here and you should definitely head over to Digg to read the comments there (and, if you have an account, add your voice).  There’s also some interesting discussion at Slashdot. We’ve got until September 1.

Mike at Last Best Place has an interesting post comparing the reactions in two places to a disastrous excess of dihydrogen monoxide.

In New Orleans:

When Katrina hit New Orleans and the levees broke, people who had spent a lifetime being neutered by government dependence didn’t know what to do. There were riots, looting and murders. The sick and infirm were left on the side of streets and even inside buildings to die, if they hadn’t already perished, and the National Guard had to be deployed just to bring back order so recovery operations could begin.

In Iowa:

The entire state has been declared a disaster area. Flooding has turned it’s major cities into giant lakes, their farms, long known amongst those in the business as producing the “high yield” winners for corn and occasionally soybeans are ruined. No where in the media have I seen video of people standing on their roofs with signs saying “help me!” No where have we seen rioting or looting. No one has advocated bringing in a fleet of FEMA trailers to house people who will be “permanently dislocated” because of the storm.

Undoubtedly, I will be called a bad person (Mark T will call me racist), but in the aftermath of Katrina, I was embarrassed - ashamed even - by the way the people of New Orleans responded. That was not the neighbor helping neighbor response that makes this country great.

To this day, I am apathetic toward the rebuilding of New Orleans. I certainly don’t plan on visiting there in the near future. The trouble is, the tremendous generosity of the American People was not appreciated. It was expected by an entitled population who felt that they could turn their noses up at the help because it wasn’t fast enough or comfortable enough. Thanks, but there are plenty of people who need more help and that’s where I’ll put my resources - emotional and financial.

I don’t wish this sort of hardship on anyone, but when the times get hard, the true nature of a community go on display for the entire world to see. I am proud of Iowa.

Don’t get caught bringing a knife to an injection-knife fight.

This weapon injects a frozen ball of compressed gas approximately the size of a basketball at 850psi nearly instantly. The effects of this injection will drop many of the world’s largest land predators.

Drive down a main drag in Missoula at 3 a.m. and you’ll see two cars.  One, parked on the street and the police car that pulled the first one over to administer a sobriety test.  Yes, drunk driving is bad, but the the trend toward lowering the legal limits to levels that would be tripped by a few sprays of Binacca is disturbing.  The police are better served if the people they are supposed to protect aren’t perpetually afraid of them.

And then I read something like this.

On a Monday morning last month, highway patrol officers visited 20 classrooms at El Camino High School to announce some horrible news: Several students had been killed in car wrecks over the weekend.

Classmates wept. Some became hysterical.

A few hours and many tears later, though, the pain turned to fury when the teenagers learned that it was all a hoax - a scared-straight exercise designed by school officials to dramatize the consequences of drinking and driving.

Too far?  I think so.