Contributed by: filbert Monday, June 07 2010 @ 05:20 PM CST
I’m going to split up this bunch of Whippage into several posts, just ‘cuz there’s so much stuff.
Intellectuals: Smarter Than God? [*1] — Or dumber than Rocks, Boxes Of? On the other hand, what is your answer to the question “What is important? And why do you answer that way?
And how do you know that it is the correct answer–correct not simply for your own precious conscience and emotional stability (or, if you will, your rock-solid Faith), but also correct for those who do not share your particular view of life? That is, is what you judge to be “important” a subjective value, dependent on your whims (or Faith, or whatever), or is it an objective value, not subject to your own personal intellectual approval?
Use both sides of the paper, if necessary. This will be graded.
Oh, and congratulations . . . you’re now an intellectual.
In the classical sense, anyway. And see, that’s the problem: Modern intellectuals don’t worry about things like objective values–that’s the one single dominant trait of modern “intellectual” thought. Which is why modern “intellectuals” are so confused, and so confusing to us normal people who have to get to work on time or the boss will get mad. Because, the clock is objective–it doesn’t care what you think about it. The boss, while he or she may not care what you think of him/her either, does care very much what the clock tells him/her about you. Thus endeth the lesson in the objective nature of reality. (And don’t be a pointy-head and bring up Einstein, OK? Just don’t. Most of us don’t get that close to the speed of light, even on a good day. OK?) Who Are We Sharing the Planet With? Millions Less Species Than Previously Thought, New Calculations Suggest [*2]
CBO: ObamaCare bends the cost curve upward [*3]
Balance growth with social equity [*4] — A strange world indeed when the Communist Chinese read Ludwig von Mises more intently and reverently than the so-called “free world.” Strange, strange world.
The Unbearable Rightness of Being Armed [*5]
Anti-Civilization [*6]
Anti-civilization is different. It destroys without assimilation. It learns nothing from its enemies, studying them only to find weaknesses it can exploit. In ancient times, it took the form of barbarian reavers, who looked upon graceful cities full of art and music and felt nothing but hunger and contempt. The industrial age refined anti-civilization into a powerful black oil, fueling massive engines of murder. It learned to wear crisp uniforms, and build concentration camps. It orchestrated decades of mechanized slaughter, with an atomic finale. By the end of the twentieth century, it had learned to manufacture terror, and transform the wonders of the civilization it hates into firebombs that could level mighty skyscrapers.
John Ziegler to Palin: You should go on Jake Tapper’s show [*7]
Colorado Dem: Actually, the White House offered me three jobs to quit the primary [*8]
Don’t worry about the facts, just feed us [*9] — Wherein Powerline’s Paul Mirengoff discovers that yes, indeed, Shepard Smith of Fox News is, in fact, (using his words) “a jerk and a fool.” Indeed.
French bid for euro zone “government” gains ground [*10]
There goes the (Palins’) neighborhood [*11]
World: Greece, You Must Restrain Your Spending! Greeks: Nah. [*12]
The gang who couldn’t shoot straight [*13]
Obama has been campaigning his whole life. He knows how to do that. Governing has not only multiple tasks, but multiple challenges and goals. Obama has never run anything or governed anything. This is his first real job.
Low-lying Pacific islands ‘growing not sinking’ [*14]
When Governments Choose To Pay For Medicine, They Also Choose What Medicine To Not Pay For [*15] — Or, Death Panels: They’re not just for political debate anymore. They’re the law. Happy?
The Truth, Belatedly, Puts its Boots On [*16]
Middle East Crisis: Always Side with the Civilized Man [*17] — Just remember, the UN is now an organization largely controlled and run by terrorist-backing states.