Recently, a devote literal christian sued UC Berkeley for having a web page endorsing religion, and stating that religion and evolution are compatible. The women suing, Jeanne Caldwell, says that Christianity and evolution cannot be compatible, and has appealed her case to the US Supreme Court, after being rebuffed by the lower courts. The courts say she has no case because the web page hasn't done real damage to her, in a legal sense, so she has no grounds to sue. Even more than that, the establishment clause prevents the government from endorsing religion, not scientific doctrines. In fact the constitution is silent on the grounds of which scientific doctrines to endorse. I'm shocked and appalled that this frivolous case has gotten so far, it makes light of our legal system. Some people might call her actions being a real American, fighting in defense of the ~60% of American's that do not believe in (evolution). I would call her actions ludicrous, and I would call her a damned busy body. I'm all for free speech, and free expression, but when it comes to wasting everyone's tax dollars in court to do it, I say screw that.
If you want to know more, go here to read the story on this lawsuit in detail.
I know I have some Christians that read this blog, what are your opinions on this? I feel people have a right to believe whatever they want, for this case evolution OR creation, or both. I tend to think god(s), in its/their ever abounding wisdom would create beings with the capability to evolve. I hate it when people like this woman try to force their opinions on other people, and attempt to set back civilization by dismantling science.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
PETA: A Chronicle of Insanity.
I am a big advocate of civil liberties, especially First Amendment rights, but there are some people that should think more before exercising their right to speak. I generally feel this way about PETA. It's not that I disagree with their ideals, I'm in favor of animal rights, I'm a pet owner, a nature lover, and I try to buy humanely raised meat. What I am saying is that it's getting impossible for them to seem legitimate anymore, and without legitimacy they are marginalized. To make my case, I will utilize two ludicrous, recent, examples of PETA's ad campaigns:
Sea Kittens: http://www.peta.org/sea_kittens/
Ben and Jerrys Breast Milk Ice Cream: http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=11993
Read over those two sites, hosted on PETA's official webpage. Is it just me, or does PETA seem a little misguided these days? What do either of these things, (re-naming fish to "Sea Kittens" and trying to make ice cream out of human breast milk), have to do with PETA's mission statement of protecting animal rights? Both of these campaigns seem like a waste of funds to me, especially the Sea Kitten one though it is highly amusing, especially the "Create Your Own Sea Kitten." PETAs justification for this campaign is that "fish need to fire their PR guy", making the assumption that they could do a better job. PETA feels that no one "could possibly want to put a hook through a sea kitten". Right, because changing the name of something makes it any different, a rose is a rose, even if called by any other name.
Petitioning Ben and Jerry's to make breast milk ice cream is only slightly less insane than renaming fish, but only by a hair. I can understand PETA's view on it, if ice cream was made out of breast milk no cows would be "harmed" in the making of it. Also since people can give consent, arguably it would be vegan ice cream, based on the assumption that vegans do not use dairy products because animals cannot consent to be milked. At the same time, there are regulations in place on what chemicals can be put into cows, and indirectly into the milk. There are no regulations on what can be put into a person, and as such there is a higher likelihood of contamination in the milk. If for example, a crack addict wanted to sell their breast milk to get money, that would be a catastrophe. Presumably you would screen people, like when you get blood drawn, and only people that are "clean" could give milk. Even then, what if the person was eating or using a legal drug that would contaminate the milk, that couldn't be tested for? As a whole, the idea of eating breast milk ice cream is appalling, and a horrible idea.
Sea Kittens: http://www.peta.org/sea_kittens/
Ben and Jerrys Breast Milk Ice Cream: http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=11993
Read over those two sites, hosted on PETA's official webpage. Is it just me, or does PETA seem a little misguided these days? What do either of these things, (re-naming fish to "Sea Kittens" and trying to make ice cream out of human breast milk), have to do with PETA's mission statement of protecting animal rights? Both of these campaigns seem like a waste of funds to me, especially the Sea Kitten one though it is highly amusing, especially the "Create Your Own Sea Kitten." PETAs justification for this campaign is that "fish need to fire their PR guy", making the assumption that they could do a better job. PETA feels that no one "could possibly want to put a hook through a sea kitten". Right, because changing the name of something makes it any different, a rose is a rose, even if called by any other name.
Petitioning Ben and Jerry's to make breast milk ice cream is only slightly less insane than renaming fish, but only by a hair. I can understand PETA's view on it, if ice cream was made out of breast milk no cows would be "harmed" in the making of it. Also since people can give consent, arguably it would be vegan ice cream, based on the assumption that vegans do not use dairy products because animals cannot consent to be milked. At the same time, there are regulations in place on what chemicals can be put into cows, and indirectly into the milk. There are no regulations on what can be put into a person, and as such there is a higher likelihood of contamination in the milk. If for example, a crack addict wanted to sell their breast milk to get money, that would be a catastrophe. Presumably you would screen people, like when you get blood drawn, and only people that are "clean" could give milk. Even then, what if the person was eating or using a legal drug that would contaminate the milk, that couldn't be tested for? As a whole, the idea of eating breast milk ice cream is appalling, and a horrible idea.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Barack Obama: Mortgaging Our Children's Future
Let me preface this by saying I voted for Obama, and even worked for the DNC over the summer going door to door to get donations for the Democrats efforts. I was raised Western Orthdox Democrat, Bush has always been a dirty word in my fathers house. I currently am a registered Republican, for the primary vote, leaning Democrat. Naturally, I could not vote for McCain and, the idea of VP Palin, makes me pale. So I had to default to Obama, really I would have perfered someone more like Mike Bloomberg. Now, let me get on to my argument.
I have always been skeptical of Barack Obama, I have always suspected he might be a wolf in sheeps clothing, but now he has shown it. During his run for President, my favorite line that Obama reused in speeches was the one about "Mortgaging our children's future." He always condemned George W. Bush of doing that, by charging obscene sums to the national debt, with no plan to pay it off. Currently, President Obama is guilty of the same reckless spending, according to the New York Times, we are potentially facing years of trillion dollar deficits. This in addition to the $825 billion dollar stimulus package he passed, loaded with pork spending. ABC World News reports, "Republicans say the bill is filled with old-fashioned big-government spending that won't stimulate the economy. For example, $600 million to buy new cars for government employees, and $1 billion to follow up on the 2010 census, which, of course, hasn't happened yet."
I'm usually not so anal as to grip over the small details, but in a time of such hardship, when the economy is so strained and close to the breaking point, now is the time for restraint. I don't see how Obama can publicly scold Citigroup for using some of their bailout funds to buy a $50 million dollar jet, when Obama is using $600 million to buy new cars. Perhaps the $600 million is an additional "bailout" for Detroit's hurting auto industry, who knows? What I do know is how hypocritical this looks to the average observer, and I also know how much that could hurt Obama's legitimacy. For me the real irony is that my favorite line he used in the speeches, has turned into the thing I dislike the most about his Presidency.
We're already so indebted they had to remove the $ symbol from the national debt clock, to make room for another digit, we're already at 10.6 trillion dollars in debt, add in the $825 billion stimulus, that's over 11 trillion dollars. That is money that my generation, and my grandchildren, will have to pay off. If I shrunk this down in scale to my own personal life, it would be like my father buying a mansion, a yacht, and a new corvet on credit, then dying and leaving it to me to pay off. No self respecting parent would do that, and no respectable government should do that. I want to run for office someday, that is presuming there is still an America then, the way things are going I don't know if anyone will be able to pick up the pieces. I worry for the future of this country, and not just the economy, we're only at the tip of the ice berg, it's all uphill from here. After we get the economy stable, we still have the issue of nuclear terrorism, also global warming coupled with a devastating drought here in California, lets not forget the ongoing immigrantion issues.
There is a school of economics where massive deficit spending is considered the way to combat a recession, but Keynesian economics can only go so far, and only do so much. Theoretically a country is only meant to apply it's methods for a few years, then switch back to a balanced budget. America has been running on Reaganomics (supply side, Keynesian economics) since Reagan coined the term in the 80's, before I was born to protest it. Now that I am alive, I want an end to financial irresponsibility. My American Government teacher at Cabrillo College always had a good way of helping her students wrap their heads around government. The way she explained Keynesian economics to us was thus: "Shrink it down to your personal life, and you running your house. In Keynesian economics, you cut taxes and spend more, so in our example you are basically working less hours at your job but spending more. How long do you think you could keep that up for?" That example has stuck with me, and I ask Obama, and America, how long can we keep this up for?
I have always been skeptical of Barack Obama, I have always suspected he might be a wolf in sheeps clothing, but now he has shown it. During his run for President, my favorite line that Obama reused in speeches was the one about "Mortgaging our children's future." He always condemned George W. Bush of doing that, by charging obscene sums to the national debt, with no plan to pay it off. Currently, President Obama is guilty of the same reckless spending, according to the New York Times, we are potentially facing years of trillion dollar deficits. This in addition to the $825 billion dollar stimulus package he passed, loaded with pork spending. ABC World News reports, "Republicans say the bill is filled with old-fashioned big-government spending that won't stimulate the economy. For example, $600 million to buy new cars for government employees, and $1 billion to follow up on the 2010 census, which, of course, hasn't happened yet."
I'm usually not so anal as to grip over the small details, but in a time of such hardship, when the economy is so strained and close to the breaking point, now is the time for restraint. I don't see how Obama can publicly scold Citigroup for using some of their bailout funds to buy a $50 million dollar jet, when Obama is using $600 million to buy new cars. Perhaps the $600 million is an additional "bailout" for Detroit's hurting auto industry, who knows? What I do know is how hypocritical this looks to the average observer, and I also know how much that could hurt Obama's legitimacy. For me the real irony is that my favorite line he used in the speeches, has turned into the thing I dislike the most about his Presidency.
We're already so indebted they had to remove the $ symbol from the national debt clock, to make room for another digit, we're already at 10.6 trillion dollars in debt, add in the $825 billion stimulus, that's over 11 trillion dollars. That is money that my generation, and my grandchildren, will have to pay off. If I shrunk this down in scale to my own personal life, it would be like my father buying a mansion, a yacht, and a new corvet on credit, then dying and leaving it to me to pay off. No self respecting parent would do that, and no respectable government should do that. I want to run for office someday, that is presuming there is still an America then, the way things are going I don't know if anyone will be able to pick up the pieces. I worry for the future of this country, and not just the economy, we're only at the tip of the ice berg, it's all uphill from here. After we get the economy stable, we still have the issue of nuclear terrorism, also global warming coupled with a devastating drought here in California, lets not forget the ongoing immigrantion issues.
There is a school of economics where massive deficit spending is considered the way to combat a recession, but Keynesian economics can only go so far, and only do so much. Theoretically a country is only meant to apply it's methods for a few years, then switch back to a balanced budget. America has been running on Reaganomics (supply side, Keynesian economics) since Reagan coined the term in the 80's, before I was born to protest it. Now that I am alive, I want an end to financial irresponsibility. My American Government teacher at Cabrillo College always had a good way of helping her students wrap their heads around government. The way she explained Keynesian economics to us was thus: "Shrink it down to your personal life, and you running your house. In Keynesian economics, you cut taxes and spend more, so in our example you are basically working less hours at your job but spending more. How long do you think you could keep that up for?" That example has stuck with me, and I ask Obama, and America, how long can we keep this up for?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
An Introduction
Every endeavor needs a beginning, for the purpose of this blog this is its beginning. My name is Mitchell Colbert, I'm an undergraduate student at San Jose State University, and I am a political science major. This is not my first blog, though hopefully it will be my last. I began blogging years ago on Livejournal, back when it was merely trendy, before the breakwater of becoming obscenely popular. I have since deleted my Livejournal accounts, no one deserves the misfortune of reading my teenage angst.
Enough about my teenage years, they're only purpose was to act as a hibernation period for me, a period where I wasn't the happiest person, but I was quite productive with school, which is what matters more now. Five years from now, I will probably be saying the same thing about now, everything I do today is preparation for the rest of my life. "What do you want to do with your life?" I get asked that question a lot, and I have a short answer and a long answer. The short answer is that I want to be President of the United States. The long answer begins with that, then elaborates on my plan for how I will get to there. I am not so naive that I believe one can simply wish to occupy the highest office of the land and have it be so, it takes work, and years of preparation. It takes the right personal connections, the right background, the right personality, and these are things that take a lifetime to create. That's not to say that everything I do today is a calculated ploy to become President. What I am saying is that I, unlike many of my peers, understand discretion, and I understand that what I do today can blacklist me in the future. (Case in point, kids who cheat to get into law school, hardly ever get there.)
So who is Mitchell Colbert? To begin, he is not Mitchell Colbert, the "T" is silent, think Steven Colbert. For my whole life my dad had always claimed, "It's Colbert, a good American name." He stubbornly still uses that mispronunciation, even though I have gone to the French pronunciation. I have inherited much of his stubbornness, many might view this as a bad thing, I feel it's a useful trait, as long as I recognize when I am being unreasonable, which I generally can. My father is much older than my mother, a generation older. My father was born in the mid 30s, as part of the Great Generation, and he still remembers WWII. I've always had a fascination with WWII which probably originated from his stories of growing up and going to school during that time. My mother was born in the mid 50s, as part of the Baby Boomer generation, she's a very goal driven woman, and a very hard worker, I have inherited these traits from her. She also is a loving parent, and we used to go on hikes all around Marin County, where I was raised. My mother also is a practicing Nichiren Buddhist and raised me as a Buddhist, though currently I am not practicing, though I still consider myself Buddhist. My parents are divorced now, as many others are around the country, it came as no surprise and they are both still amicable to each other, something not so common after a divorce.
That sums up my upbringing, now to move on to my school years. I always have done well in school, I was in a private school for kindergarten and first grade, which I feel helped put me ahead of the curve. When my family moved from San Rafael to Novato I switched into public school, and because of my December birthday I was forced to repeat the first grade. Grade school was of little consequence, my school was very well funded which allowed us to go on dozens of field trips, have a music program, and have good teachers. I was very grateful for all that, especially the music program, since I went on to play the tenor saxophone all through middle school and highschool, until getting my CHSPE and going on to college at 15 and a half. Middle school was hard for me, I was bullied severely, called a great number of things relating to my "gayness", and hit a few times (never beaten up, I tended to fight back). Ironically, I have not, nor do I think I ever will be gay, currently I am quite happy with a lovely Biochem major at UCSC. But that was middle school in Suburbia for you, kids didn't know shit and they were cruel heartless bastards. In Suburbia everything is a pseudo self, the "sluttly girls" didn't actually have any sex, only the illusion of sex. The "Gangstas" had probably never even been to a real ghetto. The "Goths," which I frequented, had no concept of what goth was, all they did was shop at hot topic and whine. The only real people I found in Suburbia were the nerds, the people I truely identified with, me and my friends were the future Bill Gates of Novato.
After my freshman year of highschool my parents divorced, and I moved down to Santa Cruz with my mother. I began doing independant study, and going to Cabrillo College, taking German for my highschool language requirement. I love the German language, and went to the country for a couple weeks when I was 16, which I still treasure. I got my CHSPE after a semester or two at Cabrillo, but continued with my independant study, and got my actual diploma at the end of my Junior year of highschool. Then I was officially in college. College for me as been a lot of change, changing schools, changing cities, and changing majors. I've ping ponged around the bay, majoring in Creative Writing, Psychology, Digital Photograpy, Marketing, and finally Political Science. (That's just my majors, I've dabbled in far more than that.)
That's most of the important facets of my life up to this point, at least academically/socially. There are countless more stories to be told, but they will be saved for another day. For now, let me bounce back to the topic of this blog. You are best to notice as soon as possible, I tend to write free-flow and just let the words come out, sometimes I tend to return to previous topics, circling around in somewhat chaotic but logical leaps. It's a quirk of mine. Expect this blog to be updated at least once a week, though probably more likely to be updated once every day or so.
Enough about my teenage years, they're only purpose was to act as a hibernation period for me, a period where I wasn't the happiest person, but I was quite productive with school, which is what matters more now. Five years from now, I will probably be saying the same thing about now, everything I do today is preparation for the rest of my life. "What do you want to do with your life?" I get asked that question a lot, and I have a short answer and a long answer. The short answer is that I want to be President of the United States. The long answer begins with that, then elaborates on my plan for how I will get to there. I am not so naive that I believe one can simply wish to occupy the highest office of the land and have it be so, it takes work, and years of preparation. It takes the right personal connections, the right background, the right personality, and these are things that take a lifetime to create. That's not to say that everything I do today is a calculated ploy to become President. What I am saying is that I, unlike many of my peers, understand discretion, and I understand that what I do today can blacklist me in the future. (Case in point, kids who cheat to get into law school, hardly ever get there.)
So who is Mitchell Colbert? To begin, he is not Mitchell Colbert, the "T" is silent, think Steven Colbert. For my whole life my dad had always claimed, "It's Colbert, a good American name." He stubbornly still uses that mispronunciation, even though I have gone to the French pronunciation. I have inherited much of his stubbornness, many might view this as a bad thing, I feel it's a useful trait, as long as I recognize when I am being unreasonable, which I generally can. My father is much older than my mother, a generation older. My father was born in the mid 30s, as part of the Great Generation, and he still remembers WWII. I've always had a fascination with WWII which probably originated from his stories of growing up and going to school during that time. My mother was born in the mid 50s, as part of the Baby Boomer generation, she's a very goal driven woman, and a very hard worker, I have inherited these traits from her. She also is a loving parent, and we used to go on hikes all around Marin County, where I was raised. My mother also is a practicing Nichiren Buddhist and raised me as a Buddhist, though currently I am not practicing, though I still consider myself Buddhist. My parents are divorced now, as many others are around the country, it came as no surprise and they are both still amicable to each other, something not so common after a divorce.
That sums up my upbringing, now to move on to my school years. I always have done well in school, I was in a private school for kindergarten and first grade, which I feel helped put me ahead of the curve. When my family moved from San Rafael to Novato I switched into public school, and because of my December birthday I was forced to repeat the first grade. Grade school was of little consequence, my school was very well funded which allowed us to go on dozens of field trips, have a music program, and have good teachers. I was very grateful for all that, especially the music program, since I went on to play the tenor saxophone all through middle school and highschool, until getting my CHSPE and going on to college at 15 and a half. Middle school was hard for me, I was bullied severely, called a great number of things relating to my "gayness", and hit a few times (never beaten up, I tended to fight back). Ironically, I have not, nor do I think I ever will be gay, currently I am quite happy with a lovely Biochem major at UCSC. But that was middle school in Suburbia for you, kids didn't know shit and they were cruel heartless bastards. In Suburbia everything is a pseudo self, the "sluttly girls" didn't actually have any sex, only the illusion of sex. The "Gangstas" had probably never even been to a real ghetto. The "Goths," which I frequented, had no concept of what goth was, all they did was shop at hot topic and whine. The only real people I found in Suburbia were the nerds, the people I truely identified with, me and my friends were the future Bill Gates of Novato.
After my freshman year of highschool my parents divorced, and I moved down to Santa Cruz with my mother. I began doing independant study, and going to Cabrillo College, taking German for my highschool language requirement. I love the German language, and went to the country for a couple weeks when I was 16, which I still treasure. I got my CHSPE after a semester or two at Cabrillo, but continued with my independant study, and got my actual diploma at the end of my Junior year of highschool. Then I was officially in college. College for me as been a lot of change, changing schools, changing cities, and changing majors. I've ping ponged around the bay, majoring in Creative Writing, Psychology, Digital Photograpy, Marketing, and finally Political Science. (That's just my majors, I've dabbled in far more than that.)
That's most of the important facets of my life up to this point, at least academically/socially. There are countless more stories to be told, but they will be saved for another day. For now, let me bounce back to the topic of this blog. You are best to notice as soon as possible, I tend to write free-flow and just let the words come out, sometimes I tend to return to previous topics, circling around in somewhat chaotic but logical leaps. It's a quirk of mine. Expect this blog to be updated at least once a week, though probably more likely to be updated once every day or so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)