Take back your rights!

Blog of personal philosophy, advocating liberty.

Monday, September 26, 2005

They eat horses, don't they?

"Why Belgians Shoot Horses in Texas For Dining in Europe" is the headline on a story in the Wednesday, 21 September, issue of The Wall Street Journal.
Among the points made by writer Mary Jacoby is the whining by some people in their horror that some people, furriners mostly, don't just ride them and keep them as pets but (gasp!) some people actually EAT horses.
For Pete's sake. Haven't they ever heard of filly mignon?

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Has Thomas Sowelled us out?

Once again my heart aches as one of my heroes, columnist Thomas Sowell, once again seems to be endorsing the fascist state.
In a column of late August, he makes several remarks in his usual intelligent fashion: "Someone once said that a fool can put on his coat better than a wise man can put it on for him. The implications of that undermine most of the agenda of the political left."
And "What is more frightening than any particular policy or ideology is the widespread habit of disregarding facts. Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey put it this way: 'Demagoguery beats data.'"
In fact, almost every comment in that "Random thoughts" column is a gem, of varying worth, but he almost negates it all with this: "One of the few encouraging signs to come out of France has been the ban on head scarves in schools there, despite protests these are traditional among Islamic girls. No one has a right to come into someone else's society and insist on playing by the rules of some other society. We in America need to understand that as regards language, among other things."
Such a strange, may I say ridiculous, comment is so unlike what I remember about Thomas Sowell, I wonder if he perhaps is on medication of some kind. If he perhaps needs some medication.
His opposition to religious freedom, his support of anti-freedom fascism, is, frankly, downright shocking.
The old Sowell would have suggested, rather than more state regimentation, that the Islamic girls attend private schools or be home schooled (and that if there ain't such a thing in France, then they should start it).
A few years ago, during one of his Harold Stassen-like presidential campaigns, Ralph Nader was on a C-SPAN show and was asked about a comment Dr. Sowell had made.
Nader sneered, in his expressionless way, to the effect that Sowell had made many mistakes in his public utterances over the years.
Well, up to that time, Sowell had made about one-millionth as many mistakes as Nanny State Advocate Nader had made.
Nader hasn't improved much, but Sowell seems to be declining in rationality. I hate to see it.

Ill wind

Second only to the death and destruction brought on by the floods after the federally non-maintained levees broke is the horror of the inevitable increase in federal intervention in everything.
Eventually we will, I fear, look back on the death and destruction as, in fact, a minor part of the harm from Katrina.
When our freedoms have been totally eroded, when government and its accompanying bureaucrats and thugs have taken over even the most private aspects of our private lives, we will still mourn the dead, but in some ways we might even envy them.