ahhhh, ahhhh, ahhh . . . ahhh . . . well. ahhh. . .

1925-2008
a true conservative voice departed today. william f. buckley, jr.’s conservative voice crying from the wilderness of the current political landscape will be missed. godspeed

the new era of 'shine

this week an out of control republican mississippi senator, john read, attempted to introduce legislation that would ban obese folks from restaurants. yep, those who are for the expanding the nanny state are attempting to regulate YOUR food. this follows closely on the heels of the rights of smokers and business owners being trampled to death by the health nazis. everyone in america should have the right to eat whatever they want whenever they want it. in fact, if i should have the right to walk into a fast food joint, order up 50cc’s of liquefied hog grease and mainline it directly into my fourth valve. when they out-law different types of food (and don’t kid yourself – it’s coming. for doubters go look at the history of how the government took down big tobacco), i’m going to buy a mint 1968 plymouth road runner with a 426 nitrous powered hemi, load that bad boy down with whoppers and shipley’s donuts and camel cigarettes and unfiltered marlboro reds and hit the road to seek my fortune. all this is to say that one of my favorite childhood memories was hearing my southern baptist preacher of a daddy play the guitar and sing a sweet ballad of a song who’s remnants have stuck with me over the years. and thanks to the sheer genius of youtube, i’ve gotten to hear the song again, in it’s entirety, as an adult. ladies and gentlemen – embrace mark collie’s ballad of thunder road as the anthem against the health police. as always - thanks pappa bear!

something that (almost) makes sense!

amidst a world where the fictional “reality” of video games and television and movies predominately shape our views of the world, west virginia has decided to consider “a bill to teach schoolchildren how to handle a gun and hunt safely . . . . ‘Hunting is an economic and cultural thing and we have seen a decline of hunting licenses over the past years.’” Hunting is indeed one of the single most potent activities that can shape america’s future for the better. it leads to family bonding. it teaches personal responsibility and the consequences of actions. it provides instruction on the nature of life cycles. it leads to respect of and for the environment. and, i think, it leads to a reverence and appreciation for something much larger and mysterious than oneself. the only problem here is that parents should be taking the lead in teaching hunting and gun safety to kids, not the government or educational system. this educational movement is indicative of the “nanny state” mentality we’ve become all too comfortable with in america. the government should not have to provide firearms education to kids (or sex education, or social/behavioral skills, or religion, or numerous other facets of life one should learn at home). nor should we be comfortable or willing to turn that education over to strangers in the marketplace. parents need to be the ones out front, leading the charge of developing well rounded kids.