Happy Thanksgiving!

Lots to give thanks for this year. Just a few...

I got to keep my wife. She had a golf ball sized tumor completely removed from her head in April and is almost 100% now. Thanks to the surgeons who performed and developed the procedure. 30 years ago, they would not have attempted it and she would have died a slow and horrible death. 20 years ago, there was a 40-50% chance she would have died on the table. 10 years ago she would have probably come out of the operation with some of the tumor still left in her head and major facial paralysis. To those Luddites out there who think that we should have never come out of the trees and started banging rocks together: Up yours... sorry... that’s not in keeping with the sentiment of the day. Best of the season to y’all!

Islamic Fascists are on the run. Bush43, that borderline retarded oaf born with a platinum spoon in each of his orifices somehow has bumbled his way to keeping the US free of another 9/11. It’s gotta be providence or coincidence. Couldn't be the result of thoughtful policy effectively implemented.

The economy is rebounding big time. Not attributable to either major political party. It is what it is. However, the timing is wunderbar. 4 more years of George W. and, as a result denizens of the 9th century either dead or hiding in caves where they belong.

Most of the younger generation gets it. The "Class of 68" are the old fossils now. Since 9/11, their ideas and ideals ring hollow. More college students are questioning their elders and better's wisdom. Goodie! Look what's come home to roost. Did we say “question authority”? What we really meant was question those evil capitalists' authority.

Anyway, have a safe and happy holiday. My wife and I will be in San Francisco this weekend celebrating our 22nd anniversary. I hope to have some interesting posts from deep inside enemy territory.

Wish I had a Birdcage...

...'Cause I've got the liner. Let's take a tour of the Register's Opinion pages today.

First Editorial: Schools go begging - literally. Oh no!!! The schools are going to crash and burn. We just can't provide an education to kids at over $8,000 a head a year. Mo money.

Second Editorial: Now, undo the damage. That new Medicare bill is the devil's work. I agree... but probably not for the same reasons as the Register Editorial Board...

Et Cetera: The ginseng war: Those darned dietary supplements may not hurt, but they may not help. Government regulation now!!!

Rekha: Thanks... from Al Queda to Zimbabwe. All right, all right, that’s not really the title. Happy Thanksgiving you overfed, American, war mongering Nazi scum. (Fisking to follow)

Guest Communist... I mean Columnist: NAFTA. Decade of devastation for workers. The quest for profits kills. Workers of the world unite! But not by trading goods and services freely across boarders.

And last... and most certainly least...

Tom Harkin: Medicare bill is a betrayal on all counts. Yeah... we just don't do enough for those seniors. It's mere coincidence that folks over 60 went from the poorest age demographic to the richest in 40 years. Betrayal! Betrayal!

Now, that's editorial balance!

More on Gay Marriage

In response to my piece on Gay Marriage, "Dang" comments:

If the defintion of marriage is open, the I will restate the position if G. Will Sunday

Under what basis do you stop polygaomy or incest. Again use the same reasoning that MA court used.
The biggest question? Why are only 4 people in MA making this decission. I can see thousand of issues that are not mentioned in the constitition and fall under the 'dont bug me I wont bug you' catagorie. Wher do we stop.

It seems to me the courts are running roughshod over our legslative branch and or elected representative are willing to let them.

This started with the abortion issue and has morphe into this.

If I can have an abortion due to my right to privacy than why can I not grow pot in my back yard.

Private property rights are at least, if not , more important than the right to privacy

Okay "Dang".

Without a doubt, the decision was an abuse of judicial power. No argument from me there.

However...

I swing libertarian. I think that you SHOULD be able to grow pot in your back yard without fear of ski masked government agents violating your property rights. And... you should also have the right to form social/economic unions with whatever consenting adult you choose. Polygamy... polyandry... group marriage... it's none of the government's business.

Where do we stop? Where direct tangible harm is directly caused by one of the individuals involved to another. Not emotional harm… economic or physical harm. You know... assault, fraud, theft, robbery, forcible rape, murder. Anything else is a null argument. Reasonable, right thinking people 40 years ago argued that interracial marriage was unnatural and should be prohibited by government power. Why don't we see that as the start of the slippery slope? Why not the liberalization of divorce laws?

Okay, incest with minors should be a felony... hey... it already is! But, I do think that we need to throw the full weight of the government against the rash of brother/sister mother/son father/daughter marriages currently in vogue.

"Dang", Property is liberty. Privacy is liberty. Don't want to shack up with your first cousin... don't do it.

And… I try to be consistent in this point of view. There is a strong governmental incentive for the proponents of gay (and eventually other forms of alternative) marriage to seek entry into the institution. Look at the tax law (if you have the stomach and time). The government actively subsidizes marriage. Even though I am a beneficiary of this government social management, I find it heinous.

If the federal and state governments did not attempt social engineering through the tax code, this would be much less of a public issue. And that would be all for the better.