Got 48 Minutes

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Got 48 Minutes?

If you do, I strongly urge you to watch this YouTube video:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc&hl=en&w=425&h=344]

Yes, I know, it’s Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women and she was AlGore’s instructor on how to be an “Alpha Male” during the 2000 election cycle. She is also the author of The End of America: A Letter of Warning To A Young Patriot, and this video is on that topic.

It is an enlightening piece.

Ms. Wolf notes that there are ten characteristics of open societies that are sliding down the slope towards totalitarianism, using Russia, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy as her examples. Those 10 steps are:

  1. A hyped internal or external threat
  2. Secret prisons and torture of prisoners, sometimes with military tribunals
  3. The creation of a paramilitary force
  4. Surveillance of the general population
  5. Arbitrary detainment
  6. Infiltration of perceived opposition groups
  7. The targeting of key individuals
  8. Restraint of the press
  9. The recasting of criticism as espionage, and dissent as treason
  10. Subversion of the Rule of Law or the imposition of martial law

After watching her presentation, I understand better the fears of what most of us call the moonbat-left.

She’s not alone in seeing the building blocks of totalitarianism. The GeekWithA.45 long ago waved the warning flag:

We, who studied the shape and form of the machines of freedom and oppression, have looked around us, and are utterly dumbfounded by what we see.

We see first that the machinery of freedom and Liberty is badly broken. Parts that are supposed to govern and limit each other no longer do so with any reliability.

We examine the creaking and groaning structure, and note that critical timbers have been moved from one place to another, that some parts are entirely missing, and others are no longer recognizable under the wadded layers of spit and duct tape. Other, entirely new subsystems, foreign to the original design, have been added on, bolted at awkward angles.

—

We know the tools and mechanisms of oppression when we see them. We’ve studied them in depth, and their existence on our shores, in our times, offends us deeply. We can see the stirrings of malevolence, and we take stock of the damage they’ve caused over so much time.

Others pass by without a second look, with no alarm or hue and cry, as if they are blind, as if they don’t understand what they see before their very eyes. We want to shake them, to grasp their heads and turn their faces, shouting, “LOOK! Do you see what this thing is? Do you see how it might be put to use? Do you know what can happen if this thing becomes fully assembled and activated?”

Some, to be certain, see these things, and perceive the danger. Many of these, their minds and judgments clouded, act as if they had appeared new and pristine, and proceed to lay all of the blame, 100% of it, at the feet of the current administration, judges and legislators, not stopping to think that such malignity does not appear de-novo, and all at once.

It is human, after all, to assign blame for such things as the evidence of ill intention and malign design, and sometimes it is just to do so. We remind ourselves though, that it isn’t always the case, and that evil can also emerge unbidden from the sum of vectors, rather than the charting of a course.

Such sickness as this grows over time, years and decades. It accretes in lightless corners and in broad daylight in places where self-deception, man’s oldest enemy carries the day.

Alone, and in small groups, we sit in the shade and think, to find clarity. Some of the forms we see are plain as day, and others are ambiguous. We know that it is human nature to see patterns in the stars, to connect the dots. Often, the patterns we see are real, and sometimes, they are just constellations. We pause and check each bit of history, one at a time. We know that we cannot afford to be wrong.

The original machine designers warned us of this. They knew that the temptation would always be there, and they sternly warned us that assembling such machines, even with the best of intention was to court a cascading disaster.

But what Naomi Wolf neglects to include in her list of necessary ingredients for totalitarianism are the crucial ones, ones I’m not at all surprised she missed.

She’s right, the building blocks are all there. There is indeed cause for concern, even fear. But the two necessary ingredients she missed have been remarkably well described by others. The first by Eric Hoffer is a populace well prepared for a mass movement:

When people are ripe for a mass movement, they are usually ripe for any effective movement, and not solely for one with any particular doctrine or program.

And what group best fits that description?

The second is described by Jonah Goldberg in his definition of fascism:

Fascism is a religion of the state. It assumes the organic unity of the body politic and longs for a national leader attuned to the will of the people.

“A leader attuned to the will of the people.” Naomi Wolf cites Russia, Germany, and Italy as her examples of states that descend from what she calls “openness” into totalitarianism. But what she fails to note is that each had a strong, charismatic, and popular leader – Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini. She tries to portray G.W. Bush as such a leader, but the very idea is laughable. The same can be said for John McCain.

But The Obamessiah?

Yes, the Right has constructed many of the mechanisms of oppression, she’s correct. But she’s wrong if she believes that only the Right would put all the pieces together and use the resulting machine. Jonah Goldberg’s entire book is an explanation of how the Left has systematically redefined and mischaracterized Fascism as a right-wing phenomenon. Instead it is, as he explains in great detail, national socialism as opposed to international socialism.

At least she admits to understanding what the Second Amendment is really for.

Watch the video. Think about what she says (and what she doesn’t.)

I expect to see a LOT of comments to this post.

23 Is Old Enough

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23 Is Old Enough

Old enough to own a firearm. Old enough to get a CCW permit. But not in Manhattan. And not if you attend Columbia University. No, in that case you have no option but to rely on the State for your protection.

And the State failed a 23 year old woman, a student at Columbia and resident of Manhattan. And, like Linda Riss, she has no legal recourse against the state for that failure to protect.

Bad things happen to good people, but read what she had to endure:

Over many torturous hours, she had been repeatedly raped, sodomized and forced to perform oral sex, a prosecutor told a jury on Thursday. The accused, Robert A. Williams, 31, had doused the woman’s face and body with boiling water and bleach, forced her to swallow handfuls of pills and to chase them with beer, sealed her mouth with glue, and bound her wrists and legs with shoelaces, cords and duct tape, said the prosecutor, Ann P. Prunty. And now, Ms. Prunty said, he was asking the woman to gouge out her own eyes with a pair of scissors.

And so the woman, sitting on the floor of her studio apartment in Hamilton Heights and holding a pair of scissors between her knees — the blade pointing toward her face — tried to stop the suffering. She lowered her face to the blade, but turned her head at the last moment, trying to stab herself in the neck instead of her eyes.

The scissors slipped from her grasp, the suicide attempt failed, and the woman suffered several more hours of torture, Ms. Prunty said.

But wait, there’s more.

The woman survived the nearly 19-hour ordeal, which ended, Ms. Prunty said, when she used a fire started by Mr. Williams to burn the cords that secured her wrists to a futon.

Mr. Williams went on trial Thursday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, where he faces 71 criminal counts, including attempted murder, rape, arson and assault. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Could but probably won’t. Here’s his previous rap sheet:

Mr. Williams, who was homeless at the time of his arrest about a week later at the scene of a burglary in Queens, has a lengthy police record dating to his childhood, the authorities have said.

He was charged in a murder as a juvenile, though the outcome of that case is sealed, a law enforcement official said, and he spent eight years in prison for an attempted-murder conviction in 1996.

Why was this guy even on the street?

Here’s how he got her:

On the night of the attack, the victim, a month from graduating with a master’s degree, was at Columbia, putting the final touches on her résumé for a job fair the next day, Ms. Prunty said. When she arrived at her apartment building, she got on the elevator and found Mr. Williams inside, Ms. Prunty said. She rode with him to her floor, and could hear him follow her as she navigated the long L-shaped hallway to her apartment.

As the woman entered her apartment, Ms. Prunty said, Mr. Williams asked her if she knew where a Mrs. Evans lived. The woman stopped to answer.

“Her kind moment of hesitation would cost her,” Ms. Prunty said.

Mr. Williams forced his way into the apartment, Ms. Prunty said, put the woman in a chokehold, and slapped her cellphone from her hand. Mr. Williams slammed the door behind him, and “her Friday the 13th nightmare began,” Ms. Prunty said.

The anti-gun people tell victims to “give their attacker what they want.” He wanted her body. He wanted her to gouge out her own eyes. Instead, she attempted to end her own life.

How can anyone believe that it is morally superior to submit to a rapist rather than carry a gun and have at least the chance to shoot the bastard?

This could be you, your sister, daughter, wife, mother. Please, take a “Refuse to be a Victim” course. Learn how to spot the danger signs. Learn how to protect yourself, even if you are unable to be armed. Don’t let anything like this happen to you, or someone you love. No one should have to endure this. No one should have to deal with its consequences.

Bias? What Bias?

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First, CafePress rejects two of Tam’s quite humorous artworks. I disagree, but it’s a business, and they can do pretty much what they want.

But CNN? CNN is ostensibly a news service – one that prides itself on its “objectivity” and “fairness.”

It’s time to bring up my favorite media quote again. Unfortunately, Dianne Sawyer is not a CNN reporter:

“You know, I wanted to sit on a jury once and I was taken off the jury. And the judge said to me, ‘Can, you know, can you tell the truth and be fair?’ And I said, ‘That’s what journalists do.’ And everybody in the courtroom laughed. It was the most hurtful moment I think I’ve ever had.” – Diane Sawyer, Good Morning America, 7/12/07

(Application of the ClueBat™ is seldom painless.) But the point holds true nonetheless.

Now Ravenwood has discovered a bit of bias at CNN’s apparel store. Go look.

Quote of the Day

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Quote of the Day

We do not have to demonize the other side in order to have persuasive arguments. We don’t need to do it to feel right, because we’re not advocating that people’s freedoms be taken away. We’re the people who want to be able to keep shooting competitively with an AR-15s. We’re the people who don’t want to have to wait 10 minutes for the police to show up when seconds count. We’re the people who think our constitution means something. I think we ought to have the courage to be able to stand up to the other side, as fellow citizens, and say “Sorry, you’re wrong, and here’s why.” That is our power. The other side can’t do that, and it shows in how they approach the issue. – Sebastian, Snowflakes in Hell, The Root of Reasoned Discourse™

RTWT.

How in the Hell Did I Miss These

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How in the Hell Did I Miss These?

Via Breda:

‘Education’ Misspelled On Suburban School Diplomas

WESTLAKE, Ohio — A Cleveland-area principal says he is embarrassed his students got proof of their “educaiton” on their high school diploma.

Westlake High School officials misspelled “education” on the diplomas distributed this weekend. It’s been the subject of mockery on local radio.

Principal Timothy Freeman said he sent the diplomas back once to correct another error. When the corrected diplomas came back, no one bothered to check the things they thought were right the first time.

Publisher Jostens has reprinted the new diplomas — a third attempt — and sent them to the 330 graduates.

—

Ohio Grad Admits Plagiarizing Speech

CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — An Ohio teen has admitted he plagiarized the high school commencement speech he gave last weekend and has given up the title of class valedictorian.

Officials said Melanio Acosta IV sent the principal of Circleville High School in central Ohio an e-mail Wednesday acknowledging that he used part of a speech he found online and saying he didn’t consider the consequences.

His speech Sunday was titled “You Say Goodbye. I Say Hello” and was filled with references to Beatles songs.

Circleville Superintendent Sam Lucas said the district is deeply disappointed but encouraged by the 18-year-old’s confession.

Acosta’s mother, Ofelia, said the family is devastated but also describes the punishment as too harsh. She said her son worked hard to make valedictorian.

I wonder if Mr. Acosta was like Dominique Houston. Or worse, Bridget Green, who got an A in algebra, but failed the math exit exam – five times – even though she was her school’s valedictorian. A test that only requires a score of 35% to pass! I bet she “worked hard” too! Ms. Green scored an 11 on her ACT.

What I really wonder is if Mr. Acosta, like Ms. Green, also aspires to become a teacher.

How Long Until Another Rampage Shooting

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How Long Until Another Rampage Shooting?

One of the few things I agreed with Lefty blogger Markadelphia on was our belief that mood-altering chemicals have an association with “spree killings.” I believe, and have so stated, that a tiny percentage of the population is adversely affected by this class of pharmaceuticals, specifically the antidepressants known as “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors” (SSRIs) like Prozac and Zoloft. I think for a tiny percentage of people these drugs can unlock normal inhibitions and lead to severe violence. I think that the percentage is so small that it would appear in any study as “statistical noise,” but I also believe that there have been too many rampage shooters who have been on such medications for it to be mere coincidence.

So imagine my discomfort to discover that:

Data contained in the Army’s fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of U.S. troops taken last fall, about 12% of combat troops in Iraq and 17% of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope.

—

Given the traditional stigma associated with soldiers seeking mental help, the survey, released in March, probably underestimates antidepressant use. But if the Army numbers reflect those of other services — the Army has by far the most troops deployed to the war zones — about 20,000 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq were on such medications last fall. The Army estimates that authorized drug use splits roughly fifty-fifty between troops taking antidepressants — largely the class of drugs that includes Prozac and Zoloft — and those taking prescription sleeping pills like Ambien.

The one thing that helps alleviate my discomfort is this:

(S)oldiers — who are younger and healthier on average than the general population — have been prescreened for mental illnesses before enlisting.

But I have read LtCol Dave Grossman’s excellent book On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, and I realize that combat can have a mentally debilitating influence on the majority of combat soldiers.

So the question I have is, are our soldiers stable enough to withstand the effects of these drugs? I know our mental health screening efforts aren’t what they could be, given the example of Steven Dale Green, but I certainly don’t want another Green coming back here and deciding to end it all and take as many with him as he can.

I hope like hell the military is supporting and observing those who are on SSRI’s for changes in behavior patterns.

Fire Up the Music

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Fire Up the Music…

…the Brady Bunch will be dancing in the blood of a 4-year old as soon as they hear about it.

Once again, gun owners manage to be our own worst enemies:

Girl shoots herself with grandma’s gun at SC store

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A 4-year-old girl shot herself in the chest Monday after snatching her grandmother’s handgun from the woman’s purse while riding in a shopping cart at a Sam’s Club store, authorities said.

A witness, Lueen Homewood, said store workers grabbed first-aid materials off store shelves to help the grandmother as she cradled the wounded child near the store’s pharmacy, The (Columbia) State newspaper reported on its Web site.

The girl was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and was recovering Monday afternoon after surgery, said police department spokesman Brick Lewis. Hospital officials would not release her condition after the operation.

Lewis said the grandmother, Donna Hutto Williamson, has a permit to carry a concealed weapon and the purse containing the small-caliber handgun was in the cart near the child. The 47-year-old Williamson, of Salley, was not immediately charged with a crime.

Read the rest of it.

Stupid, STUPID, STUPID. Does she leave the child around insecticides or drain cleaner? Does she carry medications in that same purse? Doesn’t she know better than to leave a young child like that with access to dangerous materials?

Tom McClintock for House of Representatives

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Continuing the education theme, California State Senator Tom McClintock is running for national office, U.S. Representative for California’s 4th District. He handily defeated the well-financed campaign of former Congressman Doug Ose 54%-39% in last Tuesday’s primary by running against earmarks. Good for him. McClintock also ran for Governor during the recall election that saw Arnold Schwarzenegger attain the office. Too bad he couldn’t have won that one.

But the reason I’m writing this post is to republish something he wrote in 2005:

A Modest Proposal for Saving Our Schools

The multi-million dollar campaign paid by starving teachers’ unions has finally placed our sadly neglected schools at the center of the budget debate.

Across California, children are bringing home notes warning of dire consequences if Gov. Schwarzenegger’s scorched earth budget is approved – a budget that slashes Proposition 98 public school spending from $42.2 billion this year all the way down to $44.7 billion next year. That should be proof enough that our math programs are suffering.

As a public school parent, I have given this crisis a great deal of thought and have a modest suggestion to help weather these dark days.

Maybe – as a temporary measure only – we should spend our school dollars on our schools. I realize that this is a radical departure from current practice, but desperate times require desperate measures.

The Governor proposed spending $10,084 per student from all sources. Devoting all of this money to the classroom would require turning tens of thousands of school bureaucrats, consultants, advisors and specialists onto the streets with no means of support or marketable job skills, something that no enlightened social democracy should allow.

So I will begin by excluding from this discussion the entire budget of the State Department of Education, as well as the pension system, debt service, special education, child care, nutrition programs and adult education. I also propose setting aside $3 billion to pay an additional 30,000 school bureaucrats $100,000-per-year (roughly the population of Monterey) with the proviso that they stay away from the classroom and pay their own hotel bills at conferences.

This leaves a mere $6,937 per student, which, for the duration of the funding crisis, I propose devoting to the classroom.

To illustrate how we might scrape by at this subsistence level, let’s use a hypothetical school of 180 students with only $1.2 million to get through the year.

We have all seen the pictures of filthy bathrooms, leaky roofs, peeling paint and crumbling plaster to which our children have been condemned. I propose that we rescue them from this squalor by leasing out luxury commercial office space. Our school will need 4,800 square feet for five classrooms (the sixth class is gym). At $33 per foot, an annual lease will cost $158,400.

This will provide executive washrooms, around-the-clock janitorial service, wall-to-wall carpeting, utilities and music in the elevators. We’ll also need new desks to preserve the professional ambiance.

Next, we’ll need to hire five teachers – but not just any teachers. I propose hiring only associate professors from the California State University at their level of pay. Since university professors generally assign more reading, we’ll need 12 of the latest edition, hardcover books for each student at an average $75 per book, plus an extra $5 to have the student’s name engraved in gold leaf on the cover.

Since our conventional gym classes haven’t stemmed the childhood obesity epidemic, I propose replacing them with an annual membership at a private health club for $39.95 per month. This would provide our children with a trained and courteous staff of nutrition and fitness counselors, aerobics classes and the latest in cardiovascular training technology.

Finally, we’ll hire an $80,000 administrator with a $40,000 secretary because – well, I don’t know exactly why, but we always have.

Our bare-bones budget comes to this:

5 classrooms $158,400
150 Desks @ $130 $19,500
180 annual health club memberships @ $480 $86,400
2,160 textbooks @ $80 $172,800
5 C.S.U. Associate Professors @ $67,093 $335,465
1 Administrator $80,000
1 Secretary $40,000
24% faculty and staff benefits $109,312
Offices, expenses and insurance $30,000
TOTAL $1,031,877

This budget leaves a razor-thin reserve of just $216,703 or $1,204 per pupil, which can pay for necessities like paper, pencils, personal computers and extra-curricular travel. After all, what’s the point of taking four years of French if you can’t see Paris in the spring?

The school I have just described is the school we’re paying for. Maybe it’s time to ask why it’s not the school we’re getting.

Other, wiser, governors have made the prudent decision not to ask such embarrassing questions of the education-industrial complex because it makes them very angry. Apparently the unions believe that with enough of a beating, Gov. Schwarzenegger will see things the same way.

Perhaps. But there’s an old saying that you can’t fill a broken bucket by pouring more water into it. Maybe it’s time to fix the bucket.

How can you NOT want this guy in Congress? And if you liked that piece, read this one he wrote in 2001.

Still, we’re talking about California, the place that keeps electing Diane Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi. Yes, there are pockets of sanity in the state, but overall?

Think “Berkley.” I wish him all the luck in the world. He’s going to need it.