American Republic Online

Halloween is just around the corner: here's a scary video courtesy of YouTube.  That's sure worth $1.6 billion.

Don't try to smoke in Omaha.  A new law wants residents to call 911 if they see someone smoking in public.  First offense: $100. Second offense: $200. Third+ offense: $500.  I'm glad I live in Tennessee, one of the few smoke police free states left.  What's next, scarlet letters for Big Mac abusers?

Just thought you cell phone addicts would want to know.

I wonder how many tax dollars they got to conduct this research?

A question was recently posed to me regarding North Korea and my views on the topic. My response is listed below.

Good question.  I agree that they probably wouldn’t attack us until we attack them.  Though the Gargoyle is probably more concerned with Russia: they would make South Korea an island and not think twice about it.  But that’s not really the issue though is it?  I mean, how many people do we let develop nuclear weapons?  Everyone is watching everyone else’s response, especially ours.  If we can’t settle North Korea down, who can?  It will open more doors for other aspiring nations.  But if we do make them into a “lesson,” we’ll need help, and the willingness of our people.  Herein lies the rub: diplomacy is only effective with the force of the military.  This is something many people fail to see. 

Why is the US, and not Portugal, in on all these “talks” and everything?  (We have no “real” interest in stopping NK from getting nukes.)  Because we typically have the power to back up our word.  But not now. We are stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush has lost control of his administration (and really the country too), elections are in a few weeks and the GOP may get decimated, but Bush still has 2 more years to fiddle around with maybe a Democrat controlled congress who will probably be intent on impeaching him.  We’re going to be twisted up domestically and militarily probably for 2 more years.  So what does that mean?  A window of opportunity.  And N Korea is taking full advantage of it.  We can’t really do anything about it, and no one else really cares.  

The other interesting issue here is that of multilateralism vs. unilateralism.  Bush was widely criticized for “going it alone” in Iraq (even though he had more support in NATO than France and Russia).  That’s not why Iraq is failing though: it’s because the war has been mismanaged.  (On the bright side, it would seem they are finally starting to realize that…) North Korea is different.  We went in with multiple parties: multilateralism.  But why?  Just for the sake of saying we worked with other countries?  What good does that serve really?  True, we could have prevented WW2 if certain countries had acted in concert instead of pursuing individual policies, and it helped end the Cold War.  But we are hanging onto it.  So now we have this idea of multilateralism to maintain the status quo.  That’s really the point isn’t it?  To band together, placing individual national interests aside to help stop rogue nations?  But it depends on every other country being satisfied with the status quo.  How many other countries are ok with their world position?  Japan, Russia, China, and S. Korea have all entered into the “talks” with North Korea, but they’re just for show. Nothing’s going to come from it.  Sure, we’ll hand down sanctions, but who’s going to enforce them?  North Korea is our example of how multilateralism can fail…

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Miles O'Brien defended global warming today by citing a bad fictional movie. 

Global warming is the new AIDS.  Remember AIDS?  Yeah, in the 90s it was going to wipe out the entire population of Earth if something wasn't done quickly.  Well, something wasn't done, and we're all here.  It's just the cause du jour.  In 10 years, it'll be something else, like the rampant cat population.  Now, there's a cause I can get behind…

Former Representative Mark Foley is now saying he was abused by a clergyman as a teenager.  I'm sure everyone else is having the same reaction as I did: your eyes are probably going to be permanently locked in the up-right position.  But this leads me to another point: these stories/accusations are becoming so prevalent that we react more against the messanger than the message. (note: this is not a vindication for Foley.) 

For example, the other day I was approached by a vagrant (urban outdoorsman for the politically incorrect) who asked me for some change.  I gave him a couple bucks, but was plagued with doubt regarding my actions.  Why was he out begging for cash?  We have been inundated with stories about how panhandlers make more money than working a job.  Was this true in his case?  Was he just trying to take advantage of people's generosity like so many of the Katrina evacuees did?  I'm then frustrated by my own cynicism. 

Or, take another example: protesting.  Having spent many years on college campuses, I have seen countless "protests."  Each time, the value I placed on them diminished: everyone is protesting everything.  They carry less and less weight.

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Finally! The record can be settled: Neil Armstrong did put an "a" in his famous quote.  The Smithsonian can now close its doors.