Why the West is Slowly Sinking

Why is the Western world slowing losing influence globally? The short asnwer is an over-reliance on large regulations to "fix" everything. In this article from the Wall Street Journal, Mark Steyn discusses the trend in more detail. The book he references, Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift, is now on my reading list.

It's interesting to me the idea of men giving up their freedom of choice is not a new idea. The books author Paul Rahe references thinkers almost two hundred of years old, yet still relevant. What we see in the West is a soft slide to more state intervention and control. No major event or revolution, just an apathetic slouching towards control by the few.

Seems Devo was right, "Freedom from choice... It's what you want."

Progressives Need a Lesson in Proper Rhetorical Use (and History)

Revisionist ideas of what a 'war criminal' is usually come from the "Progressives" on the left. Typically, Liberals decry any kind of violence and hold sanctity of life holier than all else (except for freedom to abort, but that's another post). Anyone who even hints that some people, because of their actions against our country, do not deserve the judicial privileges American citizens enjoy are hounded and bothered, even at their homes. Mind you, this is not because the person has done anything illegal, they simply have voiced opinions that are not consistent with the "Progressives'" ideas of what is right.

Hyperbole and sophistry are familiar territory for Liberals. Thus it is easy for them to label any slight as a "war crime." However, when you look at the facts of a situation, you will usually see a much different perspective. For instance, this Pajamas TV video relating to the "war crime" of using nuclear weapons on Japan. The facts look at little different than those expressed by John Stewart on his comedy show.

Hat Tip - Hot Air

Creativity is Needed Everywhere

TED is AWESOME!! 

What I took away from this talk was that curiousity and creativity are present in both the arts and sciences. Without creativity in the sciences, some of our most important discoveries wouldn't have been made. By the same token, art can benefit from the application of scientific knowledge.

The first video seems to work well in tandem with this presentation. This speaker's arguement is for the need to help foster creativity. This means stop crushing creativity. It's only by taking chances that people can really learn; and creativity is crucial in taking chances.