Best & Worst Of 2006

I was going to make up a Best & Worst list on my own but I decided that I'd like you all to make some of those nominations for me.

Post it in the comments. I'll post them New Years Day.

It's Almost Hanging Day

Well folks, it's almost hanging day for our good friend Saddam Hussein.

Iraq denied Hussein's appeal and ruled that he must be hanged some time within the next 30 days.

Not that I don't think the rotten bastard should die but I'm curious about the ramifications of his execution. More than likely, given the Islamic mentality, it will spark new waves of violence in every faction. This also will also lead to more American deaths.

The Jihadists will make a martyr out of Hussein even though he was a secular Muslim. None of this should come as any surprise though if you've been paying any attention at all to what's going on in the so-called "War On Terror."

Who are we conducting this war on? Most of the world's terrorists are Muslims but it's not a war on Muslims? Really it's more like a war on national sovereignty since many of our rights are being abrogated in the name of this war.

Three Cheers For Zucker

You've gotta love David Zucker, the creator of the Airplane series as well as the Naked Gun movies.

This comparison to negotiating with Hitler is spot on!

It's About Time

Congress passed legislation on Saturday morning that created an exemption for the United Way to give about $1 million to the families of 5 firefighters that died in the Esperanza fire here in SoCal in October. Tax exempt organizations are normally not permitted to accept donations for individuals.

This is important for the simple reason that it proves that Congress has power to enact legislation that makes sense for the people. Not only can Congress override the IRS, they can also override the Supreme Court! Why they haven't been doing that already, I don't know.

There is a trail of bad SCROTUM SCOTUS decisions that should be over turned by Congress. Roe vs. Wade is chief among them. The Kelo decision should be next. Then Congress should scale back the Interstate Commerce Clause which has been used to abuse our liberties for years.

Next time you hear politicians say, "Hey, there is nothing I can do, I'm just going by the rules," remind him that Congress does have power. There are 3 branches of government and they each serve a different purposes. As things stand now, the Supreme Court has claimed ultimate authority over all law and frequently makes law rather than interprets it.

Why Not Go After "Big Alcohol"?

There have been lots of lawsuits in recent years against the tobacco industry, the gun industry and now the food industry. Why hasn't anyone gone after the alcohol industry?

Not that I think anyone should go after them but people choose to drink. Furthermore, alcohol is designed to intoxicate and going by court judgments of recent years, that ought to be enough to set them up for massive liability damages in everything from drunk driving deaths to accidental pregnancy. Refer to the song "Alcohol" by Brad Paisley for other side effects of booze.

So why does that industry seem to be immune? Is it because Prohibition was so thoroughly discredited that no one dares go after them? Were they assigned some sort of Congressional immunity some time in the past?

I'm open to your theories, let me know what you think.

TransFatHeads

The New York City Board of Health voted yesterday to ban artificial trans fats from all restaurants in the city.

There is no doubt that trans fats aren't exactly GOOD for you, but are they really all that bad? It doesn't matter though, let people choose for themselves. The overall public doesn't seem that concerned with the amount of trans fat in their diet. The FDA estimates that we consume an average of 4.7 pounds of trans fat each year. That works out to be .012 pounds each day. A minuscule amount really.

The city of New York is going to impose a cost of millions of dollars on the private sector so that people who are eating out in the city consume a little less trans fat.

How could this possibly be a concern of a local government? If they can do this, where does it end? How long before they start telling us what we can and cannot cook in our own homes?

Remember folks, the very nature of government is to accrue more power to itself. It is up to us to keep it in check. What have you done for liberty today?