He says that the subdivision of property make it impossible for everyone to farm indefinitely. This is irrelevant to the discussion, because there’s more than enough room for everyone to farm if they want. But we aren’t arguing that everyone should farm (and I don’t want to!), we’re arguing that our food system oppresses the poor here and abroad and needs a complete overhaul.
There is much to deride in so-called sustainability. Permanence or tradition might be a better word with less baggage.
Time for less reductios and straw men, and more engagement with the economic and political issues that under-gird this discussion.
Found the anti-libertarian Sun King article from Dr. Leithart challenging.
Also appreciated this tweet from Pastor Wilson: “A pastor is called to be a garden wall, not the biggest vegetable in the garden. If no wall, and he is biggest, the deer just eat him first.” Is it anti or pro vegetable? Discuss.
I haven’t written something in forevs, so here’s the new newness: Don’t Read the News! My favorite bit o’ bs from it: Liberal bias is to be expected in the news, because the news prioritizes change over permanence, and that’s hostile to a conservative outlook. Like everything I do, I mean it all with an almost painful sincerity.
“We Alaskans are living with the changes that you are observing in Washington,” she said. “The dramatic decreases in the extent of summer sea ice, increased coastal erosion, melting of permafrost, decrease in alpine glaciers and overall ecosystem changes are very real to us.”
Why this 180? Palin says we need more gas drilling. In Alaska. In the same Alaska that recently saw its projected 9 billion dollar budget surplus turn into a 1.65 billion dollar shortfall. There is, of course, no correlation between falling oil prices and Palin’s newfound belief in the necessity of global warming-induced natural gas production.
That picture almost speaks for itself. From the National Post:
A South Korean parliamentary committee on Thursday introduced a free trade bill with the United States, sparking a fight where sledgehammer-swinging MPs tried to break through a barricade of office furniture.
You can read the rest of the article here. And I must admit, I find that picture strangely satisfying. But do politicians even know how to use a sledgehammer or throw a punch? If this happened in Ottawa or Washington, D.C., I feel like the fight would turn into one huge slap-fest. Especially if Obama was involved.
I admit, there’s something perversely pride-inducing about hailing from a state with such distinguished politicians. We’ve got the best of the criminal class: Daley, Rostenkowski, Ryan, and now Blagojevich.
UPDATE (7:50 a.m.): The really staggering part of this story for me is the fact that Blagojevich is not charged with any of the fraud or acts of bribery that he’s committed over the past 4-6 years. He’s being charged with putting a for sale sign on the open Senate seat created by Obama’s presidential victory. This is incredible! Blagojevich has been under the most minute scrutiny for the past three years (thanks to the remarkable Patrick Fitzgerald), and he still has the audacity to try and profit financially from the Senate appointment.
For participants in tomorrow night’s soiree, check out this hour-by-hour guide to election night. Several states will have closed their polls by the time we congregate. We’ll jump in, in medias res-style.
Conservatives’ repudiation of Bush is part of their own self-denial. By pretending that he is entirely separate from them, they can delude themselves into thinking his defeat will not reflect on their own political future. But it will: Bush lacks a domestic policy, and the Republicans lack what Weber calls a “coherent national agenda,” because the conservatives, who provided both policy and agenda for the party over the last decade, are no longer capable of doing so.
Mayor David Miller spoke out yesterday, repeating his call for tougher gun control. He said despite this weekend’s violence, gun crime is down in Toronto from previous years.
I just don’t know what to say to that. Particularly when, earlier in the article, the man who opened fire in the bar was described thus:
Police yesterday issued an arrest warrant for second-degree murder for 24-year-old Kyle Weese.
Detectives told a press conference that Mr. Weese has an “extensive†criminal record and is well-known to the officers in the area.
“This is an extremely violent man with an extremely violent history,†Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux said. “My concern is not only for the citizens of the city but for our uniformed police officers… He should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.â€
I can only shake my head about this. Sadly, I see these kinds of stories at the Post time and time again. And it makes me wonder, just what can we do about it? Will we ever be able to dig past all the political BS and actually get somewhere where we learn to treat criminals as criminals and not merely as naughty toddlers? Don’t call me idealistic. Something must be done, and I don’t intend to stop mulling this over anytime soon.
