Katrina and the Housing Crisis - A Conservative Philosophy

The disasters of Federal policy seen in the handling of Hurricane Katrina and the mortgage crisis have one common origin: the faulty belief that there is no Federal role in the national affairs of the United States. It's time to admit it. There are issues that are too big to be left to one state or the short-sighted greed of our financial community to manage.

The Bush Administration's "let the state handle it" philosophy did so poorly by the residents of New Orleans that even third world survivors of a tsunami felt bad for them.

Now the stability of our nation's economy is in jeopardy because we had a Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, who believed in the same limited role of government. Coupled with a President content to experiment with state's rights at the expense of our poorest residents, and these disasters are the result.

Have we had enough of "I believe in the free market" and "I believe in state's rights" as an excuse for greed and inaction? Probably not. Because as soon as their interests are hurt, people will find a sincere big-government liberal in their souls.

The Fear Business

Be afraid.

Because fear is a billion dollar business in this country. 
After WWII ended, it started with the Cold War and that
helped make billions for the owners of the defense industry. 
It also contributed to not seeing the fall of the Soviets.
After all, a huge industry, and a lot of money, rode on it.

Then the Soviet Union broke apart.  Then crime became the
excuse to waste taxpayer money.  Then came 9-11.

What a bonanza!  And the monolith government contracting
companies got even more money.  Then came the Iraq War. 
Talk about war profiteering!  But God forbid we
have universal health care!  Or free college for everyone. 
Or well-paid teachers.

We, the United States of America, spend the bulk of our
money on fear. 

Delhi: Monkeys on the Payroll

For a mere $19 a month in bananas, larger langur monkeys are being used by the Indian government to chase away smaller rhesus monkeys that are causing problems at tourist sites and temples. The rhesus monkeys are also crowding around the entrance to a new subway and need to be chased away.

We take a lot for granted in this country. We don't have the fights with wildlife that other places do. I remember being in New Delhi and being told of the family of monkeys that live in the museum for the last few hundred years. We just don't have these problems.

The thought of monkeys in the lobby of an office building is cute, I'll admit. But you don't know these buggers. They throw things at you, try to steal your food and water bottles, and enjoy causing trouble. Then they laugh at you. Try dealing with that every time you enter your building.

So in bringing in other monkeys, the Indian government is setting itself up for trouble, I think. Who's to say that THOSE monkeys won't start to be a nuisance?

This reminds me of the wild elephants terrorizing villages in Africa. American animal rights people want those elephants to be safe from being killed. But then none of their children have been stomped to death by an elephant living on the edge of town.

There's a lot to be taken for granted in how we've tamed our wildlife. Sometimes I think we should let 1000 elephants loose in California and see how wildlife-friendly they are then.

If A Terrorist Lives ...

Most terrorists die a violent death. They die fighting the government they oppose, or they get killed by people in their own group, or they kill themselves. A few will be rerouted into crime.

But sometimes they live. We can see in East Timor what happens then. They run for office against each other. With speeches and rallies and icky promises and no ability to shoot your opponent. Not if you want to win the election.

Click on the title to this post to see an article describing what violent rebels turned politician looks like.