Philosophical Detective

Uplifting

After writing about nothing but rot for as long as I can remember it makes a lovely change to present something good.

Go watch it.  It's a brilliant dramatization of the first part of Galt's speech.  Immediately made me want to go grab the book and read it through.  I hope whoever produced it goes on to do the whole thing.

I used to try to read the whole chapter in one sitting because it always expanded my mind in so many ways.  I haven't done so in a while.  In fact, I haven't read any Rand in a number of years.  I think I need a refresher.  Her clarity and benevolence are the antidote to the ruin of the world.

The Pig State Continues

I heard about this incident whilst listening to Michael Savage on the way home last night.

It sickened me to hear the audio.

Tonight on the way home I heard Sean Hannity laughing at the kid's screams.  He thought it was funny that the "little punk" got tasered for disrupting a speech.  He said he absolutely supported the police's right to arrest someone for disrupting a public forum and that he was only tasered for resisting arrest.

So I decided I'd better watch the video and see if it was a case of an out-of-control punk getting his just deserts or of police brutality.

Go watch for yourself.

Mr. Hannity brought up the old "argument" that free speech is not unlimited.  That it's illegal to yell "fire" in a crowded theater.

I'm bloody sick of that "argument".  That example is not about limits on speech.  It's about deliberately inflicting harm on fellow theater-goers by causing a panic.

Can you see this kid causing his fellows in the auditorium to panic and head for the exists?  What I see is someone being arrested for asking a question.  Then I see him being tasered for daring to question the pig's authority for arresting him.

It made me sick to my stomach.  Not as sick as hearing Hannity laughing at it, though.  That makes me want to start shooting.  I'm also sickened by the fact that the police were far outnumbered but no-one, not one person, came to the kid's aid.  Not even John Kerry, the hero of Vietnam.

The pigs are absolutely out of control in this country.  They're that way because we let them.  The first time a pig's word was taken as sufficient evidence for a conviction, traffic tickets included, we lost control of them.

I agree with Beck on this.  The most powerful person in the country is not the president.  It's every pig who has the power to ruin your life completely whenever they feel like it.  Just ask Derek Hale.

When I was growing up is was normal for those around me to refer to the police as pigs.  I always hated the term because I knew those who used it were only mad at the fact that someone was in the way of their criminal whims.

Now I find myself using the term more and more.  There's just nothing else to call "people" who do this.

OMG

This is just wrong in so many ways.  Holly and Idris made me promise that I'd never do this to them.

Poor pooches!

A Blast From The Past

This video of what Thatcher did to Britain in the seventies was a real blast from the past for me.

The industry of an entire nation was owned by the government: electricity, natural gas, petroleum, water, railways, airlines, cars, telephones, steel are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.  Each one was a monopoly backed by the power of the state.  Competition was verboten.

I'd forgotten the rolling blackouts as power stations shut down on odd-numbered days, the lines outside the bakers for a loaf of bread, the waiting list to have a telephone installed, the cars that fell apart within a couple of years, the delays at the railway station that were simply part of the system.

It all just seemed normal to me.  It makes me shudder to think how totally socialist the country was.

Of course, most of it was only pseudo-privatized but even that much turned the whole country around in only 10 years.

Equally obvious were the huge demonstrations by mobs of unwashed thugs, who were very scared at the idea of having to work for a living, that eventually led to Thatcher being thrown out on her ear.

The mob didn't want the responsibility that came with freedom, see?  It didn't matter that the food lines and waiting lists were mostly a thing of the past.  These people had an abundance of time and a hatred of the necessity to kill it; waiting around for their rations was very comforting to them.

So, it all began to go away and New Labour™ swept to power with the promise of a New, Third Way.  The Third Way was not the stultifying bureaucracy of Old Labor.  It was not the rapacious freedom of Thatcher.  No, this was a New Way.  This time, socialism would be made to work.  All it needed was a slick PR campaign and lots of other people's money.

(Incidentally, this is exactly what Bush II offered in the run-up to the 2000 elections.  Only he called it Compassionate Conservatism.  The sound of the right complaining at the huge growth of the FedGov over the last 8 years always makes me laugh.  What, exactly, did they think this phrase meant?)

Turns out it wasn't such a good idea after all.  Who knew?

Of course, this totally blows away my idea that things can't change through a politician.  Well, not really.  See, she was booted out because the people didn't want what she was offering.  That was my point with Ron Paul.  Even if he is what his proponents claim, the people ain't interested.

Hat tip: David Thompson

Biggles Learns to Fly

After years of wanting to learn to fly I finally managed to have a go last weekend.  I don't want to start the full program that will eventually lead to knowing how to fly but I decided to have a one-off for the time being, just to remind myself that it's something I intend to do.

There's a small airport a couple of miles from my house so I popped over last Saturday to see what it was all about.  When I got there my instructor was busily checking the plane: (click to embiggen)

I walked around behind him asking lots of questions like, "why are you doing that?", "why is it that color?", "what's this hole for?", "what do these do?", etc.  He seemed to take it well even though this just encouraged me to ask more.

After a few more minutes it was time to get in the cockpit.  I climbed in and realized I'd gotten in the wrong side so I got back out and started walking around until he told me I'd gotten it right the first time.  But, thought I, this is the driver's seat.  Then I saw that he had a set of controls on his side so I figured he'd be flying from there and I was sitting on this side just so I could see everything that was going on.

We sat still for a few more minutes as I pointed to each of the gauges and asked about its purpose.  Then he went through taxi and take-off procedure while I listened carefully.  At this point my crow was completely overloaded but I just kept on concentrating and hoping that some of what he said would stick for when I did this for real next year or so (subject to the approval of my masters in the IRS, of course).

Then he told me to push the throttle in and let go of the brakes.  I did so and started to wobble out of the parking spot and onto the taxiway.  I was excited and nervous.  I didn't think I'd get to have a go at any of the controls on my first try.  I weaved down the taxiway, trying to get used to the idea of steering with my feet.  It came to me pretty quickly as I remembered a similar set of controls from a go-cart I built as a kid.

When we got to the end of the runway and lined up the plane I thought he'd take over.  I was wrong.  "Off you go", he said.  "Gulp", said I.

So I pushed the throttle all the way in and gripped the controls as the plane picked up speed.  I wobbled it a bit as it got going but, whilst sweating profusely, I managed to keep it straight enough.  At the appointed speed I pulled back a bit and, suddenly, I was flying!  Wow!  The plane tilted over a bit as the rotation of the engine pushed it over in the opposite direction but I managed to remember what he'd said to do and, sort of, got it straightened out.

Then he told me to point it at a power station on the horizon and continue to climb until about 3,500 feet.

After that I spent about 40 minutes pushing the controls in various directions and combinations to see how they affected the craft.  It felt a bit like being on a boat, the way it bobbed on the air currents.  I kept asking him questions but we soon got to the stage where he was simply quoting the manuals rather than understanding what it was I was actually asking him.  Sigh.  I had hoped that this point would take much longer to reach than it does with every other instructor I've had, what with flying being so complex and all, but that wasn't the case, unfortunately.

So I shut up and continued to experiment with the controls.  All too quickly it was time to head back to the airport so I pointed it at Kennesaw Mountain and off we went.  At this point I started to get a little nervous again.  He wasn't going to get me to land the thing, was he?  That seemed foolish after only a few minutes behind the controls.  Thankfully, I was right and he took over just as we approached the end of the runway so I left my fingers on the controls to feel what he was doing as we fwumped back onto the tarmac.

Then it was my turn again as we taxied back to the parking spot.  At this point I realized I was pretty damp from the mental strain of keeping my poor, squawking crow going that long.  When I got out of the plane I also realized that my legs were a bit quakey.  Shaking the instructor's hand showed me that my arms were in a similar state.

So, I did it.  A bit nerve-racking but highly enjoyable.  I'll be doing it again just as soon as the feds decide to allow me to keep some of my wages.