January 20, 2011 – Daily Brief

Petz: While I generally agree with your points, it concerns me that some are assigning almost religious significance to the Constitution, which in my mind borders on idolatry.

I second that emotion.

Well if the Declaration states that our unalienable rights flow from the Creator…do you teach it or ignore it? How do you not give it religious significance?

Who gets to be the Creator’s interpreter?

Because the Declaration is a man made document…it is not The Bible, it is not Scripture, it is not God speaking to man. It is a document giving a snapshot of the religious language and leanings of its time, and while there are a lot of salient truths in the document, and while it has, relatively speaking, stood the test of time, it is not God’s Word. One thing I find disturbing about the whole Wallbuilders movement is that morality is measured against Barton’s (limited and uneducated) understanding of the founding documents, rather than Christians measuring their morality against The Bible.

Bible = Mythology

What a spectacularly useful comment, Nate. You’re changing minds!

Was I trying to change minds? I was just stating a stone cold fact.

A stone cold atheist fact…

Petz you are so full of it sometimes. But you are an alright dude.

It is not modest. For that price you could take an entire American History 101 class at COC. $26/unit times 3 units equals $78. I’m down for the Constitution but it should be viewed as a living document, a framework of governance, that has failed us in the past (slavery, Civil War) and will likely fail us again in the future. We modern day Americans determine what the Constitution means to us. The founders lived at the tail end of the Enlightenment, and while their work is foundational and important, they didn’t know everything and they, through the compromises they made, set us up to fail just four score and seven years later when 600,000 Americans spilled blood in the battlefields of the north and south. It took another 60 years for women to enjoy full rights, and another 30-50 years after that before blacks could become enfranchised. But by all means, go and have fun. Just don’t expect everyone to buy your “return to the roots” vision for the country.

The abolition of slavery in America was planted in the original document. The founders recognized their own frailty and established a means to amend their own document. You will learn more about the founding of this country in an afternoon spent with Wallbuilders than a semester at COC. If your time is worth anything, than you recognize value. Petz will even pay for Jeff to attend. That’s how Petz rolls.

And yet the abolition of slavery was purposefully excluded from the original documents. Purposefully. On purpose. Uniting the North with the South was more important than recognizing the humanity of slaves. Politics and not paying taxes was more important than the humane treatment of humans. Typing that out makes me think of the current political climate.

Do not forget the religious roots of the abolitionist movement while screaming about the “evils” of the founders, many of whom were slave owners. Today, abolitionists would be shouted down and discredited for the religious source of their views

I dunno about that, Petz. So many of the abolitionist documents still resonate with the general public today — _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_, _Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave_, _Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl_, and so many others. Even that movie about Wilbur Wilberforce, _Amazing Grace_. I think that human rights are human rights, and it doesn’t really matter who does the talking. Truth and justice ring true with everyone, eventually. Sometimes it is just a matter of changing the prevailing societal paradigms.

How many history class have you taken at COC?

Don’t for get the religious roots of the slaveholders, either. The good guys and the bad guys, the slaves and slaveholders, all prayed to the same god.

Dont forget to add the cost of the needed text books to that course. $100.00+

Not anymore. A history 101 course likely requires just one book that you can probably rent for the semester for $18, if it isn’t already available on Google Books.

Besides, the comparison isn’t even apt. What are Rick Green’s credentials to teach a one day history seminar? Let’s have a look: “Rick earned his B.B.A. in finance from Angelo State University, his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Texas School of Law, and serves as president of the Torch of Freedom Foundation (www.torchoffreedom.org). He is married, a father of four, and an entrepreneur who has built several successful businesses. Rick has a solid Biblical worldview and is an excellent teacher of how Biblical principles and Christian values relate to current events and every aspect of life.” So we have a lawyer with an undergrad degree in finance teaching a one day course on the Constitution for $50 vs a quality semester-long course in American history taught by someone with the minimum of a master’s degree in the subject, and quite likely a Ph.D for about $100. Oh but wait. I forgot. Professors are part of the liberal elite. Now it all makes sense. Petz, John Adams, are you students at Glenn Beck University also?

Obama graduated from Harvard Law School, was a p/t back bench law professor in Chicago and would not source unalienable rights to the Creator until shamed to do so. Joe Messina will get Jeff VIP seating and a meet and greet.

University of Texas law school is Tier One. That degree not to be taken lightly.

Rental is still $60 on a hundred dollar book from the book store. There are a very small selection of books that can be rented from financial aid for a few bucks but they are first come first serve and only to those who qualify.

Better rates from Chegg, and plus, Hist 101 type books tend to be less & widely available.

Jeff says: “We modern day Americans determine what the Constitution means to us”. Sorry Jeff, that’s not how it works. The 5 member majority of the U.S. Supreme Court determines what the Constitution means. Anyone else’s determination of what it means is just irrelevant opinion. Yesterday, 2 of the Supremes said that there is no right to privacy. Last week 1 of the Supremes said that the 14th Amendment’s text only applies to black men, leaving out women, Jews, and men of color who are not negro. (I guess that defeated Equal Rights Amendment was important after all.) Those of us who do worship the Constitution realize that America is only one Justice, and one Presidential election, away from the crazies on the Supreme Court having a majority.

Sounds like he is more than qualified to be President of the USA?

I wonder who knows more about the Constitution Rick Green or Rep John Lewis from Ga? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COTN349d-4Y (From his website) John Lewis holds a B.A. in Religion and Philosophy from Fisk University, and he is a graduate of the American Baptist Theological Seminary, both in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been awarded over 50 honorary degrees from prestigious colleges and universities throughout the United States, including Spelman College, Princeton University, University of New Hampshire, Johnson C. Smith University, Delaware State University Duke University, Morehouse College, Clark-Atlanta University, Howard University, Brandeis University, Columbia University, Fisk University, Williams College, Georgetown University, and Troy State University.

Really? You’re comparing John Lewis -who bled while trying to attain the rights promised to him in the Constitution- with Rick Green?

No not comparing them at all. It would be comparing a person that knows the constitution to one that does not have a clue.

Predator/Prey combo favorite: Rattlesnake & Rabbit Sausage … it’s good to be high on the food chain!

Hmmm, I might have to take the train so I can get the combo with several biers.

Did you read the Robert Reich piece? Any thoughts on it?

I thought it was an excellent article, and definitely something we show think about

that should be “something we should think about”

On balance, tailgating is a minus, as far as I’m concerned. It being there or not doesn’t make a team much more or less viable.

I agree on tailgating not being the sole deciding factor for an NFL team but being from Chicago, and having a stadium where they cant build out much more, isnt downtown LA landlocked? And where would they build it unless they are to tear down a few city blocks of buildings?

Don’t get me wrong – personally I enjoy tailgating before a game but in no way am I under the assumption that the NFL will be remotely concerned about this issue when deciding the next franchise city. I’m just having a “world according to me” moment.

I love when people make assumptions based on nothing.

Check out Mission College. Very close, down the 210, easier to get classes…nice campus, too ~

Totally agree 4eye. But when will they deal with the very real problem of public pensions, & illegal aliens?

Sue: If your kids are serious about pursuing an associate degree for eventual transfer they should have no problem since those folks are given a priority at COC. While COC does better than mean, remember that in the Community College system in California 70% of the students after two years have made no meaningful progress to an associate degree or transfer. Theoretically one could shrink the whole system by about 50% and not have a meaningful impact on people that are seriously pursuing and Associate or Bachelor’s degree.

I believe COC use to get $7000 a head from the state for every full time student a semester. The cuts have to come from somewhere and the cuts will get deeper if California votes against making up the other half of the deficit with taxes. Everyone talks big till the services they love and under appreciate go away. Frankly I would love to see Medicare and Social Security get yanked so I can watch all those sign holding socialist tea party seniors throw a bitch fit.

@Nate and as one of the baby boom generation and amongst those soon to be Social Security eligible persons who worked and paid into the system her entire life, I would like to see government benefits denied to all persons in the United States without legal authority to be here. They for the most part never paid into the system(s) from which they collect. Additionally, I would like birthright citizenship to require that at least one parent of a child born on US soil is in the country legally to end the practice of rewarding females from all over the world, who have reproductive capabilities, from abusing the generosity of the American people. Accomplishing both, will free up plenty of money.

I was talking about the evils of Socialism! Socialized medical is killing our elderly! They are slaves! We should free them of this evil so they have the liberty to pay for everything themselves like good Americans. Think about how much their self esteem will improve.

Nice, Nate. Let them pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, I say. Who needs socialized anything? I am a rock. I am an island. Get your own. :p

Good. And no more community colleges socialism either parents should pay the $7000+ a head to put a kid through college. Next go after those farmer socialization that gives us the .99 cent drive through hamburger!

While we are talking education, why not get rid of K-12? And unemployment payments? Food stamps, WIC, these are things we don’t need — let the hungry muster up their own grub! And disaster relief…sheesh! Who even accepted help from the government after the Northridge quake? Bootstraps, people, it is all about the bootstraps.

Well Nate, you have finally written something I almost agree with. Tea Party folks are not socialists, otherwise I would have agreed with your entire paragraph. I’ve said it here before, social security stinks… through your whole working life you pay into SS after your income is taxed and then you are taxed on your social security income (thanks Bubba Clinton).

If I was running the tea party we wouldn’t let anyone in who hasn’t denied their social security and Medicare benefits like a true patriot! Where is my snake flag! We need to take back the Republican party back from these liberal tea party phonies!

You are funny, Nate. Giving me a good laugh this evening.

Watched the launch. It was pretty cool. I have seen many over the years, but I usually don’t have advanced headsup. Thanks Jeff

Just imagine the work and the dreams that it represents and you will get the spine chills you seek.

The kids and I were standing outside waiting and watching — was it just a short, white contrail? I saw some folks at the corner gas station get out of their cars and look, too.

No apologies needed Jeff. It was pretty much what I expected from my perch in Van Nuys today. I found a sight that showed a live video of the launch, then went outside. While it was a “short white contrail” as Lori described, the fact you can see it from as far away as Vandenburg (2 hour+ drive) is pretty cool. It was after all the largest rocket ever launched from the West Coast. Thanks for the heads-up this morning.

I full on thought it was cool. The kids and I had some good discussions about it afterwards, too, especially tying in Petz’ green fuel info.

Why didn’t Jeff tell us about the launch yesterday? Drat. I totally would have driven my kids up to see the launch. You’re fired, Jeff.

Lori, Jeff can stay. I have seen contrails from previous Vandenberg launches, so I stood outside at the appointed time and several minutes later until my phone web search showed that the launch was well over. I saw nothing. The fresh air was invigorating though.

When they launch a military payload from Vandenberg AFB, the Air Force seldom provides much in the way of information about the thing riding the rocket. But yesterday’s inaugural west coast launch of a Delta IV Heavy from SLC-6 at Vandenberg was a big deal for US intelligence. The Delta IV Heavy is the only launcher capable of putting the largest spy satellites into orbit, and whether this was an optical imaging spacecraft of the KH series (think something that looks like Hubble, but looking down rather than up) or a radar-imaging or electronic eavesdropper, it was a class of payload that the US has not been able to launch from Vandenberg for almost a decade, since the retirement of the Titan 4. What’s the big deal about Vandenberg? Well, for those who never thought about it, the greatest coverage of the Earth by a recon satellite is obtained when the bird is in a POLAR orbit. With the orbit more or less fixed in inertial space, the planet rotates beneath, presenting all the world for viewing. You cannot do polar orbit launches from Cape Canaveral because of overflights of large populated areas. But Vandenberg, hung out on the westward extension of the California coast just north of Pt. Concepcion, is nicely placed to safely launch south over the Pacific into these high-inclination orbits. So it is safe to assume that an aging, or perhaps completely missing piece of America’s intelligence gathering assets is now being replaced by a new spacecraft which is now undergoing activation and checkout in orbit. I drove up the coast yesterday with my boss Tony Cook from Griffith, and we met up with LG member Linton Rohr at our improvised observing site. We’d decided not to go to the recommended spot at Surf Beach near Lompoc, because that would place us north of the pad looking right into the sun as the vehicle left the ground for the southbound launch. My original idea of using Jalama Beach Park was stymied by the closure of the park for the launch (It would have been primo, just 8 miles from the pad and about 6 miles off the ground track as the Delta climbed away, but was probably also in the debris impact area in the event of a catastrophic booster failure…) So, we went past Gaviota beach on 101, and caught US Rte 1 where it cuts off to the west towards Lompoc, running through the hills north of the base. We went about 9 miles in, and found a turnout that placed us looking towards the pad from the ENE, about 14 miles as the crow flies from the pad. That sounds like a great deal, but it beat Gaviota at 22 miles and gave a much better viewing angle. It helped that this placed us in a gorgeous pastureland setting, the hills blazing green with grass from the recent rains. At the appointed time, the Delta 4 cleared the ridge right in front of us, yellow flames and the three-barrel configuration clearly visible to the naked eye, and I watched in binoculars as it climbed out, trailing a short-duration contrail from perhaps 20,000 to 40,000 feet that largely disappeared thereafter. As it climbed out to our southwest and the aspect angle changed, we found ourselves looking up the exhaust nozzles, visible as three distinct yellow dots, and after about 3 minutes we lost the rocket in the sun. Just after though, we caught a pair of white plumes created by the tumbling, venting strap-on boosters as they fell away, below the sun from our vantage. Throughout, we were treated to what I really came for – the deep, low frequency rumble of almost 2 million pounds of rocket thrust driving a 23 story tall vehicle into the sky. I am, and will always remain, a rocket geek! Linton got some nice images that I hope he will post. Jim