By Steve Erbach on Sunday, June 29, 2008 8:28 AM

The status quo I refer to is that of buying hamburger and brats at the grocery store and grilling out.  Seriously.

But that "status quo" is immoral, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

I confess: I was interested in the story that inspired this post because I get a bit of a charge out of seeing celebrities get a little more heat turned on them. But when the people turning up the heat are members of PETA, well, a pox on both their houses, is what I say.

PETA is simply taking advantage of the spotlight turned on celebrities to catch some reflected -- well "glory" isn't the word I'm looking for.

PETA has turned its metaphorical guns on Jessica SImpson -- someone I'm not sure I could identify in a lineup, but who appears to be famous. Simpson apparently earned PETA's devoted attention because she incautiously wore a t-shirt that read: "Real Girls Eat Meat", a dig at ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Friday, June 27, 2008 4:37 AM

From the latest newsletter of the Advocates for Self-Government:

Japan's Weird War on Waistlines

We've reported in the past on proposals to create "fat taxes" to penalize the selling or eating of politically-incorrect (i.e., high-fat or high-calorie) foods.

But now busybody bodyweight bureaucrats in Japan have gone way, way beyond that.

A new national law requires all citizens between the ages of 40 and 74 to have their waists regularly measured annually. That's over 56 million waistlines, about 44 percent of the population.

According to U.S. News & Worl ... Read More »

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By Steve Erbach on Thursday, June 26, 2008 6:20 PM

The 2nd Amendment is definitely something worth thinking about.  I've never owned a gun, but my strong feeling as time goes by is that, if and when I ever do acquire one, I would attempt to get one through "informal" channels.  Having to register something that I have the right to own seems to me like having to register my religion or my position on sustainable development.

My understanding of the Bill of Rights is that it carves out individual and states' rights and their associated areas of the law that the federal government may not touch.  The words "the people", however one capitalizes them, refer to people as individuals in every Amendment in the Bill of Rights where the term appears.

Attempting to limit "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" to ownership only insofar as "the people" are members of a militia is very odd.  Since the grammar assum ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 5:42 PM

By Steve Erbach on Monday, June 23, 2008 4:11 AM

James Hansen of NASA is shooting to become the man most likely to be mistaken for Al Gore.  Either that or he hopes to have his picture published in the next Funk & Wagnall's next to the definition of grand-standing:

Put oil firm chiefs on trial, says leading climate change scientist

· Testimony to US Congress will also criticise lobbyists
· 'Revolutionary' policies needed to tackle crisis

by Ed Pilkington in New York
Monday June 23, 2008

James Hansen, one of the world's leading climate scientists, will today call for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt about gl ... Read More »

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By Steve Erbach on Sunday, June 22, 2008 6:30 PM

I followed a link posted by one of the more colorful members of our local Ron Paul for President group. The link led to a blog entry by "Nathanael" titled "Ron 'The Poseur' Paul". Read it if you like. I lost interest before the end, especially when he brought up the following "gross failures" of the Paul campaign:

It is time to face the gross failures of his campaign. It is fact and not fiction that Ron Paul...

• Shirked his duty to the American people and violated his oath of office by not pursuing criminal indictments against the war criminal and traitor GWBush.
• Did nothing to pursue the reality of McCain being disqualified under the Constitution to be president.
• Publicly denied the obvious, root cause and core reality of America's neo-con attempt at global hegem ... Read More »
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By Steve Erbach on Sunday, June 22, 2008 7:03 AM

I've been looking at the global warming issue for so long that I've become convinced that no matter what we skeptics do ("skeptic" here meaning I don't believe that our activities are the major cause for global warming), the world governments will eventually figure out a way to make everything more expensive and onerous by imposing huge new environmental regulations on us to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.  But now there's hope...

This article from the UK Guardian was very heartening to read:

Poll: most Britons doubt cause of climate change

Juliette Jowit, environment editor
The Observer

T ... Read More »

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By Steve Erbach on Friday, June 20, 2008 4:40 AM

I was sitting in our car for a few minutes waiting for my wife and daughter to come out of the store the other evening.  I heard this almost subsonic, thumping bass line coming from somewhere.  Knowing that bass is omnidirectional, I didn't crane my neck around trying to locate it.  I waited a few seconds and, just as I expected, here comes a small, beat up car that's been tricked out in a sad sort of way.  That's where the thumping bass was coming from.  Windows closed, too; I couldn't hear any lyrics, if you can call them lyrical.

This time, though, I actually tried to figure out what the deal was.  I mean, we've all heard about the effects of subsonics on emotional state.  I figured that the producers of this form of rythmic atmospheric vibration (aka, music) must know that it messes with the emotions, too.  I couldn't detect notes, as in musical notes.  But it wasn't drumming; I'm pretty su ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Friday, June 06, 2008 5:18 AM

Jo Egelhoff wrote a piece on her FoxPolitics.net blog the other day dealing with the upcoming Foth Conference on Sustainability: Balancing People, Planet and Profit, June 19th at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton.

She started off promisingly with "What the heck is 'sustainability?'" I figured that she might add a bit more oomph to the subject by actually saying what she thinks about it.

I was disappointed, however, to read the tepid:

Whether or not you believe global warming is a real and proven phenomenon, advocates say sustainability makes sense on a purely fiscal basis. And I’m all for that.

The Foth Conference will focus o ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Friday, June 06, 2008 5:17 AM

Should the presidential primary season be shortened?

(published 9-Jun-2008, Appleton Post-Crescent)

Forget it.  It's one of the only things left that states can do on their own without permission from the federal guvmint.  Besides, it's about the only time when public vivisection is considered acceptable.  It's the highest (lowest?) form of human comedy.  There is no way that TV networks would go for a shorter primary season.  They thrive on scandals.  Differently than the tabloids do, of course, though the differences are evaporating.  The tabloids get lots of mileage out of celebrity infidelities, pregnancies, ugly clothes, etc.  The networks get to indulge their video paparazzi aspirations by hounding politicians.  For that brief ... Read More »