“What Constitution?” – TSA

Rand Paul is a U.S. senator. He refused a pat-down by the TSA and has been detained. He has to get to the Senate proceedings at 2pm.

Am I reading the U.S. Constitution wrong??? Doesn’t Article I, Section 6 say that Senators “shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place”.

Questions That Should Be Asked About Any War (from American Luminaries)

(These questions were all asked in relation to the War of 1812)

  1. What is the evidence that the protection of the country is the object principally regarded? (Webster)
  2. When it [the country] calls thus loudly for the treasure and lives of the people, what pledge does it offer that it will not waste all in the same preposterous pursuits which have hitherto engaged it? (Webster)
  3. In the failure of all past promises, do we see any assurance of future performance? (Webster)
  4. [I]s war the true remedy? (Randolph)
  5. Who will profit by it? (Randolph)
  6. Who must suffer by it? (Randolph)
  7. Will it render us more respected among foreign nations..? (Taggart)
  8. [Will it render other countries] less disposed to make encroachments on our rights in [the] future? (Taggart)

Daniel Webster: Senator of Massachusetts

John Randolph: VA Congressman

Samuel Taggart: Massachusetts Congressman

Canadians for Massachusetts Senator Webster

“Where is it written in the Constitution, in what article or section is it contained, that you may take children from their parents, and parents from their children, and compel them to fight the battles of any war, in which the folly or the wickedness of Government may engage it?”

- Senator of Massachusetts, Daniel Webster (opposing a bill proposing enacting a draft with eye towards conquering Canada)

MacArthur on Christopher Hitchens’ Fall From Grace

John R. MacArthur of Harper’s Magazine wrote a piece entitled How Christopher Hitchens Flip-flopped and Fell From Grace.

He says “My feelings about Hitchens—after he embraced the stupidity of invading Iraq—were confusion and disappointment. So disorienting was Hitchens’s conversion to war hawk that I hardly knew what to say, either in private to him or, for that matter, in public.”.

He continues: “I’ve heard it suggested that Hitchens switched sides for the ‘money’—that there’s simply more to be gained on the right than on the left and that even a deeply dedicated leftist can get lonely and tired, always out in the cold, always at a remove from power. My theory is that -he went mad ”

Then in regard to Martin Amis distancing himself from Hitchen’s position, MacArthur says “More than 100,000 corpses later, I think Amis had it right.”

NATO Supports Afghanistan

The Independent and Reuters have have pieces on NATO’s recent staements in regard to Afghanistan.

Here were learn a number of significant things:

  • The U.S. is currently spending $130 billion a year on Afghanistan
  • The international community is expected to support Afghanistan for years after ending the combat mission in 2014. Funding expected is in the billions of dollars.
  • The Karzai government in Afghanistan is likely to receive ongoing support of about $3-$4 billion a year from the U.S. and about $1 billion from other NATO nations.
  • Afghanistan is projected to require $7 billion in year in external assistance after most foreign troops go home in 2015. And it is said that it will take decades for it to recover.

Keep in mind too, that as a NATO member, Canada has not escaped this cost. According to independent estimates, Canada has spent something around $18 billion on Afghanistan.

A Literary Game of Who Am I? – Partially Answered

I posted a “Who Am I?” segment a couple days ago. The characters are literary figures mentioned in the Christians and Literature series. The terms are: No online research!

Nick Steffen  was the first person to guess all but one of these characters correctly. Person B remains to be identified. Can you guess who it is?

Person A – Daniel Defoe (guessed by Nick Steffen)

  • I wrote a piece of satire. The people I was satirizing thought it was quite good and supported their cause, so they promoted it. Then when they found out it was making fun of them, they pilloried me.
  • I died hiding from my creditors.
  • Three of my novels were about pirates.

Person B (Who is this?)

  • T.S. Elliot described my novels as “supernatural thrillers”.
  • I published the first major English-language edition of the works of Søren Kierkegaard
  • I was a member of the Church of England.

Person C – Robert Heinlein (guessed by Nick Steffan)

  • I coined the term “grok”.
  • My childhood was spent in Missouri.
  • I served in the U.S. Navy.
  • I ran for the California State Assembly in 1938

Person D – George Eliot (Guessed by Nick Steffen)

  • I was a lady going under the name of a man in order to ensure my work was taken seriously.
  • I was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era.
  • I wrote 7 novels.