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Archive for May, 2010

Rand Paul – not Libertarian, just fringe, right-winger

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

Much has been written about Rand Paul’s recent statements where he is opposed to laws forcing private businesses to serve minorities, and has spoken up as a supporter of BP.

Supporters say he is a “libertarian.” But he’s not that either. He’s really just a fringe, right-winger with an inconsistent, somewhat loony mixed bag of personal opinions.

Some examples:

Issue	Libertarian Party statement of principles http://www.lp.org/platform	Rand Paul’s position http://www.randpaul2010.com/issues/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rand_Paul
Personal Privacy	We support the protections provided by the Fourth Amendment to be secure in our persons, homes, and property. Only actions that infringe on the rights of others can properly be termed crimes. We favor the repeal of all laws creating “crimes” without victims, such as the use of drugs for medicinal or recreational purposes.	Rand Paul says, “I do not support eliminating all federal laws or penalties on marijuana. I do believe, in general, that issues of crime and punishment are best handled at the state level.”
Personal Relationships	Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the rights of individuals by government, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration or military service laws.	Opposes same-sex marriage.
Abortion	Recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on all sides, we believe that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration.	Opposed to abortion without exception, and he supports a constitutional amendment to completely ban abortion.

doug

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Up

Friday, May 14th, 2010

The two-letter word in English which has more meanings than any other two-letter word is ‘UP.’

It’s easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list. But when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, many topics come UP.

If you want people to know what you are thinking you should speak UP.

In organizations officers are UP for election.

And it UP to the secretary to write UP a report.

We call UP our friends, brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.

We lock UP the house and fix UP the old car.

People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special!

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. It’s easy to get mixed UP!

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don’t give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.

When it rains, it the earth soaks UP the water. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP.

It’s bad to screw UP.

You can look UP friends in your address book..

One could go on an on, but I’ll wrap it UP, for now because my time is UP !

So I will shut UP.

Posted in English | No Comments »