Cowboy Confessional

Reading over the latest IPCC drivel, the “Fourth Assessment Report”, I come to an interesting claim — that 30% of the of the Earth’s species face an increased risk of vanishing if global temperatures rise 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

The formerly sane Greenpeace said “This is a glimpse into an apocalyptic future.”

Given that global temperatures have risen nearly four degrees since the early 1800’s, what species have vanished due specifically to warming or related phenomenon?

If you hear only crickets in the background, then we know of two species that are doing just fine.

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Syria:

• * In war with Israel in 1948
• * Military coup in 1949
• * Coup d’état in 1951 
• * Coup d’état in 1954
• * Aligned with the Soviet Union in 1957
• * Military coup in 1962
• * Coup d’état in 1964
• * Military coup in 1966
• * Air attacks, heavy artillery, three divisions with some 1,400 tanks against Isreal in 1973
• * Occupation of Lebanon in 1976
• * Assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005
• * Sign military agreement with Iran against the U.S.

Now Nancy Pelosi says “… the road to Damascus is a road to peace …”

Nancy, come home.  You left your medication here.

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The L.A. Times in 36 column inches of overt obviousness noted that drug users are flakes.

More specifically, a taxpayer approved boondoggle to provide rehab to convicted drug users has failed in spectacular fashion because … go figure … convicted druggies failed to show up.  A full 25% never find the treatment center to which they were assigned, and 50% never complete their programs.

The breathlessness of the report belies one of the problems with journalism, especially as it is practiced in 21st century America — that even perfectly plain and self evident concepts must be presented as unfolding tragedy.  The Times could have easily penned an article stating “the sky is generally brown in Los Angeles” and surprised as many people.

Which one of us would not have guess that dopers would be unreliable, aside from the millions of California voters gullible enough to vote for Proposition 36.  Once again misguided compassion ran interference for reality with taxpayers footing for the offensive.

The simple and oft overlooked alternative is to decriminalize drug use.  There is no constitutional mandate to be our brother’s keepers, and frankly anyone doltish enough to dope themselves does not deserve public assistance of any variety.

More to the point, we encounter the odd issue of the compelling lack of interest that government has in preventing self medication.  All excuses for this invasion of private life are tangents, such as reducing robberies and other allegedly drug related crimes.  But like gun control arguments, this lumps people who do no harm to others (i.e., dopers who don’t steal) with the criminally minded.

That is the start of fascism — when the projection of moral right against the broad and mired swath of citizens comes at the end of a government gun.  California voters would do well to remove Proposition 36, and push for decriminalization.

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