China’s emergence as military power splits strategists on threat to U.S.

Portions of the D.C. P.C. establishment is up to its usual behavior and is steadfastly refusing to recognize that the ChiComs are posing a threat to us.

John Negroponte, the director of national intelligence, by contrast, stated in an annual intelligence threat briefing for Congress that China’s rise is similar to that of democratic India. He left out any reference to the threat to Asia or the United States posed by the military buildup.

This is just another reason why the Chief things that Negroponte is the wrong man, in the wrong job, at the wrong time. Coupled with recent reports on the continued lack of intelligence fragmentation under his “leadership”, the picture is NOT a reassuring one.

This is also being pushed by the State Department, but that’s just business as usual for them.

Some officials — who dominate the State Department and the intelligence agencies — consider China a nonthreatening state that will evolve into a benign power through trade and other global economic interaction.

On the other hand, the Defense QDR that has just come out fails to take so sanguine a view of the ChiCom situation:

The Quadrennial Defense Review report made public last week bluntly states that China is the greatest potential challenge to the U.S. military and is rapidly building up its military….The Pentagon report said the U.S. goal is to help China pursue peaceful economic development and political liberalization, “rather than military threat and intimidation.” It notes that Beijing is investing heavily in military force, “particularly in its strategic arsenal and capabilities designed to improve its ability to project power beyond its borders.”

Nothing like calling an ugly spade, an ugly spade!

On this one, Rumsfeld, as usual, has come down firmly on the side of reality:

According to Pentagon officials, early drafts of the strategy report made no mention of China because some officials argued that China’s rise was not strategically significant. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld rejected that approach and required the report to include references to China’s military buildup and the need for the U.S. military to respond to it.

At least not everyone in D.C. is stuck on stupid!

Germany flexes its muscles

Germany’s first Kanzler from the former East Germany might be expected to have a slightly more realistic view of realpolitik than the former (West) German socialist leader Schroder did. Judging by her recent remarks, this is one expectation that fortunately seems to have been met.

Germany is back. After eight years in which Berlin’s foreign policy consisted largely of niggling the United States, cozying up to Russia and off-shoring its European policy to Paris, newly-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel has signaled a 180-degree about-turn. In a hard-hitting and unusually blunt speech Saturday to the Munich Conference on Security Policy, the center-right leader sketched out an ambitious foreign and defense policy for Germany over the next four years.

“A united Germany is ready to shoulder more responsibility above and beyond the alliance area to secure stability in the world,” Merkel told relieved delegates, who have become accustomed to German statesmen querying U.S. policies or engaging in torturous debates about sending soldiers abroad.

It’s even better than that sounds:

The recently elected chancellor, who enjoys 80 percent approval ratings, reserved her harshest words for the radical Islamist regime in Iran. Adopting a muscular tone rarely used by German leaders, Merkel likened recent remarks of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in which he denied the Holocaust and called for Israel to be wiped off the map, to the rise of the Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. Stating that Germany had learned from its history, she said Berlin would not tolerate a nuclear Iran.

Merkel’s black and white view of politics is more reminiscent of her self-confessed hero Ronald Reagan than any of her recent predecessors.

THAT explains a LOT of this! The Chief’s heart is always warmed to see that the spirit of Ronaldus Magnus lives on!

She warned the extremist group Hamas, which won last week’s Palestinian Authority elections, to renounce violence and recognize Israel or face ostracism and even waded into the debate about Danish newspaper cartoons of Mohammed, saying Berlin stood by Copenhagen.

JAWOHL!

Boy pupil sues over ‘sexist’ US schools system

This is one of the main reasons why the Chief keeps going back to the UK’s Telegraph! Try to find THIS in the US MSM:

The fear of being branded a girly swot has long been cited as the reason some boys fail their examinations. Now this may be presented as evidence in an American schoolboy’s landmark lawsuit.

In a federal civil rights action brought this month, Doug Anglin, a 17-year-old lawyer’s son, is arguing that his country’s education system is institutionally sexist. He claims that American teachers push girls into top streams while discriminating against boys, creating an atmosphere in which boys inevitably fail.

Ooops! Not exactly P.C., is it? The Emperor (Empress?) has no clothes!

Muslim protests are incitement to murder, say Tories

The Conservatives last night called on the police to arrest militant Muslims who threatened Westerners with violence during protests in London over newspaper cartoons that mocked the Prophet Mohammed.

Looks like somebody over there made their tea a bit stronger, woke up, and noticed the Islamofascist sedition!

As fanatics – some dressed as suicide bombers – staged more protests yesterday, David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said the police should take action against what were clearly offences of incitement to murder.

What a concept! Hold people responsible for the consequences of incitement to illegality! What’s next?

At the height of the protests on Friday demonstrators chanted slogans threatening more London bombings, praising the “magnificent” 9/11 hijackers and waving placards saying “Massacre those who insult Islam”, “Europe you will pay” and “Europe you’ll come crawling when Mujahideen come roaring”.

Typical Islamofascist crapola. Yadda-yadda-yadda. Even worse than that was the official reaction:

Scotland Yard said a decision not to arrest protesters was taken because of public order fears.

It’s hard to believe that these people withstood the Blitz, and at one time held the empire that the sun never set on. As the Cheif noted in the previous post on the enervating effect of Blair’s version of IngSoc, it’s spokesman was true to form:

The Tory call for action is in stark contrast to the response from Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, who blamed foreign newspapers for stirring up the row by publishing the cartoons.

Oh well. What else could be expected, considering the source?

Blair: I’ll hand over to Gordon next summer

This development, along with the context of other political events and developments in the UK shows some signs of an unraveling of some of the strands of power that has been under the hand of Tony Blair’s Labor party for nearly 10 years.

Tony Blair’s closest advisers are working to a timetable that will see the Prime Minister hand over power to Gordon Brown next summer, the Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

While Mr. Blair has been largely steadfast as a welcome and appreciated ally of the US in Iraq and elsewhere, many of his other policies show the deleterious effects of the socialist attitudes of P.C. social and legal degeneration and authoritarianism “reforms”.

Ultimately, the demise of his regime could be a step at least in a relatively better direction for the UK, although the UK “Conservatives” have some problems of their own, just as our own GOP does, for that matter!

Iran raises the nuclear stakes after being reported to UN

Iran took the UN’s IAEC report as all the excuse it needed to announce it was going to proceed apace with it’s plans to implement it’s expanded nuclear policy, apparently buttressed by the self-assurance of Pres. Ahm-mad-on-a-jihad Ahmadinejad that the west, and especially the US has too many other irons in the fire to take on another. So much the worse for him, and his country when push really comes to shove.

Iran escalated its nuclear showdown with the West last night by ending international inspections of its atomic sites and preparing to restart uranium enrichment. Hours after Iran was reported to the United Nations Security Council for its nuclear programme, its officials were taking the first steps towards carrying out their threat to produce the material – which Western intelligence believes will be used for atomic weapons.

Iranian opposition groups are plain-spoken in urging a stronger western response to Iran’s stated intentions:

The leader of the Iranian exile group that first alerted the world to the secret nuclear programme said information from inside the country indicated that Teheran was much closer to making an atomic bomb than previously believed. Maryam Rajavi, who heads the National Council of Resistance of Iran, urged Western governments to stop appeasing Teheran in order to prevent the regime acquiring nuclear weapons. “Eighteen years of secrecy, three-plus years of man-oeuvering by the US, Europe and Russia have seriously imperilled the security of the world,” she told the Sunday Telegraph at the group’s headquarters at Auvers-sur-Oise, west of Paris. “Time has run out. I warn that either the Security Council acts quickly or the mullahs will have the bomb.”

In other words, it’s time to fish or cut bait!

Mrs Rajavi called on the West to implement political and economic sanctions, which she said would boost democratic resistance to the regime.

This excellent concluding statement flies in the face of the prevailing P.C. moonbat conventional (so-called) wisdom that tough sanctions only hurt the prospects for reform, as if failing to stand up to thugs of any stripe at any level EVER resulted in anything other than yet more thuggery!

Has the New York Times Violated the Espionage Act?

THis semi-lengthy article lays out a well-reasond case based on the law that the NY Slimes Times is, or perhaps SHOULD be is severe legal jeapordy for violations of national security laws in its publication of the details of the NSA terror-war signals intelligence interception case.

Hving worked as a Naval communicator (Radioman) handling a variety of classified and cryptographic materials over a 26 year USNR career, the Chief (as in Chief Radioman – rank on retirement from the Navy)has full and direct knowledge that if HE had engaged in any of the behavior that the Slimes Times, James Risen, or their informants had engaged in, he would be doing HARD time at the Leavenworth military prison, and properly so!

The situation of the Slimes Times, et al, in this case is CLEARLY covered by the law, and leaves little wiggle room to try to weasel out of responsibility. Cited in the article is

This piece examines in some detail, various legal precedents and related cases, some of which are currently in the courts, including citation of the relevant section of USC §798. Disclosure of Classified Information.:

(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information….

(3) concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States or any foreign government;

(b) As used in this subsection (a) of this section—
The term “classified information” means information which, at the time of a violation of this section, is, for reasons of national security, specifically designated by a United States Government Agency for limited or restricted dissemination or distribution;

Seems pretty clear to the Chief! Jail ’em!

“Why then doth treason never prosper? When it does, none dare call it treason.” – Sir James Harrington

Alito Opposes Missouri Execution

New Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito split with the court’s conservative Wednesday night, refusing to let Missouri execute a death-row inmate contesting lethal injection.

This does NOT fill the Chief’s heart with peace and contentment. Time will tell which way the spin of the coin of the Alito appointment will fall.

Iran and the jaws of a trap

Judging from the rather frantic behind-the-scenes efforts of Russia and China in Iran, they seem to appreciate that the Iranian leadership is in for a big and probably deadly surprise.

This is interesting – it’s almost to the point where the rocks are starting to roll down the mountain, and the ChiComs and Russkies are trying to not get in the way.

The Russians saw the writing on the wall when France, Germany and Britain began to march in lockstep with the United States. In particular, the widely but wrongly discounted nuclear belligerence of President Jacques Chirac last month implied that France was ready to accept the US use of nuclear weapons in a war against Iran if they saw fit to do so.

If Ahm-mad-on-a-jihad Ahmadinejad is as fixated with his own worldview as he fully seems to be, he may well be convinced that he can get away with all this stuff, in spite of the trends – an apparent case of poor situational awareness.

There is an interesting war scenario spelled out by this writer, with a background in the German intel service. Sounds like a great Plot for a Tom Clancy type novel.

An initial Israeli air attack against some Iranian nuclear targets, command and control targets and Shahab missile sites. Iran retaliates with its remaining missiles, tries to close the Gulf, attacks US naval assets and American and British forces in Iraq. If Iranian missiles have chemical warheads (in fact or presumed), the US will immediately use nuclear weapons to destroy the Iranian military and industrial infrastructure. If not, an air campaign of up to two weeks will prepare the ground campaign for the occupation of the Iranian oil and gas fields.

Mass mobilization in Iraq against US-British forces will be at most a nuisance – easily suppressed by the ruthless employment of massive firepower. And Israel will use the opportunity to deal with Syria and South Lebanon, and possibly with its Palestinian problem.

Chief’s comment: A Clancy scenario is the alternative that is REQUIRED if Jack Bauer isn’t sent in to do the job! Heh heh heh!

The Paris Hilton School of Political Science

…Britain is being governed according to the Paris Hilton school of political science. When asked if any articles about her had appeared in the UK, Hilton replied no, but there had been some in London. When told that London is in the UK, she answered, “Whatever. UK. Right.” Tony Blair couldn’t have put it any better himself.

Unlike his long line of predecessors, Blair is curiously uninterested in the history and traditions of the countries which make up the United Kingdom and the historical development of laws, including the freedom of speech and thought that the British have enjoyed — in sharp contrast to citizens of European countries — for 800 years.

This piece from TCS goes on with more chilling detail on the current state of what passes for law enforcement in the new Britain, and an ugly picture it is!

Most alarming is the New Labour focus on controlling not only speech, but thought. Political correctness is thought-control under a less threatening name, and The Times of London’s Europe correspondent Anthony Browne has described the descent into a Kafkaesque world in his new pamphlet, The Retreat of Reason, published by conservative think tank Civitas. He demonstrates that the new ideology has effectively stifled public debate on topics the government doesn’t want discussed. He adds that throughout all levels of government now, “there is an intellectually dishonest response by people who preferred political correctness over factual correctness”.

Folks, as bad as the P.C. gets over here, it’s nothing compared to the situation the Brits have – their lack of a First Amendment is starting to really bite! There’s more specific detail with examples in the article, and is well worth the look.

For comparative reference, the Chief offers the following definitions from the Newspeak Dictionary:

crimethink – To even consider any thought not in line with the principles of Ingsoc. Doubting any of the principles of Ingsoc. All crimes begin with a thought. So, if you control thought, you can control crime. “Thoughtcrime is death. Thoughtcrime does not entail death, Thoughtcrime is death…. The essential crime that contains all others in itself.”

“I complained that I had no shoes, but then I met a man that had no feet.”

F.I.R.S.T. Robotics

Yikes! The Chief’s time is being devoured by the building season for this years’ F.I.R.S.T. robotics competition. It’s after school into the evening, every night during the week, and on Sat. PM. The admin. part of running the team is making a dent in time during the day also.

Please excuse the partial hiatus from regular blog entries – there will be some as time allows. This is necessitated by the need to design and build from a generic pile of parts, a robot device capable of playing the game for the year, within a 6 week window (3 weeks to go, more or less).

One of the F.I.R.S.T. teams had a motto that is too accurate to be funny: “Don’t eat! Don’t sleep! Make the robot!”

(At least I didn’t miss “24”, due to use of satellite time-zone differences!

What with the Chief’s robotics team at school, and then watching a time-zone shifted “24” every Monday night for the duration of season 5, Monday night blogging may suffer a bit, but I’ll try to keep up.

The above graphic is cruel and unusual punishment: bring it on!

Anyway, this site has all the “24” information you could want, and more. The “Kill Counter” is a nice touch, if you’re into scorekeeping!

Google challenges EU plan to regulate the internet

The Cheif has no problems with Google’s stance on this.

What DOES make him puzzled is their totally shameless kow-tow before the ChiComs demands to censor and filter the net, contrasted with their opposition to the Eurocrats regulatory efforts.

W.T.F.? Logic? Consistancy? Google had secided “We don’t need no stinking logic! Not when there’s all that money to be made.”

Netanyahu compares Hamas to Nazis

Call an ugly spade an ugly spade! Benjamin Netanyahu knows what side the bread is buttered on. He has a number of security concerns that make a lot of sense to the Chief.

It will be interesting to see if the ad-hoc party cobbled together by the strength of Sharon’s personality will make a serious contender in the post-stroke political environment over there.

Neanwhile, the Hamas domination in the Paleswinian elections is nothing good.

Reaping what we sow

This OpEd from Arnaud de Borchgrave recaps many historical and contemporary examples of why the Chief does NOT consider himself to be a worshiper at the holy alter of (small-d) democracy, at least as far as it is defined as “holding free elections”. Just because someone can gain a majority in a vote is no guarantee that the majority itself will not become tyrannical in and of itself.

Free elections, we have been told ad nauseam, lead to a healthy body politic called democracy. Unfortunately for those who see the cliché as an article of faith, free elections and democracy are not synonymous. Hitler won a free election – and went on to build the world’s most formidable war machine in history’s blink of an eye.

There’s much more, and it’s worth considering. By the way, there is nothing wrong with a democratic republic, as long as there are strong protections for minority rights and limitations to the power of the majority factions. (Example: U.S. Constitution, amendments 1-10).

Democrats concede Judge Alito victory

In spite of the fulminations of the Kennedy-Schumer-Leahy axis and their ilk, the Donks do not appear to have enough votes to make a successful filibuster against the nomination of Judge Alito to SCOTUS.

It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving crew – their total fecklessness and bloviation is right out there in public, and with the monopoly of the MSM cracked, they discovered much to their dismay that they have lost the ability to “Bork” the nomination.

As icing on the cake, Kerry presents a comic-opera finish to the game with his cry of despair from the ski slopes of Switzerland:

Sen. John Kerry dashed home from the Swiss Alps yesterday to man the barricades of a futile filibuster against Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.

Well before he reached the battlefield, however, Democrats had waved the white flag and agreed that next week’s vote to confirm Judge Alito will surely succeed. “Everyone knows there is not enough votes to support a filibuster,” Minority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday, several hours before Mr. Kerry arrived.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan called it a “pretty historic” day. “This was the first time ever that a senator has called for a filibuster from the slopes of Davos, Switzerland,” Mr. McClellan said. “I think even for a senator, it takes some pretty serious yodeling to call for a filibusters from a five-star ski resort in the Swiss Alps.” By midday, Republicans had dubbed Mr. Kerry’s international politicking the “Swiss Miss.”

The Chief is amazed that anyone still takes this guy seriously. He continues to push the envelope to extend the definition of “buffoon”.

With this, maybe the Donks will finally start to realize that they have lost the last few elections.

Bill offered to restore official status

Aloha!

This story is good to get your tongues loosened up for the upcoming election “discussions”. The key to the name of this fish is to remember that each vowel is pronounced as an individual syllable in the poly\nesian languages. All you need to do is deal with the name is to break it down into syllables, and pronounce each vowel, as noted. For example, the ending is “…kuapuaa” that comes out “ku-ah-pu-ah-ah”. It’s easy, right?

The news shook the world of state Rep. Blake Oshiro, who found out the designation was no longer official from Joel Itomura, a 6-year-old fish-loving son of a friend and constituent. “I was really surprised,” said Mr. Oshiro, who has drawn up a bill to make the humuhumunukunukuapuaa — also known as the rectangular triggerfish, or “humuhumu” for short — the official state fish for the islands.

The details of the dethronement of the “humuhumu” are in the story, along with more than you may want to know about Hawaiian fish, but since the Chief had two trips to said islands with the Navy, he remains a lifelong fan of the islands, if not their politics.

Deadly force bill advanced by committee

The right to use firearms to in self-defense will be protected by a bill advancing in Pierre.

People who are attacked or defend others at risk of serious injury or death should be allowed to use deadly force, legislators decided Friday.

The House Judiciary Committee gave 10-2 approval to a gun-rights group bill that would revise existing state laws on self defense. HB1134, which goes now to the House floor, says those who believe they are at risk of great harm from others are justified in using violent retaliation. The measure says people may use deadly force and have no duty to retreat if they are in places where they may legally be — such as homes and businesses.

This limits the possibility of prosecution in cases of self-defense, which unfortunately has occurred in a number of other jurisdictions.

David Conway of the South Dakota Shooting Sports Association, an affiliate of the National Rifle Association, said such a law could save innocent lives because people would be less hesitant to defend themselves. But he said HB1134 would not make people trigger-happy. “People are not going to go around shooting one another randomly because of this bill,” Conway told legislators. “All we’re going to do is build a safety net for those that are brave enough to react with force or violence when the situation justifies it,” he said. “You would not have the right to shoot someone just because they’re on your property,” Conway said.

Support for the bill also came from NRA lobbyist Darin Goens. “If someone does break into your home in the middle of the night, you don’t have to run out the back door,” he said. “You can protect yourself.”

Rep. Alan Hanks, R-Rapid City, said people should not be expected to flee their homes instead of taking measures to defend themselves. “You have the right to stand your ground,” Hanks, prime sponsor of the bill, said.

Self-defense is a constitutional right, said Zach Lautenschlager of South Dakota Gun Owners, another gun-rights group. “It will help provide security to South Dakota individuals and families,” he said.

The Chief likes this bill: if the malefactors and pertetrators come after him or his and get a facefull of hot lead, like they say on the Russian plains, “Toughski sh-tsky!”

Hamas plan for an army draws fire

The Chief notes the prophetic nature of this WaPo headline: if there’s verbal fire aimed at Hamas over plans to incorporate itself into a regular army, it’s NOTHING compared to the REAL fire they will draw from Israel if they go ahead with their plan and continue to attack the Israeli state.

Hamas suggested yesterday that the Islamic group could create a Palestinian army that would include its militant wing — responsible for scores of deadly attacks on Israelis — in the aftermath of its crushing victory in parliamentary elections.

Speaking from his base in Damascus, Syria, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal insisted his group would not disarm and said Hamas’ military wing, estimated at nearly 5,000 gunmen in Gaza alone, could be merged into a Palestinian army. “We are ready to unify the weapons of Palestinian factions, with Palestinian consensus, and form an army like any independent state,” he said. Mr. Mashaal also said Hamas would abide by existing agreements with the country “as long as it is in the interest of our people.”(emphasis added)

Ooops. Historically the Hamas position has consistantly been that the “interest of our people” is the eleimination of the state of Israel, and driving the Jews into the sea.

Not a ressuring situation.

Herseth cites ‘significant progress’ in Iraq, Afghanistan

Representative Stephanie Herseth (Donk-SD), has moved into the rarified outer fringes of what passes for the modern Donk party by noting an improved situation in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Back in South Dakota from a trip to Afghanistan and Iraq, Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., said Monday that significant progress is being made in rebuilding both countries though challenges remain. “It’s clear to me from my briefings and meetings with some of the troops and commanders on the ground that the military objective of training Iraqi security forces, of training the Afghan national army, of raising the police forces in both countries, that significant progress has been made,” she said.

In the weeks and months ahead, Herseth said, the military and security progress must work in tandem with the political process to complement — rather than complicate — efforts toward self-sufficiency. “The challenges remain. People have acknowledged the setbacks that we’ve had, but there is progress, day by day, based on the service and commitment of the people I had the chance to meet,” she said.

Looks like Steph is opting for getting re-elected from red state South Dakota rather than winning brownie points with the Deaniac establishment of her own party. The Chief certainly can’t blame her, he wouldn’t want to be associated with that crew either!

The Chief certainly doesn’t agree with all of the politics of New Mexico’s Donk Governor (and former Clintonisto) Bill Richardson, but he’s been doing an OUTSTANDING job of promoting New Mexico’s prominence in the development of commercial spaceflight. This will turn out to be a legacy that will have a lasting impact by positioning his state firmly on the launching pad for the 21st Century and beyond.

New Mexico: Building A Better Spaceport

With a projected $225 million being spent to create a “purpose-built” spaceport near Upham, New Mexico—expected to be completed by 2009-2010—for many of the principals involved there remains but one question: what is a 21st century spaceport supposed to look like? Bulldozers have yet to start pushing dirt around. Nonetheless, near-term and future users of the spaceport are ready to bring their respective countdowns into the area.

The Chief posted on the spaceport development plans, which were solidified by agreements with enterpreneur Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. Those plans are already being implemented by additional outfits that have their operational targets above the atmosphere.

Late last year, British entrepreneur, Richard Branson, decided to park the world headquarters of his Virgin Galactic spaceline in New Mexico and to use the Southwest Regional Spaceport as the company’s primary operating base. Furthermore, the state’s quest to build a spaceport has also become a magnet for rocket builders Starchaser Industries, launch specialists UP Aerospace, the annual X Prize Cup and the Rocket Racing League.

Richardson’s bet was to imitate Costner’s strategy in Field of Dreams: “Build it and they will come.”

The proposed spaceport site is approximately 27 square miles of open, generally level, range land that can be found 45 miles north of Las Cruces and 30 miles east of Truth or Consequences. This site was picked for its low population density, uncongested airspace, and high elevation.

It looks like the bet is paying off, with a number of space enterprises planning on moving in to the facility along with Branson, et al.

In fact the first area (sub-orbital) launch is on track for March:

That’s ideal rocket country for UP Aerospace of Unionville, Connecticut. They are readying their SpaceLoft XL rocket for a New Mexico spaceport sendoff in late March. This opening rocket launch is to set the stage for a series of space liftoffs planned for the Southwest Regional Spaceport.

There’s more detail about the many aspects of pushing this project along, including funding, FAA certification(s), etc. This is serious stuff, and will ultimately produce a serious payoff for the state of New Mexico, and the US in general.

Rocket Racing League Establishes New Mexico Headquarters

The Chief also previously noted the organization of the Rocket Racing League. Their organization is now actually on the ground, and is in the process of setting up their first base at Las Cruces, NM. Racing is planned for October. How cool is this?!

The Chief would REALLY like to go to that event!

Bill seeks ‘intellectual diversity’

Saying that they want to ensure that a wide range of views is heard and tolerated on college campuses, a group of state lawmakers is proposing legislation that would ask South Dakota’s six state universities to report periodically on their efforts to promote “intellectual diversity.”

Generally the Chief has his hackles raided by the term “diversity” – but in the academic context, with it’s often far-left domination in certain (un)disciplines, diversity translates into making it safe for conservatives to be…conservative! What a concept!

Rep. Phyllis Heineman, R-Sioux Falls, chairwoman of the House Education Committee and the chief sponsor of HB1222, said Wednesday that the goal is to prevent situations already seen in other states where students, speakers and faculty members have been harassed because of their views. “This is not an indictment at all,” Heineman said. “For us, it is good governance.”

Hear, hear! The Chief likes this one! Cut ’em off at the pass! Of course the voice of professional academia is a bit more jaundiced:

Tad Perry, executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents, said that he discussed the idea with Heineman but that he hasn’t yet read the bill. He said it could raise some concerns. “If it is just about making a report, we could go along with that,” he said. “If it goes beyond that, I might have some questions.”

What some academics have done is to forget that “academic freedom” is a two-edged sword – if they have it, then so do those they disagree with. In cases where this has been abused, more than a report might well be necessary, and if so, then too bad for the concerns of the academic establishment.

Bill seeks ‘intellectual diversity’

Saying that they want to ensure that a wide range of views is heard and tolerated on college campuses, a group of state lawmakers is proposing legislation that would ask South Dakota’s six state universities to report periodically on their efforts to promote “intellectual diversity.”

Generally the Chief has his hackles raided by the term “diversity” – but in the academic context, with it’s often far-left domination in certain (un)disciplines, diversity translates into making it safe for conservatives to be…conservative! What a concept!

Rep. Phyllis Heineman, R-Sioux Falls, chairwoman of the House Education Committee and the chief sponsor of HB1222, said Wednesday that the goal is to prevent situations already seen in other states where students, speakers and faculty members have been harassed because of their views. “This is not an indictment at all,” Heineman said. “For us, it is good governance.”

Hear, hear! The Chief likes this one! Cut ’em off at the pass! Of course the voice of professional academia is a bit more jaundiced:

Tad Perry, executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents, said that he discussed the idea with Heineman but that he hasn’t yet read the bill. He said it could raise some concerns. “If it is just about making a report, we could go along with that,” he said. “If it goes beyond that, I might have some questions.”

What some academics have done is to forget that “academic freedom” is a two-edged sword – if they have it, then so do those they disagree with. In cases where this has been abused, more than a report might well be necessary, and if so, then too bad for the concerns of the academic establishment.

Booster-seat bill rejected

DISCLAIMER: The Chief does NOT want kids hurt in car wrecks….but…this was yet another of those cases where a benevolent legislooter is out to protect us from ourselves.

The Chief wonders how people managed to survive so long before without this sort of governmental interventionism. The main pusher of this act of enlightenment ultimately fell back on the all-too-usual Donk habit of pulling statistics out of thin air, whether or not they made any sense at all.

Rep. Mary Glenski, D-Sioux Falls, pleaded with the committee to send the booster-seat measure to House floor. She said about 100,000 children have been injured in the past 10 years and as many as five children have died each of those years as a result of not being properly restrained. “I hate to think of another 100,000 kids being injured just because we decide to defer for another year,” Glenski told the committee.

Hmmmm. Let’s see what’s being said here. 100,000 kids in the past 10 years. South Dakota has approx. 750,000 people TOTAL. So then 13.3% of the entire population of South Dakota was injured by not being in booster seats over the last 10 years. Somehow this demographic seems dubious, at best. Also, note her statement that another year’s deferral will result in “another 100,000 kids being injured”. At THAT rate then we could look forward to a cool 1 million such injuries in the next decade!

The Chief wants to know what Rep. Glenski’s secret plan is to increase the South Dakota population that much? Bring in Mexicans and rename the state Dakota del Sur? Push for a whole new interpretation of sex-ed? One has to wonder.

This is yet another illustration of what Thoreau observed: “If someone were to approach me with the express intent of doing me good, I run fleeing into the woods.” (May not be exact quote, but you get the idea.)

Feeding wildlife not illegal

Another potential case of legislative micro-management and usurpation of property rights has gone into that great circular file.

South Dakotans should not be forbidden from feeding deer and other wild animals, which could attract predators and endanger people or their pets, the House Agriculture Committee decided Tuesday. HB1085, killed 10-3, would have made it illegal to feed big-game animals. Legislators decided such a law would be tough for game wardens to enforce, and it could interfere with rural landowners.

Sibby has noted this bill, and posted more detail about it, but what the Chief particular appreciated were the penultimate remarks toward the end of his posting: “It looks like we have some who move out of the city and buy property in the country, but can’t handle the issues they face. So the first reaction is to propose changes that take away the rights of their neighbors.”

This is precisely the sort of thing that drives me crazy. It’s the same attitude precisely that drives activists like the Dakota Rural Action and their ilk to oppose rural development when it involves things like setting up a dairy operation. This has been a popular pastime here in Moody County over the last couple of years, but fortunately the local moonbats haven’t benn pushing for the deer law – yet.

Sibby’s final conclusion shows a healthy dose of reality and common sense: “While the GF&P should rightly educate people about the dangers of feeding wildlife, GF&P also has been getting an education from the rural folks about freedoms and types who are not afraid to defend it. Today they were definitely gun shy about treating those who feed deer like they were criminals.”

As the saying goes, the man has reason, and property rights were not nibbled away again, at least this time.

Texas border standoff with Mexican military

At first the Chief thought this was about the earlier reports of Mexican invasion, but such is not the case! This was an incident literally yesterday:

Texas law enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents engaged in an armed standoff with Mexican military personnel and drug smugglers just inside the United States along the Rio Grande yesterday afternoon.

Border Patrol agents called for backup after seeing that Mexican Army troops had several mounted machine guns on the ground more than 200 yards inside the U.S. border – near Neely’s Crossing, about 50 miles east of El Paso. Hudspeth County deputies and Texas Highway patrol officers arrived shortly afterward.

We need to have a few patrols of USMC Recon types scattered around to respond to something like this. ¿Comprende hombres?

Hunt’s bill would ban abortions

Roger Hunt of Brandon, SD has decided that there’s no time like the present to jab a legal finger in the eye of Roe v. Wade, and with a couple of new and apparently\ conservative SCOTUS justices, he may be right.

Of course the billhas to clear Pierre, and then the Governor’s desk before it gets that far, but Hunt takes a big step in that direction.

Hunt’s bill would ban abortions

Roger Hunt of Brandon, SD has decided that there’s no time like the present to jab a legal finger in the eye of Roe v. Wade, and with a couple of new and apparently\ conservative SCOTUS justices, he may be right.

Of course the billhas to clear Pierre, and then the Governor’s desk before it gets that far, but Hunt takes a big step in that direction.

Work is good for you, says Blair in benefits shake-up

This is a major shift for the UK Labor (socialist) party. Maybe Blair has looked across the Channel and seen where the Frogs have ended up, and wants to avoid that fate for Britain.

Tony Blair warned the unemployed, single parents and those on incapacity benefit yesterday that they could no longer expect “a lifetime” on benefit.

He issued a “work is good for you” message as the Government announced a welfare shake-up aimed at getting a million people off incapacity benefit over the next decade, as well as a million people aged over 50 and 300,000 lone parents back into work.

Just like the cold-warrior Nixon was able to open relations with teh ChiComs, perhaps erstwhile socialist Blair might be able to pull off getting people off the dole, and back to work, which would be of benefit both to them, and to the state of the UK.

Cell phone bill dies

A bill against teen drivers’ use of cell phones while driving that the Cheif commented on earlier, is headed for the circular file.

Of various reasons reported for opposition, the Chief’s favorite is this one:

“We are taking more and more rights away from parents and putting them in the hands of this body,” Sen. Bill Napoli, R-Rapid City, said. “We are saying that we can take better care of your children than you can.”

Hear, hear!