et ceteras

Libya

For the record, I believe it is good (or at least better than the alternative) that the U.S. is now acting against Moammar Qaddafi by intervening to protect the citizens of Benghazi. However, I also believe that the way our president announced our intervention was so incoherent and meek that it bordered on irresponsibility.

Barack Obama, unlike his predecessor, sent our armed forces into action without input from Congress…and without explaining why he felt it was necessary to send those forces into action.

Further, Obama’s deed of ordering the military into action, especially in this instance, is wildly inconsistent with his many denunciations of past military actions.

And, damnably, Obama spent much of his announcement saying we will leave soon; telling Qaddafi loyalists what we won’t do to oppose them; and neglecting to say whether we have any desire, much less intention, to remove Qaddafi from power. In short, Obama gave our supposed enemies less reason to fear us instead of more…and every military expert knows that is not a recipe for success.

If he is to help our forces succeed, Obama must stop blowing an uncertain trumpet and start acting like a leader.

Japan

I can not help but add my voice to the chorus that is expressing admiration for Japan and its people in the wake of their recent tragedy.

On the one hand, it speaks volumes about Japan’s architectural engineering that the nation did not sustain much greater damage and loss of life. The earthquake that struck it was more that 52 million percent stronger than the one which struck Haiti last year, yet it appears to have resulted in only one death for every twenty in the Haitian quake.

On the other hand, the tone the Japanese people exhibited -- one of compete civility and helpfulness toward one another -- is a model for the rest of the world to follow. In many parts of the planet, including some pockets of America, looting and lawlessness would have been commonplace after such a disaster…but in Japan, culturally ingrained nicety prevailed and society benefited as a result.

Environmentalists

I have long felt that environmentalists are an addled bunch of malcontents who do not think logically, and who have a psychological defect that makes them incapable of accepting happy facts. For example, they are convinced that Earth is being overrun by people, even though Earth’s entire population will fit inside of Texas with every single person having their own 1,000 square feet of space.

For another example of environmentalist illogic, consider what is happening in the Northwest when it comes to spotted owls. You may remember that about 20 years ago, lumber-related jobs were lost all across that part of America when environmentalists claimed that the spotted owl population was shrinking because of timber being harvested from “old growth forests.” Well, it turns out that the real culprit in the declining number of spotted owls was not habitat loss, but competition from the barred owl -- a more aggressive species that has migrated from Eastern America into the Northwest; taken up residence in the spotted owl’s preferred habitat; and competed with it for food and nesting sites.

This migration and competition is completely natural, but rather than accept Mother Nature’s own design, environmentalists (via the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) are planning to engage in the mass murder of animals whose only offense is doing what Mother Nature dictates they do. Specifically, the environmentalists propose to go into the woods with rifles and use loudspeakers to play owl sounds -- and then use those rifles to kill any barred owls who come to investigate.

These are the same people, mind you, who fill the ranks of the animal rights movement and tend to be vehement in their opposition to hunting, even when the hunter’s purpose is to feed his family. I know it is probably impossible to figure them out, but I can’t stop myself from trying.

And…

…to close on a lighter note, go here and read one of my sister-in-law’s latest posts. It is sure to bring a chuckle!