Posts Tagged ‘just deserts’

Be Careful what you wish for oh foes of Rush…

Posted: October 15, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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Let’s see what the results of the successful campaign to deny Rush a minority ownership of the St. Louis Rams.

1. Lots of attention to his radio show, is it even possible for him to get higher rating? We will soon find out.

2. Lots of attention on all the news shows on TV

3. Lots of attention on Sports Radio shows

4. ACTIONABLE actions against major MSM members and perhaps other groups for slander.

5. ACTIONABLE actions against the those same MSM members AND some NFL figures for lost profits from the potential sale.

6. The NFL now risks it’s anti trust exemption.

All of this in order to deny Rush a minority ownership in an NFL team.

on #4 the slanders is a gimmie. It’s really hard when you can’t support a slanderous quote of someone whose every word for decades is transcribed in the hope of a “gotcha” moment. It is going to take a lot of effort for him to lose this and remember every victory he wins will be broadcast to the nation.

on #5 consider this: Is there a moment where the Rams are going to be worth less? Every dollar that the Rams increase in value from today on is a measurable loss for Rush and can be direct rather than punitive damages it’s a potential fortune.

on #6 lets quote the Blackbook legal blog:

Commentators have analyzed whether some of the NFL’s current policies would implicate the boycott rules under § 1 of the Sherman Act. But could a boycott of Mr. Limbaugh’s bid to purchase the Rams–be it through a players’ joint refusal to deal with him, an owners’ boycott or otherwise–be subject to antitrust scrutiny? My hunch is that a boycott could be problematic, even under a favorable rule of reason analysis, because it does not seem to have much of an economic motivation. From current rhetoric–and perhaps understandably–the boycott would be based almost entirely on the controversial statements Mr. Limbaugh made regarding Donovan McNabb several years ago.

That doesn’t even consider stuff like this:

In a candid moment during today’s Al Sharpton radio show (probably not intended for the rest of us to hear), Oben admitted that Rush’s political views regarding Obama were key to the opposition that appears to have derailed his bid to purchase the St Louis Rams

You are dealing with a group of people out for instant gratification, today’s gratification is going to be very expensive.

And remember Rush has plenty of money, if the case drags out for 10 years it won’t matter to him, he will still have them by the gonads.

This is going to be a big mess for a lot of people, and none of them are Rush.

Update: Listening to the show, Soros is in Limbaugh is out?

And speaking of Catholic Charities adoption in Boston..

Posted: October 8, 2009 by datechguy in catholic
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In the course of looking for links to this post I found an interesting document published last year at the Suffolk University Law Review on the matter The Gospel According to the State: An Analysis of Massachusetts Adoption Laws and the Closing of Catholic Charities Adoption Services:

The Massachusetts Constitution declares the equality of all people and the right of all people to practice religion as they see fit.2 In article XVIII, the Massachusetts Constitution also declares it unlawful for the state government to pass any law that prohibits an individual’s right to the free exercise of religion.

That John Adams he sure could write.

The Author Matthew Clark point out a salient fact:

Founded in 1903, Catholic Charities has placed more children in adoptive homes than any other state-licensed adoption agency.

Not any more they don’t. This document deserves a whole lot more attention that it ever got so read the whole thing but if you are not inclined to go for 18 pages here is the meat from the conclusion:

The debate over a religious exemption wrongly focuses on whether homosexuals should be able to adopt from all agencies in the state, regardless of a particular agency’s beliefs or founding principles. Safely couched in the language of antidiscrimination and equality, opponents of an exemption mask the unsettling truth that pursuing equality at any cost betrays the very purpose of adoption to serve and protect the welfare of children.

Denying a religious exemption to agencies providing services for needy children only serves to further the rights of a small group of potential adoptive parents rather than the best interests of children needing adoption… Ultimately, in the name of equality, Massachusetts has set aside the interests of needy children and contravened the very purpose of its adoption laws. (all emphasis mine)

That is called Narcissism.

What is the best way to turn people against the Democratic Party?

Posted: October 7, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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A: Give them power:

Americans’ approval of the job Congress is doing has gone from 31 percent in September to 21 percent with much of the loss due to a sharp drop in the view of Congress held by Democrats, according to a Gallup poll conducted Oct. 1-4.

Talk left is unhappy:

Now some may think Max Baucus’ shenanigans in an attempt to please President Olympia Snowe will energize the Dem base for 2010. I am not one of them.

It’s all well and good in academia to theorize about all the wonderful things a leftist policy can do for you, it’s another to actually live under one.

More commentary here.

Are we going to address inequality in bridge?

Posted: October 6, 2009 by datechguy in gaming, internet/free speech, opinion/news
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Peg (whom I still owe a favor to, I’d better make sure I disclose it to the FTC since I can’t afford the fine these days) talks a bit about this piece on inequality:

Since Ronald Reagan was elected nearly 30 years ago, Democratic politicians have promised that their program could reverse the steady post-1970s growth of income inequality without sacrificing America’s economic dynamism.

But having promised win-win, they may deliver lose-lose.

I think it is ironic that the logical end result of all of this tinkering is what a cultural hero of our leftist friends once sang against:

It brings to mind Ayn Rand and the Incredibles:

Dash is denied the opportunity to play sports because his power of super-speed means that he might excel. When he fights with his mother, pointing out that he is special, she insists that “everyone is special.” Dejectedly, he looks down and mumbles, “then no one is.” Similarly, Mr. Incredible gets in a fight with his wife, trying to intercede on his son’s behalf, and bemoans the fact that the school stages a fourth-grade “graduation.” This, he insists, represents the constant modern-day effort to find new ways of rewarding mediocrity.

I’m with Joe Hartman on this one who points to these two paragraphs in Screwtape proposes a toast to address this:

“The basic principle of the new education is to be that dunces and idlers must not be made to feel inferior to intelligent and industrious pupils. That would be “undemocratic.” These differences between pupils – for they are obviously and nakedly individual differences – must be disguised. This can be done at various levels. At universities, examinations must be framed so that nearly all the students get good marks. Entrance examinations must be framed so that all, or nearly all, citizens can go to universities, whether they have any power (or wish) to profit by higher education or not. At schools, the children who are too stupid or lazy to learn languages and mathematics and elementary science can be set to doing things that children used to do in their spare time. Let, them, for example, make mud pies and call it modelling. But all the time there must be no faintest hint that they are inferior to the children who are at work. Whatever nonsense they are engaged in must have – I believe the English already use the phrase – “parity of esteem.” An even more drastic scheme is not possible. Children who are fit to proceed to a higher class may be artificially kept back, because the others would get a trauma — Beelzebub, what a useful word! – by being left behind. The bright pupil thus remains democratically fettered to his own age group throughout his school career, and a boy who would be capable of tackling Aeschylus or Dante sits listening to his coeval’s attempts to spell out A CAT SAT ON A MAT.

In a word, we may reasonably hope for the virtual abolition of education when I’m as good as you has fully had its way. All incentives to learn and all penalties for not learning will be prevented; who are they to overtop their fellows? And anyway the teachers – or should I say, nurses? – will be far too busy reassuring the dunces and patting them on the back to waste any time on real teaching. We shall no longer have to plan and toil to spread imperturbable conceit and incurable ignorance among men. The little vermin themselves will do it for us.”

Thus I am even more pleased that in her post she rebels against this abominable standard that would have kept us in the dark ages in the best way possible, by excelling!

With my favorite partner, Bill Kent, we won a four session event to get a subsidized trip to Reno next March, along with the right to compete in the North American Pairs event there. We won by an incredible margin of 7 boards (probably akin to winning a football game 63-3) and won each of the sessions with excellent games each time. Our percentage average was over 61%; generally, 55% or 56% will win the event. Am I bragging? You bet!

I don’t play enough Bridge and would love to have the chance to learn to play better from a master. Maybe if our liberal friends address bridge inequality I’d have a chance.

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