Individual Liberty — Individual Responsibility

For those we lost, We will not forget 09/11/2001

“Our God given unalienable rights are given to us all as individuals. They tell us what we may do for ourselves, and they are the embodiment of liberty. The so-called rights that government gives to some of us are parcelled out to select groups as classes. They tell us what one class of people may require another to do for them, and they are the very essence of slavery.”
— Perri Nelson, February 9, 2010

A bheil Gàidhlig agaibh?

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Published Thu, May 17 2007 9:53 PM
Technorati Tags: Open Trackbacks

What a week I've had. Having my car languish in the shop can really put me off of my game. I'm glad I've got it back, but wow was I starting to get moody. I'm sure that may have come through in a few of my posts. Hopefully I still have some readers :-)

This linkfest is for the 18th, 19th, and 20th of May, 2007. Yes, I know I'm posting it a bit earlier than usual. I don't think I'll be able to stay up till my usual time tonight.

If you have something interesting you'd like to share, feel free to link it here and leave a trackback.

Just remember the trackback policy.

For the best exposure, go to the blogger's oasis and use the linkfest chooser to choose the posts you'd like to hook up with.

Comments (1) | Trackbacks (43)

Leaning Straight Up trackbacked with "Immigration reform compromise: Lighten up, it could be worse"
stikNstein....has no mercy trackbacked with "LIE OF THE YEAR…”It is not amnesty. This will restore the rule of law.” Arlen Spector R-Pa."
The Florida Masochist trackbacked with "Horsing around in Pompano"
The Florida Masochist trackbacked with "The Knucklehead of the Day award"
third world county trackbacked with "Compgeeky (not-so-tough) Puzzle… and Weekend Linkfest"
stikNstein....has no mercy trackbacked with "RIIIIIIIGHT……IT’S NOT AMNESTY!"
Pursuing Holiness trackbacked with "On The Bright Side, Church Mission Trips Will Be More Convenient Than Ever"
The Uncooperative Blogger trackbacked with "The Uncooperative Radio Show! May 18, 19 and 20, 2"
Wake up America trackbacked with "War Memorial Destroyed: HELP Needed"
DeMediacratic Nation trackbacked with "Help Reconstruct A Desecrated War Memorial - Wake"
Phastidio.net trackbacked with "Bloggers United for Cuban Liberty [Weekend Open Trackback]"
A Blog For All trackbacked with "From All Sides"
Planck's Constant trackbacked with "I Believe in Hillary and Obama"
DeMediacratic Nation trackbacked with "Democrat Senate, Iraq, Iran, Russia, the Middle Ea"
Blue Collar Muse trackbacked with "Gold Diggers and the Government A-Go-Go …"
Pirate's Cove trackbacked with "Jonah Goldberg: Just How Crazy Are The Dems?"
Dumb Ox Daily News trackbacked with "Immigration Action Alert - Repeat"
Planck's Constant trackbacked with "Shavuot and a world without Jews"
of Bullets and Bibles trackbacked with "something different For The Weekend..."
Shadowscope trackbacked with "Photo Hunt Saturday"
Right Celebrity trackbacked with "Sujet’s Flashbacks"
Blog @ MoreWhat.com trackbacked with "Imam Edwards"
Pursuing Holiness trackbacked with "Badger 6 Going For William Arkin’s Job"
The Florida Masochist trackbacked with "The Knucklehead of the Day award"
Pursuing Holiness trackbacked with "Gitmo Leaker Gets Six Months"
Blog @ MoreWhat.com trackbacked with "Feinstein: Another Conflict of Interest"
Planck's Constant trackbacked with "Galilea Montijo Video Hoax"
Big Dogs Weblog trackbacked with "Ron Paul"
Planck's Constant trackbacked with "$100 Shoelaces and Healthcare in America"
Colloquium trackbacked with "Sunday Scribblings #60: Masks"
Adam's Blog trackbacked with "Al Gore Grows Up"
Colloquium trackbacked with "Blog Your Blessings Sunday"
Mark My Words trackbacked with "Illegal aliens"
Tel-Chai Nation trackbacked with "Egypt allowed to join the UN's Human Right Council"
Tel-Chai Nation trackbacked with "A bionic bomb, or a six million dollar dud?"
The Florida Masochist trackbacked with "The Knucklehead of the Day award"
Colloquium trackbacked with "Breaking My Own Rule in Order to Speak Out"
Woman Honor Thyself trackbacked with "For the LovE of DancE"
A Blog For All trackbacked with "Israel Walks Fine Line on Palestinian Civil War"
Mark My Words trackbacked with "John Bolton's mustache on the BBC"
Mark My Words trackbacked with "An angry anti-Christian or stupid is as stupid does"
Conservative Cat trackbacked with "Never Say "Impossible" to the Gremlin"
Mark My Words trackbacked with "Illegal aliens - the current bill"

Commenting is a privilege, not a right.

Published Thu, May 17 2007 5:35 PM
Technorati Tags: Blogging, Annoyances

If you're reading my blog, it's a fair bet that you either have a blog of your own, or you read other people's blogs. Most of us have learned the "rules of the road" and a bit of netiquette.

For example, it's considered to be rude to use an image in one of your posts by including a link to that image's location on someone else's site. This is tantamount to a theft of bandwidth.

In fairness, I must admit that I did this quite some time ago by hot linking to a picture of a swan boat, in one of my early posts. That image is no longer available, and the post in question now looks rather embarrassing (besides the fact that the width of the replacement screws up the CSS based layout of the page it appears on).

David, at third world county has an excellent list of thirteen blogging blunders. It's a fairly good read and I recommend it.

I'd like to add one to the list though, and I'm sure that there are very, very many others that could be added.

When a blogger posts terms of usage, and a comment/trackback policy on their website, read it, and follow it.

I am sure that you have seen it on other weblogs and it applies here: You don’t have First Amendment rights on any blog, other than your own. If you don't like my (or someone else's) policy on comments, feel free to start your own weblog and establish your own policy.

On my website, I allow and encourage dissent. If you don't agree with what I have to say, I won't delete your comment for that, and in fact I will probably respond and try to engage you in a conversation to either try to change your mind, or give you a chance to change my mind.

Anyone that posts a comment on my website is the sole person responsible for what they say. I don't allow anonymous comments on my website. I believe that if you've got the guts to write the comment in the first place, you should have the guts to let people know who you are when you say it.

Anonymity is for cowards. Cowards have no place on my website. I will delete each and every anonymous comment that I receive, regardless of how well thought out the argument may be.

I do my best not to violate the policies other bloggers post on their websites. Please read and follow mine as well.

Comments (8) | Trackbacks (0)

Policlicks.com

Published Thu, May 17 2007 10:37 AM
Technorati Tags: Blogging, Elections, Liberals, Conservatives, Republicans, Democrats

If you look at the bottom of the page, you'll see a link to my listing on BlogShares.com. I've been playing this game for a while and find it to be pretty entertaining and fun. I first found out about it when I saw that Karl had listed NW Bloggers on BlogShares.

Anyway, one of the people I've "met" in the game noticed that I have an interest in politics. He pointed me to a relatively new site that looks like it will be fairly interesting if it takes off. The site is Policlicks.com, and they have an Election 2008 Video Channel.

It looks like the content will be fairly well balanced, so it might be a good place to go to find information about candidates from all sides of the political spectrum. I suppose only time will tell. If it pans out, it's certainly going to be better than going to a one-sided site to get your political news and opinion.

Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

Thursday 13 - #4

Published Thu, May 17 2007 9:17 AM
Technorati Tags: Conservatives

Thirteen Things about Conservatives

A conservative is a person that sees value in the traditions and mores that were handed down to us by our forebears.
Modern day conservatives have a tendency to be "classical liberals".
A conservative typically believes in individual liberty and individual responsibility.
Most conservatives don't believe that the solution to every problem is bigger government. Most problems can be dealt with one-on-one, individual to individual. Bigger government just gets in the way.
Most conservatives aren't typically "anti-" anything. At least not in the way that modern day liberals are. A conservative may be against illegal immigration for instance, but not against immigration in general. Similarly a conservative may be against abortion on demand, without being against abortion in all cases.
Conservatives aren't typically "activists". Much of what you see from "activists" implies a need for government to be involved in solving problems the activists way. Conservatives typically want government to stay out of the way. This is one of the reasons why conservatives typically don't make splashy headlines with violent protest rallies.
Conservatives recognize that people are imperfect beings. Because of this, and because people end up running governments, they favor restrictions on government over empowering government.
Conservatives understand conditioned responses. They understand the power of reward and punishment. A conservative knows that when you reward a given behavior you get more of that behavior. Likewise a conservative knows that when you punish a given behavior, you get less of that behavior. This is why many conservatives are against social welfare programs that don't require benefit recipients to take responsibility for themselves. It's also why conservatives are in favor of punishing criminals instead of giving them therapy.
Conservatives believe that free people can accomplish more than people that are enslaved to others, whether it be literal slavery or financial slavery. A person that is free to choose what they do and receives a reward for their efforts will work harder than someone who cannot choose what they do and is punished if they don't do what their "master" tells them to do.
Conservatives believe in equality of opportunity rather than equality of outcome. Not everyone will work toward the same goals. The difference in the way people approach their lives has a great deal to do with the way their circumstances play out, resulting in unequal outcomes. Requiring equal outcomes for all removes the incentive to try to excel since equal outcomes for everyone implies that the equality is at the lowest common denominator.
Conservatives believe in teaching people the things that they need to know in order to succeed in life. A good education is important to a conservative if it teaches him or her how to think, rather than what to think. A person with the ability to think clearly, armed with knowledge can do great things in life. A person without the ability to think clearly, and poorly armed with knowledge will be unable to compete in the arena of ideas either in the job market at home, or the world at large, without support from a horde of others.
Conservatives believe in property rights. A man that can own his property and do with it as he pleases will value that property more and care for it better than a man that cannot own his property and can have it taken away at the whim of the state.
Because conservatives believe in personal responsibility, they also understand accountability. Conservatives that fail to meet societal standards or their own standards generally accept the consequences of their actions. Contrast this with non-conservative politicians such as Rep. William Jefferson who was caught with $90,000 in bribe money stashed in a freezer and yet ended up lauded for it. Contrast this with Sen. Feinstein and her possible violation of Senate ethics rules with regard to the military construction contracts awarded to her husbands company while she was serving on the committee reviewing those contracts.

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