Well, here goes a little political post for those of you who may have been missing it. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama has refused a federal court's order to remove a monument from the Supreme Court building. One of the items on the monument is a stone carving of the ten commandments. Now, where would you think the libertarian in me would land on this one?

It's not so easy. Here's why.

The first amendment to the US Consitution says "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion...". Now many people leave one word out of that when they say the amendment calls for a "separation" of church and state. That word is "respecting". Rephrasing that clause could look like this "Congress shall make no law with respect to the establishment of religion...". Does that sound different? It really isn't. Plainly, it means that congress should not make laws about establishing religion - either pro or con. In other words, the federal government has no business talking about the establishment of religion. Why? Because that right, as with all others not expressly granted to the federal government, are reserved to the respective states in the 10th amendment.

Chitchat, are you saying that government could establish a religion? Not on the federal level, no. On the state level, however, certainly. States were free at the time of the founding to do so, and they should be free to do so now. Does that contradict my libertarian philosophy? Not necessarily. I simply do not want courts to usurp the powers of the people.

Courts have done two things that have landed us in this pickle. First, they have failed to interprect the Consitution correctly, finding things that don't exist (i.e. "right to privacy", "separation of church and state", etc.). Secondly, other courts have given their rulings, or precedents, the power and weight of law as if they originally did appear in the Constitution. The result is a completely illegitimate set of judicial rulings which have no real basis in actual law. They have originated from other rulings built on other rulings built, finally, on bogus or created concepts never actually found in the law.

So, Alabama, tell that federal judge to shove it. May other states follow suit.

Well, large parts of our country came a little closer to knowing what the rest of the world feels like as the lights went out yesterday afternoon. I've been watching some of the news coverage. The reporters are desperately trying to get people to say how angry or scared they are, but they keep insisting that this is not a major catastrophe...which is true. One reporter interviewed a father who had his infant son out on the streets of New York last night. She (the reporter) was falling over herself at this sight. At that point, I knew she was nuts. It was as if humanity was doomed, after thousands of years of civilization, to die without air conditioning. Yes, it's true, children grow to adulthood all over the globe without air conditioning...or plumbing...or immediate access to medication (I wonder how they could possibly handle all of those ADD kids). Hey media, it's called perspective, look into it.

There are 247 people currently running for Governor of California. That's hilarious. If Arnold's a republican, my name is Susan.

At one point in Ireland, I had the priviledge to sit with both protestant and catholic children during a break in the soccer action. Here's a brief recap of the conversation that ensued.

Me: "So, what do you guys do when we (Americans) are not around."
Them: "Get into trouble."
Me: "How so?"
Them: "We break windows and stuff."
Me: "Why would you do that?"
Them: "Well, he (pointing across the circle) takes down our flags. He is a protestant, and I'm catholic."

Well, there was a turn in the conversation I hadn't anticipated. From there, we discussed those differences and kept circling back to the fact that nobody wins that conflict. There was, in the kids, no real desire even to see one side or the other prevail. They had resigned themselves to a hopeless, neverending struggle. They all knew there would always be fighting, but they really didn't know why - except to say "he's protestant" or "he's catholic". It became clear over the course of the week that those words had almost nothing to do with religion. They are almost like saying "he's a republican" or "he's a democrat". They represent an ideology. So the religion has become indistinguishable from the struggle and the politics. The labels have become tools for the propoganda machines to indoctrinate hatred into young minds so that power truly rests with groups like the IRA (and militants on the protestant side as well).

I know I said the reflections on Ireland would form a "series". I also know that so far that series is exactly one post in length. Allow me some time to gather thoughts.

Melancholy sublime, sweet as honey
Oozing through veins and tweaking muscles
Daylight sweeps across the front lawn
Time grains in hourglass eternal
Only half waking, taking in pieces
Of pictures of life and of people and places
Maybe there is more than what is seen
But it's doubtful.