DOMA Dies, Proposition 8 Lives, And The Band Plays On While Titanic Sinks

The Star Chamber pronounced this past week that the Constitution forbids the federal government from defining marriage -- merely for the federal government's own internal workings, mind you -- as Western civilization has defined it for thousands of years.  On its face this is shocking enough, but it is all the more shocking when you consider that the Supreme Court previously upheld a federal law that imposed criminal penalties on people who attempted to live out novel interpretations of "marriage."  I think the framers of the Constitution would likewise feel startled to learn that the document they labored to create could be so radically altered without an amendment. But thinking is a dead pursuit, and people who cheer this decision do so on an emotional impulse without pausing to consider that allowing government to unilaterally change the supreme law of the land is extremely dangerous. Surely such people see no connection between the DOMA decision and phenomena such as NSA spying, drone attacks against American citizens, or undeclared wars, but the connection indeed exists, and such people have enabled the genie to slip free of its bottle. In so doing, they have waived their right to invoke the Constitution against the federal government ever again.

All the more offensive is where the Star Chamber failed to act, namely in refusing to defend the sovereign will of the people of California against their own state government and a tyrannical Ninth Circuit.  In America the people are supposed to be sovereign, and the people of California declared that they do not wish to embrace homosexual marriage, a declaration well within their sovereign rights and the American experience. Other states have decided to embrace homosexual marriage, as is their sovereign right too, but it appears that sovereignty is allowed only if it upholds what the elites deem correct (similar to the world stage, where national sovereignty is allowed unless those who assert it displease the federal government, whereupon they are sanctioned, bombed, or invaded). As I've discussed here previously, there is no credible or even sane way to read the Constitution as forbidding the people of California from ordering their affairs in this manner; what is truly insane is to read the Constitution as forcing them against their will to bless an institution as sacred, a despicable crime that blends servitude with sacrilege. Their own representatives in the state government refused to uphold their wishes when the usual suspects attacked them in the federal courts, and the Star Chamber latched onto this dereliction of duty as a pretext to deny review.  [Note -- Proposition 8 still lives, however, because other states can enact the same measure and try their luck with the federal judges in their neck of the woods, leaving the issue for future argument before the Star Chamber.]

At the end of the day, though, it makes little difference because marriage does not even exist as an institution in this country anymore, so the homosexual lobby is about to unveil a corpse bride. Sorry, but the heterosexuals already trashed it before you could.  Marriage was designed as an enduring institution to grant security for the people entering it and stability for the society around it, yet marriage now grants security and stability to no one. Modern marriage is simply cohabitation/fornication, for the ostensibly lifelong arrangement can be canceled with impunity at the whim of either party and inflict devastating results on the other, on the children, and on the society that must pick up the pieces. For those who quail that marriage might trap people against their will, they forget that taking the vows is an act of the will, so honoring them upholds freedom and its counterpart, responsibility. This is the philosophy underlying all contracts, i.e., you have freedom of contract because you are presumed responsible and will be held responsible upon your breach. Modern marriage absolves the promisor of responsibility and, bizarrely enough, often punishes the promisee when the promisor breaches. If you disagree with holding a promisor's feet to the fire, you merely have proclaimed that you are irresponsible and that your promises cannot be trusted. Proud of yourself?

History has shown that most people can endure hardship and poverty. It also has shown, and is showing again in spades, that most people cannot endure ease and wealth. Under the latter circumstances people lose their moorings and go freaking nuts, simply because there is nothing to stop them. But the Titanic still sinks no matter how loudly or boldly the band plays on.

Life Is Strange

I'm not a big fan of John Lennon, but he did make at least one insightful observation: "life is what happens when you're making other plans."

For one, I thought that embarking on my next book would sap my energy, but it's made me want to write even more.

I never wanted to practice law. Instead, I went to law school as an intellectual exercise and to postpone adulthood for a while longer, and I was miserable for several years after graduating. These days I must admit that I enjoy several aspects of my work. I'm a natural at arguing; the moment I start reading a new complaint or a motion, my mind latches onto weaknesses and inconsistencies, and I almost can't take notes fast enough to keep track of everything that's wrong with what I'm looking at. At hearings, I'm ready to leap out of my chair every few seconds to explain everything that's wrong with what the opposing counsel is saying, and it's torture to bite my tongue until the fool is finished. I have reached the point where I can smell contradictions in narratives, and I love hitting witnesses with them.

My personal evolution is the reverse of everyone else's. When I was young I took everything seriously and was very cautious; now, as I approach 40 and see my contemporaries getting all serious about their lives, I find myself thinking that maybe I should sell my belongings, shave my head, hop onto a motorcycle, and travel the countryside as an itinerant philosopher while civilization burns down around my ears.

I always needed solitude and hated being around other people. While I'm still an introvert for certain, people entertain me more than they ever did before, and I enjoy learning their unique life stories.

I used to always wonder whether I was right. Now, despite all my experiences that should sow doubt, I know that I am.

Spanish is a language I studied simply because I enjoy it, but now I find that it's very practical to know.

I was born and raised in South Florida; I love the ocean and beach volleyball; now I live in Montana -- and I love it here.

Zimmerman Trial Already Induces Nausea

I'm watching the first day of the trial and attempting to endure the prosecution's profane yet sanctimonious opening statement, which portrays Zimmerman as an evil man who followed Trayvon for improper reasons while portraying Trayvon as a perfectly innocent youngster unsuspecting of the evil coming after him.

It makes NO DIFFERENCE whether Zimmerman had a racial or other unsavory motive for following Trayvon. All that matters is whether Zimmerman's motive was to murder Trayvon, and there is no evidence of that. Zimmerman engaged in perfectly legal conduct when following Trayvon. Trayvon, however, decided to break the law and attack Zimmerman, pummeling his head into the pavement. Zimmerman had a reasonable fear for his life and stood his ground to defend himself, just as the law and justice entitled him to do.

This is a politically motivated prosecution through and through, a Bonfire Of The Vanities that gives the prosecution a chance to preen for the camera. Let's hope the jury sees through this and does its duty.

UPDATE

The defense is flubbing the opening badly. Overly dependent on props, rambling, and uninspired. I would focus like a laser on what's relevant. First, remind the jury that they must acquit unless the prosecution can show beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman intended to murder Trayvon (after all, the charge is second-degree murder), which clearly cannot be shown. Second, remind the jury to ask whether Zimmerman was in reasonable fear of his life when he shot. Since the only possible answer is "yes" based on the evidence, the case is closed.

Grass Eaters The Next Phase Of Evolution?

I've read some fascinating articles lately on the Japanese phenomenon known as "herbivores" or "grass eaters," young men who renounce traditional roles and pursue their own interests in a quiet life of minimal effort with regard either to romance or to work. When considering how men have behaved since the dawn of recorded history -- e.g., killing each other or working ourselves into early graves for the benefit of women and children -- this mass retreat is nothing short of revolutionary, and it may very well point the way to the next phase of evolution.

I've written before that we are out of the jungle but the jungle is not out of us, since the reptilian hind brain perpetually threatens to emerge and destroy our delicate experiment with civilization (indeed, it has laid waste to our own within a brief fifty years of our allowing it to slither loose). With the herbivores, however, we witness the opposite trend as the frontal lobe is winning and pummeling the reptile into unconsciousness.  The frontal lobe is only a recent evolutionary development that until now has danced to the reptile's tune, with rare exceptions such as Isaac Newton and other geniuses. It's fascinating to see this young creature get the upper hand over its ancient parent on such a large scale. Feminism is a loud movement that demanded liberation from women's historical roles and continues to demand constant government intervention to change society to its liking. "Herbivorism" is a quiet movement that demands nothing, but rather shrugs and walks away from society.

Ironically (but unsurprisingly) it is the latter that has caused everyone to freak out. Herbivores are excoriated not only by women, but also by older men whose pride won't allow them to entertain the thought that they are mere beasts of burden. The familiar shaming language tells the herbivores to "man up," which means of course to re-assume their role as disposable tools, but they have chosen to live for themselves and won't budge even for the prospect of sex.

This leaves of course the question of reproduction and how Japan or any other society flirting with grass-eating can survive. Demographic implosion is surely a danger, but I'm wagering that the frontal lobe has a few more tricks up its sleeve and won't be defeated so easily. Perhaps a grass eater will unlock the secret of mortality and prolong life indefinitely. Or perhaps a grass eater will figure out how to create artificial wombs, such as imagined by Aldous Huxley in Brave New World, thus liberating reproduction from sex. There is no telling what wonders our minds, unhindered, could achieve at that point. Maybe Jesus was right: the meek will inherit the Earth!

It's unlikely I'll live to see how this shakes out, but for now I do enjoy the panic the grass eaters are causing simply by doing their own thing.    

Caught At A Drag Party

I'm on my own for the weekend, and I was getting cabin fever writing my next brilliant book, so I headed over to the Palace Lounge to sip some suds and shoot some pool. It's been a full two years since I visited that place (with an ex-girlfiend -- and that's not a typo).  It's a dark underground lair that offers anonymity and good tunes; little did I know that I was in for a drag party scheduled for this particular evening. I've always been slow to pick up on my surroundings, so I didn't notice anything unusual until a young Venezuelan man started chatting me up at the bar. After exchanging a few words in Spanish I finally figured out that he was hitting on me. My gaydar is weak, but when he remarked that I look much younger than I am and lamented that I have a girlfriend, it was difficult even for me to miss what was happening. The man belting out "Jar Of Hearts" on stage was another clue I couldn't miss. No matter, I thought, I'm secure enough in my sexuality not to feel threatened; if anything, I was flattered because gay men don't like you if you're fugly (truth be told, sometimes I wish I were gay because whatever discrimination society offers doesn't hold a candle to the grief women can dish out). I settled into my surroundings to enjoy some people-watching and exotic music.

Why do I mention this here?  Because however introverted I am or you might be, the occasional feast of sight and sound is good for you.

The Imperial Presidency Attacks Syria

As I discussed one year ago, for the United States to intervene in Syria's civil war on the side of the rebels would be a violation of the very UN Charter that the United States helped establish after the Second World War. It is treason of the worst kind, for the act of initiating warfare against a sovereign nation is the "original sin" that unleashed so many others and plunged the world into chaos, as Justice Robert Jackson noted when heading the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.  

Unsurprisingly, King President Obama has unilaterally declared that the United States indeed will do this, compounding the betrayal by shredding our Constitution and its requirement that Congress declare war. The unilateral power of the British monarchs to take their subjects -- including those living in America -- into war was a major contributing factor to our Revolution and the motivation for entrusting that power to Congress, the body most representative of the people. It makes no difference whether Obama plans to put American "boots on the ground"; he is openly declaring hostilities against a sovereign government, and in so doing he has imperiled us all without our consent. Likely we will have to surrender even more of our rights to the NSA, DHS, and any number of other federal agencies to "protect" us from the consequences. 

Another historical parallel I drew was with Abraham Lincoln, who told the rest of the world to keep out of the War For Southern Independence. Yet now I hear that Obama has quoted Lincoln as justification for intervening in someone else's problems. Although this initially struck me as a contradiction, I admit it makes sense on further reflection. Lincoln destroyed the sovereignty of the states to create a new central government with open-ended power to bring "civil rights" to every corner of the country (in truth, to hold the power of life and death over us all). Obama and those like him seek to accomplish something very similar on the world stage -- to destroy the sovereignty of nation-states to erect a central and supra-national authority with open-ended power to bring "human rights" to every corner of the world (again meaning that the power over us will be complete).  

I should pause to mention that the UN Charter still has a role to play here.  Because the United States is now attacking Syria, Article 51 of the Charter entitles any other country to come to the defense of Syria and attack the United States, without seeking approval from the Security Council.  In other words, Obama has just placed a seal of legitimacy on foreign violence against us. This is a man who swore to uphold the Constitution and protect us. He has betrayed those oaths and placed us in danger to pursue what he believes are the best interests of foreigners. Though this is no different from what presidents have been doing to us for roughly the past century, it needs to be called out for what it is.

Edward Snowden Gives A Lesson On Manhood

Nothing is more powerful than a man with a conscience. Not even the most powerful government the world has ever seen -- with its bounteous rewards for obedience and terrible retribution for rebellion -- could stop Edward Snowden from doing what he believed was right and gumming up the works. In so doing, he likely sacrificed everything in this world, an act that confounds the modern mind in its perception of happiness as purely material. I've said it before, and it's time to say it again: men cannot live by bread alone. We crave truth and justice, and by fighting for them Edward Snowden has become far richer than he ever was or could otherwise be. They can whisk him away and rob him of his due process to their hearts' desire, but he has transcended and defeated them.

Dreams

One must never underestimate their power. Many ancient and tribal cultures have understood that the world of dreams provides a glimpse behind the veil of consciousness, a view of the world beyond what our impoverished senses convey. Unfortunately, we live in a time and place that values only what the senses convey, a society addicted to sensation but numb to truth. I have always had vivid dreams. Strangely enough, the scary ones have given me the greatest truth.

 

Nightmares haunted me frequently when I was young.

There was a creature pursuing me through a labyrinth. I couldn't see the creature, but I heard it making a noise that grew louder as it caught up with me. I ran furiously and managed to reach a point where the noise finally died away. Thinking myself safe, I opened a door and heard the blare of a thousand horns.

It was dark, and I was locked outside the house as I heard my parents talking within. I knocked on the door furiously, but they didn't hear me. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, from across the street in the neighbor's yard. Turning, I peered into the darkness and saw something moving over there. I slowly walked toward it, and then it lurched at me with a growl.  

A strange man hunted me with a gun. I figured out that I was dreaming and forced myself awake, relieved to find myself in my bedroom. But suddenly his shadow sprang up on the wall.

A giant dinosaur interrogated me with words I couldn't understand, digging its talons into my ribs.

After my parents divorced, I awoke in my bedroom at my mom's house during the night and knew something was wrong. If I didn't leave that room, something terrible would come out of the darkness, likely the closet. I made my way across the house to my mother's room, relieved to find her sleeping there. Her back was turned to me. As I touched her shoulder to tell her I was scared, she whipped around with bright green eyes and grabbed me.

As I stood in a dark hallway, I saw the faint and misshapen silhouette of someone at the other end.  Squinting, I saw it was the Elephant Man. He rushed toward me.

Though not as frequent, nightmares still have paid me occasional visits into adulthood.

I was a police officer investigating a case of child abuse. My partners and I found a mother doing something to her daughter, though we weren't sure what, so I ordered that the daughter be taken into a separate room so I could figure things out. As I approached the mother, I heard a scream and saw the daughter run back into view, with an older woman's head on her body. I turned to look at the mother and saw a little girl's head on her shoulders, smiling and laughing while the daughter kept screaming.

I was a vampire, and a group of people dragged me outside to witness dawn. When dawn broke, I felt flames envelop me.

Sometimes I awaken in a "hypnagogic" state -- my mind is conscious, but my body is asleep and will not obey my commands to move. It feels as though I could be paralyzed indefinitely, and I strain to force myself out of bed but can't budge. While trapped one time, I felt something move at the foot of the bed and work its way onto my chest, pressing down on me. I struggled to make it stop; it did, but then I felt the covers being pulled off me, and a hand grabbed my leg. It was a waking dream, but it felt real.

As horrifying as these experiences were, I view them as a gift that instructed me early on about a simple truth: the placid waters of daily life are mere illusion, and all manner of creature lurks just beneath the surface. Most people choose to ignore the creatures; I can't. 

More Grammar Gripes

I see illiterate people . . . everywhere. For example:

"Principle" is a noun, not an adjective.

It's "different from," not "different than."

It's "people who," not "people that."

It's "the reason that," not "the reason why" (a tautology).

"General consensus" is also a tautology.

It's "ad nauseam," not "ad naseum."

An "aid" is something that helps; an "aide" is someone who helps.

"Anxious" means nervous, not eager.

When referring to historical epochs, "B.C." appears after the number while "A.D." appears before. I saw this mistake recently in a news article published by none other than the Associated Press. 2000 B.C. means two thousand years "before Christ," whereas A.D. 2000 means "in the year of our Lord, 2000." Popular nowadays are "B.C.E." (before the Common Era) and "C.E." (the Common Era), a transparent dodge that relies on the same odometer reading while excluding the landmark. It's rewarding to adhere to the old system and offend such people. They are, however, ultimately prevailing because the fidelity, justice, charity, and mercy of the Christian Era are ceding ground to the treason, injustice, rapacity, and cruelty of paganism. 

Brilliant Young Man Learns His First Real Lesson

While on a road trip to Helena this weekend, I read a news story about a teenager who had managed to construct a fusion reactor in his garage. This is an astounding achievement, especially for a young man still in high school. For those of you who don't understand, nuclear fusion is when the nuclei of two light atoms (typically hydrogen, the lightest ) are joined to create heavier elements. This is rather difficult to accomplish because the positive charge of the protons in each nucleus repels each other, requiring a tremendous amount of force to overcome it and drive the nuclei together, which in turn releases a tremendous amount of energy. Such fusion occurs naturally in stars because they are so massive that their own gravity squeezes the nuclei together. A garage is a different story. Moreover, fusion is the holy grail of energy production because it is clean and leaves no radioactive waste (unlike the fission featured in nuclear reactors, which splits the nuclei of heavy elements and leaves quite a mess behind).  The problem is that modern science requires so much energy to create fusion that the yield is a net loss. Perhaps the young man's experiment could chart a path to cheap and clean energy production in the future. Regardless, he deserves to be celebrated.

However, the remainder of the news article promptly reminded me of the world we inhabit: the International Science and Engineering Fair disqualified the young man from competing, stating that he had competed in too many science fairs already. I guarantee you this is a pretext to exclude someone who makes everyone else's tinkerings with wind farms, ethanol, and solar panels look foolish by comparison. Perhaps some benefactor has a child enrolled in the competition. Perhaps these "scientists" don't want their government plunder funding revealed as an abject waste of time. Or perhaps they think it's unfair that a young man should achieve great things. It could be any or all of them. 

The young man expressed anger and confusion of a sort that I am all too familiar with, but he has learned a valuable lesson about excellence -- it alienates the vast majority of people. If he continues down this path, he will have a lonely and difficult life, but he will be true to himself and may give the world something it has never seen. Surely the world will gladly snatch his achievements for itself and express little or no gratitude for it.  Yet the world will never comprehend that excellent people ultimately do what they do for themselves and their love of truth and beauty, not for you.