Generalizations

What is it that causes people to think that you cannot make decisions about large groups and then make individual decisions about individuals within the group? In the middle of a discussion with someone today, I made a generalization about a group of people. I was reprimanded for doing it with the usual claptrap about how generalizations are terrible and blah de blah de blah.

You have to make generalities in life. When walking on a beach, you cannot check each grain of sand to make sure it won't hurt your feet. You remember that most sand in the past has not hurt your feet and that it is unlikely that this sand will hurt your feet, and you walk across it. Similarly, if you see a large group of nicely dressed people speaking quitely about a merger or IPO, you can assume they're businesspeople. You might be wrong - maybe they're all machinists fresh from the funeral of a friend that happened to leave them some money that they plan to invest.

No harm is done either way, and when presented with alternate evidence, the rational person will change their views to match the evidence they are presented with. If after hearing these people speak of the IPO and merger, the listener then hears them talk about having to go back to work on the metal lathe, drill press, and bar folder, he would then revise his beliefs to include some sort of metal fabrication industry for their employment.

So - please world - quit griping about generalities. They work just fine, and unless misused or abused, they are quite effective in helping us go about our lives.

Bartleby

Supreme Court Justices

I've been watching the liberals scurry left and right with the pending appointment of a new Supreme Court Justice and the prior judicial appointments. They seem to be operating under the impression that they should have final say on who is appointed to the bench.

I have a message for you liberals out there: a particular party holding a majority in the house and senate and holding the presidency indicates that said party has a solid mandate from the people of this nation. That means that they are not beholden to you as to who they appoint to the bench.

Get it straight - Republican house + Republican senate + Republican president = Republican Judicial nominees. Don't cry about it. You got to appoint your loose constructionists (Ginsberg), and we get to appoint our strict constructionists (Thomas - who by the way, is the greatest genius on the court today).

Something you should take from this loss of political clout - there is a reason why people are moving away from your party. You're soft on defense, you're for murdering babies, you lie in our faces on a regular basis, you tax everyone to oblivion, you want to legislate everything from what words can be said to what can be done in the office, you try and control the media with bias and legislation, and you freely associate with evil people.

Suggestions:

• Quit selling secrets to the Chinese government
• Quit crying about the war - terrorism is real and it can hurt us if we don't stop it
• Quit acting like the courts are your playground where you can change law (or worse, the Constitution)
• Quit trying to tell us what we can and cannot say
• Quit trying to ban guns - it is ineffective in crime prevention and is a violation of our rights
• Quit acting like you can take our property away without our permission (i.e. Kelo decision)

Bartleby

Guns

I've started saving for my MAC-10 submachine gun and have gotten a lot of complaints from some people I know who found out about it. Their complaints are:

• You don't need a machine gun!
• That should be illegal!
• The Constitution doesn't say you can have that!
• You're going to kill someone with that and go to jail!
• All people who want guns like that are criminals!

What is it with Democrats (and in some cases, Republicans) anyway? Any time they don't like something, it equates to others not being allowed to have or do it. That includes weapons, ideas, speech, behaviors, and many other things.

Something that apparently needs to be spelled out to the people of the world:

You are not owed a life free of insult or offense! If I want to be a rude cretin, I'm perfectly allowed to be one! That includes a desire to be a small minded bigot, a sexist, a religious zealot, an anti-religious zealot, a person who hates particular religions, a person who hates particular races, or a person who hates just you! I can do any of those things and can spew my hatred and spite as much as I like, so long as I do not push you, hit you, impinge on your property rights, or otherwise invade on your existing rights in some way (among which is NOT a right to be free from offense).

So please liberals - grow up - accept that life is not perfect. Accept that some people will be jerks. Accept that some people simply do not desire to work with others. Accept that you cannot legislate courtesy (God knows liberals don't use any!).

Bartleby