All posts by Richard

Keep it Metal!, Pink Floyd, Voivod, Vote 2012

Who were the Blues and the Greens?

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Who were the Blues and the Greens?

Who are the Democrats and the Republicans?

Imagine a future society that flees into a vast underground network of caverns and seals the entrances. We shall not specify whether they flee disease, war, or radiation; we shall suppose the first Undergrounders manage to grow food, find water, recycle air, make light, and survive, and that their descendants thrive and eventually form cities. Of the world above, there are only legends written on scraps of paper; and one of these scraps of paper describes the sky, a vast open space of air above a great unbounded floor. The sky is cerulean in color, and contains strange floating objects like enormous tufts of white cotton. But the meaning of the word “cerulean” is controversial; some say that it refers to the color known as “blue”, and others that it refers to the color known as “green”.

In the early days of the underground society, the Blues and Greens contested with open violence; but today, truce prevailsā€”a peace born of a growing sense of pointlessness. Cultural mores have changed; there is a large and prosperous middle class that has grown up with effective law enforcement and become unaccustomed to violence. The schools provide some sense of historical perspective; how long the battle between Blues and Greens continued, how many died, how little changed as a result. Minds have been laid open to the strange new philosophy that people are people, whether they be Blue or Green.

The conflict has not vanished. Society is still divided along Blue and Green lines, and there is a “Blue” and a “Green” position on almost every contemporary issue of political or cultural importance. The Blues advocate taxes on individual incomes, the Greens advocate taxes on merchant sales; the Blues advocate stricter marriage laws, while the Greens wish to make it easier to obtain divorces; the Blues take their support from the heart of city areas, while the more distant farmers and watersellers tend to be Green; the Blues believe that the Earth is a huge spherical rock at the center of the universe, the Greens that it is a huge flat rock circling some other object called a Sun. Not every Blue or every Green citizen takes the “Blue” or “Green” position on every issue, but it would be rare to find a city merchant who believed the sky was blue, and yet advocated an individual tax and freer marriage laws.

The Underground is still polarized; an uneasy peace. A few folk genuinely think that Blues and Greens should be friends, and it is now common for a Green to patronize a Blue shop, or for a Blue to visit a Green tavern. Yet from a truce originally born of exhaustion, there is a quietly growing spirit of tolerance, even friendship.

One day, the Underground is shaken by a minor earthquake. A sightseeing party of six is caught in the tremblor while looking at the ruins of ancient dwellings in the upper caverns. They feel the brief movement of the rock under their feet, and one of the tourists trips and scrapes her knee. The party decides to turn back, fearing further earthquakes. On their way back, one person catches a whiff of something strange in the air, a scent coming from a long-unused passageway. Ignoring the well-meant cautions of fellow travellers, the person borrows a powered lantern and walks into the passageway. The stone corridor wends upward… and upward… and finally terminates in a hole carved out of the world, a place where all stone ends. Distance, endless distance, stretches away into forever; a gathering space to hold a thousand cities. Unimaginably far above, too bright to look at directly, a searing spark casts light over all visible space, the naked filament of some huge light bulb. In the air, hanging unsupported, are great incomprehensible tufts of white cotton. And the vast glowing ceiling above… the color… is…

Now history branches, depending on which member of the sightseeing party decided to follow the corridor to the surface.

Aditya the Blue stood under the blue forever, and slowly smiled. …

Barron the Green stared incomprehendingly at the chaos of colors for long seconds. …

Charles the Blue considered the blue ceiling, taken aback. …

Daria, once Green, tried to breathe amid the ashes of her world. …

Eddin, a Green, looked up at the blue sky and began to laugh cynically. …

Ferris gasped involuntarily, frozen by sheer wonder and delight. …

I hope you click through to read the six alternative endings to the story …

… if only to find out who were the Blues and the Greens. šŸ™‚

Freedom, Tyranny, Vote 2012

Ratcheting evil

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Suppose that in 2014 a new libertarian party gets seats in New Zealand’s Parliament and becomes a coalition partner in government. Suppose that, as part of a coalition agreement, the new party gets to implement its transitional welfare policy.

There’s to be a cap on the total number of beneficiaries!

Benefits across the board are to be slashed by 10% per year!

Liberty at last!

Guess what?

At the end of the first year, total welfare spending has increased!

Far from being part of a balanced budget, welfare spending is even more out of whack!

WTF?!

The Law of Unintended Consequences has reared its ugly head, again. Although the total number of beneficiaries hasn’t increased, and all benefits pay 10% less than they did, the new Invalids Benefit still pays substantially more than the old Unemployment Benefit. Beneficiaries have proved themselves able to move to not find work. There are now less unemployed and more invalids.

This particular case of the Law of Unintended Consequences has a name, viz., Simpson’s Paradox.

One of the best known real life examples of Simpson’s paradox occurred when the University of California, Berkeley was sued for bias against women who had applied for admission to graduate schools there. The admission figures for the fall of 1973 showed that men applying were more likely than women to be admitted, and the difference was so large that it was unlikely to be due to chance.

But when examining the individual departments, it appeared that no department was significantly biased against women. In fact, most departments had a “small but statistically significant bias in favor of women.”

The research paper by Bickel, et al. concluded that women tended to apply to competitive departments with low rates of admission even among qualified applicants (such as in the English Department), whereas men tended to apply to less-competitive departments with high rates of admission among the qualified applicants (such as in engineering and chemistry). The conditions under which the admissions’ frequency data from specific departments constitute a proper defense against charges of discrimination are formulated in the book Causality by Pearl.

I believe that Simpson’s Paradox, or a phenomenon very much like it, spells inevitable doom for two-party democracies. Unfortunately, there are too many people who vote on the basis of the fact that the lesser of two evils is the lesser evil. There are too many like the otherwise rational man who said

In any event, nothing is more important in the short term than ejecting The Filth from the White House, even if that means voting for Milksop Mitt. Certainly, a vote for some Saddamite masquerading as a libertarian [i.e., Gary Johnson] is just another vote for Obamarx.

To think this way is to make a tragic mistake. Sure, the lesser evil is lesser. But the lesser evil is also evil, and no long-term good will come of voting for it.

It works something like this. When Clark beat Shipley in 1999, Clark was the lesser evil. When Key beat Clark in 2008, Key was the lesser evil. But Clark in 2008 was more evil than Shipley in 1999. And Key in 2014 (or 2017) will be more evil than Clark in 2008. By voting consistently for the lesser of two evils, one is consistently voting for evil. One is ratcheting evil.

Or, when Bush beat Clinton in 2000, Bush was the lesser evil. When Obama beat Bush in 2008, Obama was the lesser evil. But Bush in 2008 was more evil than Clinton in 2000. Obama in 2012 is more evil than Bush in 2008. And Romney as POTUS in 2016 (or 2020) will be more evil than Obama in 2012. By voting consistently for the lesser of two evils, one is consistently voting for evil. One is ratcheting evil.

For God’s sake, don’t vote for evil. Understand what Jefferson meant when he said

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

The natural progress of things is for tyrants to become more tyrannical the longer they remain in office. The more tyrannical they are to begin with, the more quickly they become more tyrannical.

As yet our spirits are free, but to put a stop to this ratcheting evil, we need to use our precious suffrage to vote for, only to vote for, and one of these fine days to vote in, politicians of principle. They’re as rare as hens’ teeth, of course, but they do exist—on this very blog!

WTFU, people! A vote for the lesser of two evils is a vote for EVIL.

What are you, criminally insane? Please go take this cure for your moral and mental sickness!

Never be “practical” or “realistic.” Never be “pragmatic” or “strategic.” Never vote for evil or “the lesser of two evils.” Never vote for tyranny …

Alcohol, Keep it Metal!, Motorcycles, Suicide Silence

RIP Mitch Lucker

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Mitch Lucker, vocalist for Suicide Silence, died yesterday.

Mitch was a heavy metal dad.

Some things in life are happy accidents. Like the fact that Suicide Silence vocalist Mitch Lucker is releasing his band’s second album, ‘No Time to Bleed,’ on June 30, the same day his daughter turns two. When he’s not touring, the 24-year-old Lucker is a full time dad. “I go from two extremes,” Lucker told Noisecreep. “From being full-time on tour for three months straights to flying home and being at her beck and call until I go to bed! That’s also my job. They’re both me. I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

Being his daughter’s primary caregiver presents a conundrum for Lucker and that’s leaving her for brief spurts to tour the country. “It’s the hardest thing I deal with, but what I’m doing is the reason we have a roof over our heads and that I can take care of her. I hate being gone, but my family couldn’t survive without me going on tour. Tons of fathers out there don’t want to wake up and go to work, but they have to, in order provide. I don’t consider Suicide Silence work. I just tell her, ‘Daddy is going to leave and go play music now!'” Lucker makes the separation bearable through technology like Skype and his cell phone, saying, “It’s cool to be able to be elsewhere and hear her.”

Lucker’s daughter is probably the youngest attendee at Suicide Silence shows, too. “We put the decibel-eliminating headphones on her and she is super entertained.” Her first show wasn’t Suicide Silence, though; it was Circa Survive’s Anthony Green on a solo tour. “The bus dropped me off at the end of the Mayhem tour and that night, I took her to the show. She sat her on my shoulders. As long as there are lights, movement and music, that girl is happy. She saw me performing, telling the crowd to jump up and put their hands in air. I looked over at her in the corner on stage and she was jumping up and down and dancing, too!” And with that, Lucker pulls the phone from his mouth and says, “Hi, baby. Don’t tell mommy ‘no.’ You have to take your vitamins.” He comes back to the interview conversation, saying, “She’s gotta take her vitamins, you know?”

You only get one shot. Why’d you have to disengage, Mitch? A question that will remain unanswered.

One thing’s for sure, though. Alcohol and motorcycles don’t mix.

Heā€™s an alcoholic, and itā€™s a been a big battle. And I tried to stop him. I was in front of him begging him not to leave the house. Begging him. Like, ā€˜Just seriously, for us, donā€™t leave.ā€™ And he did. And this is what happened. I mean, Itā€™s a wake-up call. Heā€™s an amazing man. Heā€™s a wonderful father and a great husband. And now heā€™s gonna miss out on watching [his five-year-old daughter] Kena grow, because he decided to drink and ride. Just donā€™t. Just think before you guys do something stupid. Please learn from this. Please.

ALCP, JihadĀ onĀ Drugsā„¢, LiveĀ LikeĀ It'sĀ Legal, Prohibition, Self-sacrifice, State Rape, Tyranny

Amputee gets Home D

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(Leaves leg with ankle bracelet at home when he wants to go out.)

Medicinal marijuana proponent caught in sting

A prominent proponent of medicinal marijuana has been sentenced to 12 months’ home detention after being caught in an undercover police sting.

William Duffield McKee, 58, of Levin, was found guilty at a jury trial of four charges of selling cannabis and one of cultivation, and was today sentenced in the Palmerston North District Court.

McKee hosted the GreenCross website, which promoted the use of cannabis to prevent medical ailments.

He was targeted in Operation Relief between February 2010 and May last year – four times selling small amounts of cannabis and related material to an undercover police officer.

When police searched his house on July 8 last year they found 66 cannabis plants in various stages of growth.

Judge Barbara Morris today gave McKee credit for saying he would no longer push for political change about medicinal cannabis by selling the drug.

“You now accept that the change you seek must be done within the law and by way of submission,” she told him.

“You were not driven by commercial gain and to create a luxurious lifestyle.”

McKee’s right leg was amputated five years after he was the victim of a hit and run shortly before his 21st birthday.

A number of supporters watched from the court’s public gallery, and many held placards and handed out pamphlets outside the court.

Operation Relief?! (I thought I had a sick sense of humour, but I can’t top that!)

The ā€œThe War on Drugsā„¢ is a war on the medically sick, waged by the morally sick. It must end.

Censorship, Freedom, Religious Toleration, Totalitarianism

FUCK the government!

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Yes, FUCK the government!

And thank GOD that I live in New Zealand where I can say that with impunity!

From the office where I work, I can see the Beehive. I have a co-worker who is a young Chinese women who has been living in New Zealand for less than a year. The other day, we ventured outside together (I had to show her where to find the Post Office). Once on the street, I demonstrated the “one finger salute” in the direction of the Beehive—to show our politicians the respect they deserve. I said, “Make the most of being in New Zealand. You can’t do this in China!”

“Are you on Facebook?” I asked. “No,” she replied. “Why not?” She replied, “None of my friends in China is on Facebook.” (They don’t have Facebook in China.)

Most of us don’t fully appreciate how lucky we are to live in New Zealand where we have freedom of expression. It is our most precious freedom.

Last year, at an election candidates’ meeting, I shook hands with Peter Dunne. I despise Peter Dunne. But you know what? I’d buy him a beer. Or, a dose of whatever he thinks he might legalise under his stupid new proposal to legalise drugs that no one wants to take.

Seriously, we don’t know how lucky we are.

(I have a feeling I have stumbled on something substantial.)

This was brought home to me the other day when I visited Amnesty International’s Trial by Timeline. It’s a Facebook App that scans your Facebook timeline and finds out what you’re guilty of (and sentenced to) in places less enlightened than our beloved Godzone!

This afternoon I travel to Palmerston North for an all-night vigil in support of Billy McKee who is being sentenced tomorrow. If the sentencing judge shows an iota of compassion, Billy will receive a suspended sentenced or home detention. If Billy’s “going away” party turns out to be just that, and he gets well and truly FUCKED by the government, then … well, you won’t have heard the last of it from me. šŸ™‚

(We don’t know how propitious are the circumstances, Frederick.)

[Cross-posted to SOLO.]

Vote 2012

Let the GOODE times roll!

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I very much doubt that I would vote for my namesake—I’m not eligible to vote in the U.S. presidential elections—and I’m a Gary Johnson man, myself, anyway. But Virgil Goode is by the far the lesser of the remaining evils on the ballot.

Goode does have some good(e) (oh, LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) policies.

The Constitution: Emphasizing and following the Constitution will mean a smaller less costly government, which is vital for the future prosperity and progress of the United States.

English as the Official Language: I continue to support English as the official language of the United States of America.

Energy Costs: The United States must be free of foreign fossil fuel. Freedom from the Middle Eastern sheiks, Nigeria, and Venezuela is necessary for a continued bright future for our country. We cannot allow OPEC to control our energy supply. The United States must develop its own resources and alternative fuel sources. Hydrogen, biodiesel, and other alternative energy sources have potential in making us less dependent on foreign fossil fuels. I also support the utilization of nuclear power and expanded drilling opportunities for natural gas and oil in this country so that our energy needs are met by domestic and not foreign sources. I have supported and will continue supporting drilling in Alaska and the continental United States. If President, I would support the drilling off our coasts where it can be done safely and where the states, such as Virginia, have passed legislation requesting offshore drilling.

Being free of a need for foreign fossil fuel will enable us to be free of the shifting sands of the Middle East.

Tax Reductions and Fairness: I support the elimination of the Death Tax. Death should not mean the end of the family farm or the family business. A death tax often precludes families from having the homestead or family business. I support and have voted to terminate the current IRS Code at a date determined in the future so it can be replaced with something simpler and fairer. There are several alternatives to the current Code and include the Fair Tax, the Flat Tax, the Transaction Tax, and others. Between the current IRS code and the Fair Tax, I would support the Fair Tax with certain modifications. For example, the Fair Tax, which is basically a national sales tax, has a prebate of $180 per month per person, which should be limited to United States citizens, who are adults and who reside in the United States. I would support a Fair Tax only if certain other taxes, such as the Death Tax and Income Tax were eliminated. If the Income Tax were to be retained, then I would oppose a national sales tax and have a simple flat rate income tax and scrap the current code with its inequities.

Medical Costs: A big factor in medical costs is the high cost of malpractice insurance for our physicians and other health care providers. I support tort reform that will limit attorney fees and the amount of damages recoverable for non-economic losses.

Health Care: I support ending Obamacare.

Public Education: Washington should not be running our local school systems. We need to leave local education decisions to the states and localities. I am opposed to national testing of public school students and voted against “No Child Left Behind” with its new mandates and new tests that must comply with national standards. I support ending the federal Department of Education.

National Defense: We need a strong national defense. However, reckless federal spending which has given us a deficit in excess of one trillion dollars necessitates cutting defense spending. We must now come home from Afghanistan and reduce our expenditures around the globe.

Veteran’s Benefits: I support funding for veterans’ health care and providing health care benefits to all veterans. We also need to insure that the Veteran’s Administration works with and on behalf of our veterans.

Abortion: In the United States House of Representatives, I had a consistent pro-life voting record and in 2008 the National Right to Life Political Action Committee commended me “for your 100 percent pro-life voting record throughout your twelve years of service in the U.S. House of Representatives”. As President I would continue to oppose abortion and would submit a budget to Congress with zero funding for planned parenthood and any other similar entities.

International Relations: I oppose the placement of our Armed Forces under United Nations command. We need to curtail expenditures to the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, and to foreign nations. Our sovereignty, in my opinion, should always be paramount. I also vigorously oppose Agenda 21 and other globalism schemes so harmful to the citizens of the United States.

North American Union: We need to block any union between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The sovereignty of the United States must be preserved. In Congress I sponsored a resolution against the North American Union.

Trade: Agreements like NAFTA and the trade provisions in fast track authorization lead to the erosion of this country’s vital manufacturing base. I do not favor international trade agreements such as these that result in a loss of American sovereignty and jobs.

Term Limits: Term limits for members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate are necessary for a Congress more responsive to the needs of our country and its citizens. Many members focus too much time and attention on raising money for the next election. Term limits will result in members caring more about the general good for the county. If elected President, I will serve only one term and not focus on raising money and getting votes for the next election. The country shall be first.

Here‘s a celebrity endorsement from Robert Kocher.

Goode has not been trained, or has freed himself, to treat the realities, and the realistic nuts and bolts of life in terms other than that of the unvarnished raw truth. Thatā€™s exactly what is needed in America and, indeed, the world –a good dose of raw reality and tough love.

(Goode was at one time a conservative Democrat. Much to his credit, he was expelled from the Democratic party for voting to impeach Bill Clinton.)

It seems as though Virgil Goode has many of the important issues seriously covered in a way not attempted by present Republican or Democratic candidates. I am not in 100% agreement with positively everything that was said in his statement. Some areas need further explanation and a little touching up. The bare initial statement presented here was not widely presented beyond obscure internet sites. Any subsequent refinements and detailed explanations have been subjected to a blackout in the popular media. For practical purposes Virgil Goode, and his point of view, which is representative of many millions of intelligent people, are portrayed as nonexistent in the popular public media.

What we are instead presented with as the only choices for the presidency are two ambitious demagogue personality boys, goofs, who are in fundamental agreement but trading quips and one liners over trivia in their respective vaudeville acts in what is presented to be a presidential campaign debate. Meanwhile the only man to offer a serious consistent sane alterative and choice was barred from participation.