"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Friday, October 14, 2005

THE CRUX OF MIERS POLLING - and a new poll

Recently, there have been several polls published on the Miers nomination. (See here and here. And here for another angle.) I ran a poll, too - and the results are telling: 25% think she'll fail or withdraw; 25% think she'll do as well or better than Roberts in the Senate; and 50% think she'll squeek in. That's 75% who think she will FAIL or just squeek in - HARDLY A RINGING ENDORSEMENT OR VOTE OF CONFIDENCE! Since MOST of my readers are right-of-center/GOP-types one MUST CONCLUDE that the poll confirms that the MIERS nomination was a dissapointment to many many MANY more "GOP-righties" than should have been expected; IOW: it was a poor pick; or at best, it was a mediocre pick which was handled badly. I think ANOTHER poll would be very VERY revealing: how pleased or dissappointed are you with the pick?



HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE MIERS NOMINATION?

I AM DISAPPOINTED, BUT I SUPPORT IT
I AM HAPPY WITH THE NOMINATION
DISAPPONTED, AND WANT IT TO FAIL



Monday, October 10, 2005

TECHNOLOGY CAN MOOT THE ABORTION DEBATE

Bill and Hillary Clinton famously argued that abortion wasn't the REAL problem; the REAL problem was UNWANTED PREGNANCIES, and abortion is just a bad solution to that problem. They argued that abortions should be legal, safe and VERY RARE.

I think the federal government - and abortion/life actvists - ought to put down their swords, pick up plowshares and join forces to make abortions a thing of the past. And I think they can do this by advocating a MASSIVE federally funded effort to find a pro-life way to end unwanted pregnancies. SOUND IMPOSSIBLE?! It isn't - or if it is NOW, in NEEDN'T REMAIN THAT WAY! Technology COULD make unwanted pregnancies end WITHOUT aborting the fetus - BUT BY TRANSPLANTING THE FETUS TO A WOMAN WHO WANTS TO BE PREGNANT. Or perhaps the fetus can be frozern for LATER reimplanation.

FACT: According to the CDC 55% of all abortions occur in the first 8 weeks. Most women who have an unwanted pregnancy decide very soon tghat they want to end the pregnancy. What if the during these first 8 weeks, fetuses could be extracted and frozen for reimplantation instead of aborted!? What if a woman who discovered she was pregnant and decided she didn't want to go to term DONATED her fetus to another woman - or put it up for adoption, if you prefer. This would transform the controversial "medical procedure" - abortion - with an entirely UNCONTROVERSIAL one: reimplantation.

The fetus wouldn't have to be terminated in order to terminate the pregancy. This is a pro-life AND a pro-choice solution. AND THERE'D BE A GREAT "SIDE EFFECT:" the abortion debate and all the rancorous divisive politics which surround it would be forever mooted. Never again could this issue despoil the national debate or dominate the judicial appointment process.

All it would take is an infusion of federal research money - and even perhaps an infusion of capital from the pro-life and por-choice folks: instead of raising money to reinforce their poliitcal positions, they could raise money to SOLVE THE PROBLEM ALTOGETHER! That's a challenge. Do these lobbying groups WANT to solve the problem, or do they want the debate to continue so they can exploit it for their own gain!?

Let's see...

HOW TO SOLVE THE NORTH KOREAN PROBLEM

Some folks think that NORTH Korea is collapsing, rapidly (hat tip Glenn - who thinks this might be a good thing: "though the transition might not be.")

ACTUALLY: There's a simple solution to the current North Korea Nuke problem, (and the constant delays, impasses and false starts in the current and ALL the previous diplomatic attempts to solve the crisis):
the USA (and the World Bank and the IMF and the UN and the EU and China) should ALL PITCH IN (as in contribute money and man-power and expertise) and build a few nuclear power plants in SOUTH Korea - near their border with the NORTH - and GIVE electricity to the NORTH Koreans for FREE (for as long as the NORTH Koreans can't afford to pay for it; the SOUTH Koreans could invoice the NORTH Korenas at cost as soon as the NORTH can afford to pay for the power); IN RETURN, the NORTH Koreans would have to abandon their own nuclear ambitions, and stop developing and selling ballistic missiles.
The NORTH Koreans would get a virtually unlimited supply of electricity - FREE, and the world would get safer as a result - AND: we can check the safety of the SOUTH Korean plants EASILY!

The SOUTH would get first refusal on NORTH Korean products for export, and be able to make a fee for marketing these products to the world - somerthing they are extremely adept at already. The SOUTH Koreans could help the NORTH Koreans develop products which would be most exportable.

This idea would make the "TWO KOREAS" much more mutually dependent and it would therefore REDUCE the threat of war and instability. [The USES to which the NORTH Koreans apply their new power source would have to be under international scrutiny, in order to ensure that the energy generated by this project would be used by the NORTH Korean tyranny to improve the lives of most NORTH Koreans.]