Ogre’s Politics and Views

Sometimes a bit of good news actually gets reported. Go read it, it’s quite refreshing and a nice break from this awful political season.

Popularity: 28% [?]

Tags: Life in NC, News by Ogre
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Oh, we’ve got to ban those evil toys. After all, they’re scary. And some lunatics actually believe they’re dangerous. Therefore, since so many plastic weapons are killing people and scaring people, they need to be banned. What? They’re not killing anyone? Oh, but they’re scary. Hey, Muslim dress scares me, can we ban it?

Officer Micheal Hoover was terrified when he drove by a car and saw a plastic gun. And when he took his case to a courtroom, the jury figured such a professional should actually be able to tell the difference between a toy gun and a real gun.

And Tennessee wants to make up a new crime — threatening people with a fake gun. I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure it’s already against the law to threaten anyone with, well, anything. Maybe that’s not against the law in Tennessee. Got to have laws to protect people from being scared, don’t we? I’m scared of IRS agents. Can we PLEASE ban them, too? They kill and destroy a LOT more people than toy guns.

And yes, of course, we already have a FEDERAL law that requires the toys — wait. Did you know that the federal government has empowered itself to pass laws regarding a toy? Yes, they regulate TOY guns. All toy guns must meet requirements of the federal government. What sort of screwed up system of government do we have? I wish we had a federal government that was concerned with a few national issues — like the national borders we used to have. Wouldn’t that be nice? But no, our federal government is spending their time giving away cash to people who don’t earn it and regulating plastic toys.

As usual, this is being sold as “For the Children (TM).” You see, “children” are removing the orange tips and are getting shot. I’m not sure why that’s a problem. If you want to make the police think you have a weapon, why shouldn’t you be shot?

Just more evidence that this government is far, far beyond control and utterly worthless. I wish we had a government by the people instead of by the government, for the government. Oh, how I yearn for freedom.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Tags: Government, News by Ogre
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It’s time for the May City Journal. I’ll let the editor tell you about it:

It’s the first (roughly) of the month, so the usual quick note from City Journal about some stories we’ve posted over the last few weeks. You may have already seen the ones examining Barack Obama’s ties to Jeremiah Wright and to terrorist-turned-radical-educator Bill Ayers. Just a few days ago we also ran a chilling reminiscence by a survivor of a 1970 bombing by the Weather Underground, Ayers’s organization.

On that note, advance notice that on Sunday evening we’re going to be posting a big beautiful feature on May 1968. A number of our regular contributors remember that tumultuous time well and have penned some remarkable remembrances of it, often funny and always informative. So keep an eye out for the six stories–by Christopher Hitchens, Kay Hymowitz, Stefan Kanfer, Guy Sorman, Harry Stein, and Sol Stern–accompanied by riotous drawings by famed illustrator Arnold Roth and audio versions recorded by the authors.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the four other stories from our Spring issue that are now available online: Michael Totten’s on-the-ground analysis of Iraq’s meanest city; Arthur Brooks’s fascinating linkage of freedom and happiness; Bruce Bawer’s compendious overview of cultural jihad and Western surrender; and Heather Mac Donald’s bracing refutation of the idea that racism is behind the disproportionate number of blacks behind bars.

As always, I hope you’ll consider our regularly e-mailed alerts and RSS feeds. And as always, if you’d prefer not to receive these monthly notes, just hit the Reply button and let me know.

Thanks for reading, and all the best,

Ben Plotinsky

Managing Editor
City Journal

Popularity: 19% [?]

Tags: News by Ogre
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The North Carolina State Board of Elections is reporting that over 337,000 votes were cast before primary election day. What they’re not reporting is how many citizens voted. I’m guessing about 200,000 or less. You see, North Carolina allows individuals to register and vote at will, on the spot. You just show up, give them an address in the state, and vote.

Nope, no ID. Nope, no citizenship requirements. Quite literally any warm body can show up and vote. Oh, and sure, you can vote as many times as you like. You can criss-cross the state and vote in different counties, or you can just vote on different days in the same counties. You can travel in-state, vote, then go home. You can come from Mexico, show up, ask for ballots in Spanish, and vote. There are zero voting requirements in North Carolina.

And Democrats actually claim this makes people trust the system more.

I think the ballots should be blank. If you want to vote, you should have to show identification and prove you’re a citizen of North Carolina. Then, you have to write in the names of anyone you want to vote for. Sure, there might be less votes cast, but you’d actually have to know who you’re voting for. But today, in this country, to ask someone to prove they’re actually eligible to vote is illegal.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Tags: 2008 Elections, North Carolina Government by Ogre
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