Blog-IT-o ergo sum

	6/22/2003

Stop US re-entry to UNESCO

Yesterday, I sent out a resolution regarding President Bush's initiative to have the United States rejoin the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) --- an initiative if consummated would rescind President Reagan's successful campaign pledge which 18-years ago pulled the US out of this UN organization also sometimes referred to as "the global school board." I then received responses indicating that this issue is even less in the informed public's consciousness than I imagined.

If you agree with the UNESCO statement that:

"Indeed, the concept of sustainability is, in itself, a reflection of this growing awareness and of the need for new cultural values. Thus, it has been suggested that: Perhaps we are beginning to move towards a new global ethic which transcends all other systems of allegiance and belief, which is rooted in a consciousness of the interrelatedness and sanctity of life." (and of course they mean ALL life there not Human Life as is meant in the use of the word "sanctity" in the abortion debate)

then you need not be concerned with resisting Mr. Bush's wishes on this issue. If on the other hand your are of the suspicious type and could imagine that it is your "system of allegiance and belief" which has been targeted for transendence, do not panic there is yet hope. We are still not a dictatorship and some attempt is being made to follow at least small parts of our republic's Constitution; such as the requirement that Congress must vote the funding to participate in any schemes fancied by the Executive Branch.

The vote on this matter is under House Bill HR150 and will occur within the next few weeks. Please write your Congressman on this issue unless you think your children's government mandated public education is better organized by unelected global bureaucrats. Alternately, if you would prefer to think simply that what UNESCO does has no impact on you, what they have posted on their web site would seem to indicate otherwise:

"As soon as a convention has been ratified, accepted or acceded to in sufficient numbers to enable it to enter into force, it ultimately becomes binding on the State that has adhered to it."

Trust me, it is never wise to overlook the proclamations of government apparatchiks when they insert words like "force" and "binding" into their documents.

10:50:45 PM

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A rare moment of intellectual clarity

"When power is concentrated, it's easy to make big mistakes."

---- John Ydstie closing his story on the Ford Motor company last Monday.

Of course it is doubtful that the socialist editorial staff of NPR would think to apply this principle to our Federal Government as well.

9:21:51 PM

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Blog thoughts

Ed Cone keeps the pressure on corporate journalism to deal with the killer app wannabe blog wave. His latest post elicited a comment from me that now in a moment of self-promotional weakness and aggrandizement I find too irresistible not to post here as well:

I would think by now that bloggers have at least proved they provide an equivalent service to journalism that bird watchers and storm chasers do to science. Just imagine if the guy who shot the Rodney King video had a blog he could have posted a frame or two on. And, with but a little providence what would have happened if a significant piece of a space shuttle had landed in a blogger's back yard? There is no way media networks can have reporters and photographers on the scene of every media event or inside story. They will eventually figure out a way to tap into this economically priced resource. As for bloggers getting paid though, I think there will first be a long period were blogging is the pastime of "gentleman" and "barristers" in the old English tradition.

Here is a good description of what I mean. (courtesy :http://www.friesian.com/rank.htm)

"A gentleman, by English law, was a man with no regular trade or occupation. Now we might think of such a definition as specifying a vagrant, but it actually meant someone who lived off inherited wealth, rents, or feudal office (including the Church, which also meant Mediaeval Academia). This was an era when "amateur" was good and "professional" was bad -- since the amateur did something for love (amor), while the professional did something just for money. In the British legal system, barristers (i.e. those at the "Bar"), who plead in court, were gentlemen who did not accept pay (but received honoria by courtesy), while other lawyers were solicitors, mere professionals."

In today's increasingly neofeudal society, a public college professor with tenure probably comes closest to this description of a gentleman and so it is not surprising we find them well represented in the blogging community. Likewise, the contemporary blogoshpere is certainly also full of those who like to hang out "at the bar" and argue their cases. Understanding this state of affairs, we can appreciate why one of the most famous bloggers is indeed a law professor.

7:54:36 PM

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