DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
What's Gone Wrong With Democracy?
The Economist magazine recently published “What’s gone wrong with Democracy … and what can be done to revive it?” The suggestion is that democracy is some kind of ideal for organizing human conduct. That’s a popular misconception.
The ideal way to organize human conduct is to create a system that maximizes personal liberty for all. Liberty and democracy are not synonymous and most often are opposites. In Federalist Paper No. 10, James Madison explained, “Measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.” Democracy and majority rule confer an aura of legitimacy and respectability on acts that would otherwise be deemed tyrannical.
Let’s look at majority rule, as a decision-making tool, and ask ourselves how many of our life choices we would like settled by majority rule. Would you want the kind of car you own to be decided through a democratic process, or would you prefer purchasing any car you please? Ask that same question about decisions such as where you shall live, what clothes you purchase, what food you eat, what entertainment you enjoy and what wines you drink. I’m sure that if anyone suggested that these choices be subject to a democratic process, we would deem it tyranny.
Our Founders saw democracy as a variant of tyranny. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Edmund Randolph said, “…that in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy.” John Adams said, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Alexander Hamilton said, “We are now forming a Republican form of government. Real Liberty is not found in the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments. If we incline too much to democracy, we shall soon shoot into a monarchy, or some other form of dictatorship.”
By the way, the word democracy appears in none of our founding documents.
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The ideal way to organize human conduct is to create a system that maximizes personal liberty for all. Liberty and democracy are not synonymous and most often are opposites. In Federalist Paper No. 10, James Madison explained, “Measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.” Democracy and majority rule confer an aura of legitimacy and respectability on acts that would otherwise be deemed tyrannical.
Let’s look at majority rule, as a decision-making tool, and ask ourselves how many of our life choices we would like settled by majority rule. Would you want the kind of car you own to be decided through a democratic process, or would you prefer purchasing any car you please? Ask that same question about decisions such as where you shall live, what clothes you purchase, what food you eat, what entertainment you enjoy and what wines you drink. I’m sure that if anyone suggested that these choices be subject to a democratic process, we would deem it tyranny.
Our Founders saw democracy as a variant of tyranny. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Edmund Randolph said, “…that in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy.” John Adams said, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Alexander Hamilton said, “We are now forming a Republican form of government. Real Liberty is not found in the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments. If we incline too much to democracy, we shall soon shoot into a monarchy, or some other form of dictatorship.”
By the way, the word democracy appears in none of our founding documents.
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A Comment From Yesterday's Students Win Right To Hold “American Pride”
When last I looked, being American meant being a citizen of the U.S.A. who not only accepts, but embraces the concept and implementation of becoming an American and promoting the Republic. Was I asleep when it became a constant national celebration and embracing of the tenets of from where the citizens came and some official acknowledgement and wholesale adoption of those countries' national and religious endeavors, that America is not the "melting pot", but a place where those secular and religious activities of countries of origin must be adopted?
Certainly, over the centuries, America has adopted those, but in a very gradual manner and only in ways that served to strengthen the Union, not to fragment it into bits and pieces comprised of segments with widely differing values.
Is it gone, that time when people came to the United States to become Americans, to join the masses who had a grand sense of patriotism for their new found country, who BECAME Americans by choice, and expected all others to do the same?
My sense of pride comes from being an American. Not a something-or-other American (insert religion or country of origin), but an American, a product of belief in the Constitution of The United States, the notion that democracy isn't perfect but it's the best show in town, and that America is built upon the ideologies not only of the Founding Fathers, but of the best of the ideas of those who followed them, ideas that promoted and enriched the functions of our national identity.
It's all well and good that you or your people came from whatever country. They/we all did. All of them/us. What matters is that we became and are ONE people, the American people.
Celebrate being whatever as subset of being an American, but do so with the conviction that you are or have become an American, not that you are a (insert country of origin/religion/color/creed) living in America. There's a difference, one that seems to escape the recognition of too many.
Eagle Cam Captures Eggs Hatching Just Over Md. State Line
An eagle cam captured their eggs hatching Tuesday morning.
You can see the little gray eaglets moving around a bit in the nest.
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"Shores of Tripoli"
Why the Marine Hymn Contains the Verse "To the Shores of Tripoli"
Muslim pirates of the past:
Americans are unaware of the fact that over two hundred years ago, the United States had declared war on Islam, and Thomas Jefferson led the charge!
Americans are unaware of the fact that over two hundred years ago, the United States had declared war on Islam, and Thomas Jefferson led the charge!
At the height of the eighteenth century, Muslim pirates were the terror of the Mediterranean and a large area of the North Atlantic.
They attacked every ship in sight, and held the crews for exorbitant ransoms. Those taken hostage were subjected to barbaric treatment and wrote heart breaking letters home, begging their government and family members to pay whatever their Mohammedan captors demanded.
These extortionists of the high seas represented the Islamic nations of Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers – collectively referred to as the Barbary Coast – and presented a dangerous and unprovoked threat to the new American Republic.
Before the Revolutionary War, U.S. Merchant ships had been under the protection of Great Britain. When the U.S. Declared its independence and entered into war, the ships of the United States were protected by France. However, once the war was won, America had to protect its own fleets.
Thus, the birth of the U.S. Navy. Beginning in 1784, seventeen years before he would become president, Thomas Jefferson became America’s Minister to France. That same year, the U.S. Congress sought to appease its Muslim adversaries by following in the footsteps of European nations who paid bribes to the Barbary States, rather than engaging them in war.
In July of 1785, Algerian pirates captured American ships, and the Dye of Algiers demanded an unheard ransom of $60,000. It was a plain and simple case of extortion, and Thomas Jefferson was vehemently opposed to any further payments. Instead, he proposed to Congress the formation of a coalition of allied nations who together could force the Islamic states into peace. A disinterested Congress decided to pay the ransom.
In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams met with Tripoli’s ambassador to Great Britain to ask by what right his nation attacked American ships and enslaved American citizens, and why Muslims held so much hostility towards America, a nation with which they had no previous contacts.
The two future presidents reported that Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja had answered that Islam "was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Quran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise."
Despite this stunning admission of premeditated violence on non-Muslim nations, as well as the objections of many notable American leaders, including George Washington, who warned that caving in was both wrong and would only further embolden the enemy, for the following fifteen years, the American government paid the Muslims millions of dollars for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages. The payments in ransom and tribute amounted to over twenty percent of the United States government annual revenues in 1800.
Jefferson was disgusted. Shortly after his being sworn in as the third President of the United States in 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli sent him a note demanding the immediate payment of $225,000 plus $25,000 a year for every year forthcoming. That changed everything.
Jefferson let the Pasha know, in no uncertain terms, what he could do with his demand. The Pasha responded by cutting down the flagpole at the American consulate and declared war on the United States. Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers immediately followed suit. Jefferson, until now, had been against America raising a naval force for anything beyond coastal defense, but having watched his nation be cowed by Islamic thugery for long enough, decided that is was finally time to meet force with force.
He dispatched a squadron of frigates to the Mediterranean and taught the Muslim nations of the Barbary Coast a lesson he hoped they would never forget. Congress authorized Jefferson to empower U.S. Ships to seize all vessels and goods of the Pasha of Tripoli and to “cause to be done all other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war would justify.”
When Algiers and Tunis, who were both accustomed to American cowardice and acquiescence, saw the newly independent United States had both the will and the might to strike back, they quickly abandoned their allegiance to Tripoli. The war with Tripoli lasted for four more years, and raged up again in 1815. The bravery of the U.S. Marine Corps in these wars led to the line “to the shores of Tripoli” in the Marine Hymn, and they would forever be known as “leathernecks” for the leather collars of their uniforms, designed to prevent their heads from being cut off by the Muslim scimitars when boarding enemy ships.
Islam, and what its Barbary followers justified doing in the name of their prophet and their god, disturbed Jefferson quite deeply. America had a tradition of religious tolerance, the fact that Jefferson, himself, had co-authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, but fundamentalist Islam was like no other religion the world had ever seen. A religion based on supremacism, whose holy book not only condoned but mandated violence against unbelievers was unacceptable to him. His greatest fear was that someday this brand of Islam would return and pose an even greater threat to the United States.
This should bother every American. That Muslims have brought about women-only classes and swimming times at taxpayer-funded universities and public pools; that Christians, Jews, and Hindus have been banned from serving on juries where Muslim defendants are being judged, Piggy banks and Porky Pig tissue dispensers have been banned from workplaces because they offend Islamist sensibilities. Ice cream has been discontinued at certain Burger King locations because the picture on the wrapper looks similar to the Arabic script for Allah, public schools are pulling pork from their menus, on and on in the newspapers….
It’s death by a thousand cuts, or inch-by-inch as some refer to it, and most Americans have no idea that this battle is being waged every day across America. By not fighting back, by allowing groups to obfuscate what is really happening, and not insisting that the Islamists adapt to our own culture, the United States is cutting its own throat with a politically correct knife, and helping to further the Islamists agenda.
Sadly, it appears that today’s America would rather be politically correct than victorious.
Any doubts, just Google - Thomas Jefferson vs the Muslim World.
Any doubts, just Google - Thomas Jefferson vs the Muslim World.
I don't know who wrote this piece, but I found it to be very interesting.
Not much has changed, has it?
State Board Sets Process For School Calendar Waivers
Board Authorizes State Superintendent To Make Decisions
The Maryland State Board of Education today voted to allow local school systems to apply for waivers of up to three days from the 180-instructional day requirement, and authorized the State Superintendent to make the waiver decisions on a case-by-case basis.
The Board asked that each local system include in its waiver request an outline of modifications made to the system’s calendar to meet instructional needs of students.
“Instructional time is critically important as educators throughout the State work to strengthen student achievement,” said Dr. Charlene Dukes, president of the Maryland State Board of Education. “But the reality is that our systems were forced this winter to make some tough closing decisions for the safety of their students and staff. That required us to take this important step.”
No timetable has been set for decisions on the waiver requests. Eleven school systems have already requested waivers, and others may do so in the coming weeks.
Maryland residents – and Maryland school systems in particular – have again been working through an active winter, particularly late in the season. Many school systems exceeded the number of inclement weather days that had been built into their calendars.
The Maryland State Board had already allowed school systems to open classrooms on holidays to make up for some of the lost instructional time. The State has granted approval to four systems to open on the Monday after Easter, a State school holiday.
The State Board has been confronted with confounding weather before. In calendar year 2009-2010, and again last school year, Maryland schools dug through more extreme winters than in 2014-15. The State Board authorized the State Superintendent to waive up to five instructional days those two years.
LegalShield Lunch and Learn at the WY&CC on Wednesday, April 15
Salisbury, MD – LegalShield Independent Associate Ritchie Russell will host a Lunch and Learn on Wednesday, April 15 from 12 - 1 p.m. at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center. Attendees will learn how LegalShield can provide access to affordable legal and identity theft advice and services, in order to worry less and live more.
Those planning to attend the event are encouraged to RSVP by Friday, April 10 to Scott Russell at 803-795-9483.
Those planning to attend the event are encouraged to RSVP by Friday, April 10 to Scott Russell at 803-795-9483.
Save the Bees!!!
I urge you to call the Obama administration TODAY and tell them what toxic pesticides are doing to our bees.
Let's show the administration that we will stand up to save our bees and our food system.
This pilot hit the nail right on the head in his open letter
By Captain John Maniscalco, American Airlines Pilot
I've been trying to say this since 911, but you worry me. I wish you didn't. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don't blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me.
I notice you because I can't help it anymore. People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't fully understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.
On September 11, ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings, killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children's mothers.
The Palestinians celebrated, the Iraqis were overjoyed as was most of the Arab world. So, I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I don't want to be consumed by the same rage, hate and prejudice that has destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.
How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim Americans and the Arab/Muslim terrorists in our communities who are attending our schools, enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter MORE of the same good neighbors and children?
The events of September 11 changed the answer.. It is not MY responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL of its religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with all of its faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to determine it for me.
I want to know, I DEMAND to know and I have a right to know, whether or not you love America ..... Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly display it in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation; that He will protect it and let it prosper? Or do you pray that Allah will destroy it in one of your Jihads? Are you thankful for the freedom that this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by also paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America?? If this is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.
Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions YOU are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America. Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent, because I worry about who you regard as innocent.... No more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks, because I worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy; I am interested only in action. What will you do for America - our great country - at this time of crisis, at this time of war?
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
NO INJURIES IN HARD LANDING OF PRIVATE HELICOPTER IN DORCHESTER CO.
Maryland State Police Press Release
03/24/2015
03/24/2015
NO INJURIES IN HARD LANDING OF PRIVATE HELICOPTER IN DORCHESTER CO.
(TAYLORS ISLAND, MD) – Maryland state troopers on the scene are reporting there were no injuries to the two people on board a private helicopter that landed in the water just off the Dorchester County shore late this afternoon.The two on board the Bell Jet Ranger helicopter are identified as the pilot, Vincent T. Giglio, 45, of New Jersey, and his passenger, Ronald F. Lopes, 61, of New York. Neither reported any injuries.
At about 5:30 p.m. today, Maryland State Police from the Easton Barrack began a search for a possible downed aircraft in or near the water in the southern part of Dorchester Co. The Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office had been notified by Patuxent Approach Control of a distress call from an aircraft in that area. Maryland State Police helicopter Trooper 6 launched and began an aerial search.
While troopers were en route, additional calls came in providing information on the actual location of the aircraft, which was in about four feet of water off the 500-block of Hoopers Neck Road, in Taylors Island. The crew of Trooper 6 located the scene and landed nearby. Troopers arrived and made contact with the pilot and passenger. Both had exited the aircraft without assistance and walked to shore.
The preliminary information indicates the pilot may have experienced some type of mechanical problem with the helicopter. He radioed a distress call, then made a hard landing as close to shore as possible.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified. No further information is available.
Husband & wife celebrate 82 years of marriage
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Md. Senate votes to raise judges’ mandatory retirement age
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The Maryland Senate has voted to raise the mandatory retirement age of judges from 70 to 73.
The Senate passed the bill unanimously on Tuesday. It now goes to the House of Delegates.
The measure is a constitutional amendment, so voters would decide whether to raise the mandatory retirement age in the next election, if the House passes the bill.
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The Senate passed the bill unanimously on Tuesday. It now goes to the House of Delegates.
The measure is a constitutional amendment, so voters would decide whether to raise the mandatory retirement age in the next election, if the House passes the bill.
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THIS Screenshot Exposes How UN-Affordable Obamacare Really Is
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Trooper arrested after wedding brawl sues Pittsburgh cops
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania state trooper sued Pittsburgh police on Tuesday, saying they arrested him on false charges and used excessive force — including a kick to the groin — when he tried to calm a rowdy groomsman following a brawl after his brother’s wedding.
Trooper David Williams, 35, of Plum, contends city officers falsely claimed he attacked them when, instead, they pushed and punched him for no reason, escalating a situation he was trying to help defuse.
Williams spent 17 hours in jail and was suspended by the state police for 10 days without pay before Allegheny County prosecutors dropped charges including rioting and aggravated assault — both felonies — at a preliminary hearing after the Sept. 1 melee.
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Trooper David Williams, 35, of Plum, contends city officers falsely claimed he attacked them when, instead, they pushed and punched him for no reason, escalating a situation he was trying to help defuse.
Williams spent 17 hours in jail and was suspended by the state police for 10 days without pay before Allegheny County prosecutors dropped charges including rioting and aggravated assault — both felonies — at a preliminary hearing after the Sept. 1 melee.
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