What"s with Obama and the Declaration of Independence

Recently, in a speech before a Latino advocacy group in Washington, Obama quoted from the Declaration of Independence saying :"...all men are created equal with certain unalienable rights...".  But what does the Declaration actually say here: "'...all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights..."'.  Big difference, no?  It most certainly is a big difference for if these rights are not endowed by our Creator, just exactly who does endow these rights.  Most certainly Obama left those words out because he does not believe these unalienable rights come from the Creator but from the government,  a standard Liberal position and the very reason libs do not take the promises of the Declaration and the Constitution seriously.  It is bedrock belief of Liberals that man makes up these rights and man disposes them, it is a core belief and allows them to continually find new rights, such as abortion rights, single sex marriage rights, the right to a good paying job, the right to a comfortable home, and the right to health care paid for by someone else, among a few of their positions that have bankrupted this country and all the other developed countries in the world.  Given their druthers, libs would scrap the Constitution and fob off on the people whatever they, in their infinite wisdom, thought was appropriate at any given point in time.  Not the way the Founding Fathers envisioned America was to be governed and certainly not the way these founders saw the freedoms of the individuals were to be protected.  In this one speech, Obama has shown us exactly what he and his lib friends believe, and has told those of us who believe in the principles laid out in the Declaration and Constitution why we must get these people out of power and out of our lives once and for all.  This is a matter of great urgency which it appears more and more people have come to recognize.  This speech is here and the relevant comment occurs about the 22d minute point, near the end of an otherwise typically boring demagogic speech by a typical lib sucking up to one of the typical "identity politics" mindless constituent groups they depend on for votes.  Finally, here's another link to a commentary on this issue.  It appears our very own Constitutional Law professor President has a rather narrow view of the rights of American citizens.

Added:  The following is from an article in the WSJ by Ronald Pestritto, a professor at Hillsdale College.  It seems clear from this passage that Obama is squarely in the Wilsonian progressive camp at the very least, in keeping, by the way, with many academics.

Other leading progressives such as Frank J. Goodnow, the president of Johns Hopkins University, noted approvingly (in a 1916 lecture) that in Europe, unlike in America, the rights an individual possesses "are, it is believed, conferred upon him, not by his Creator, but rather by the society to which he belongs. What they are is to be determined by the legislative authority in view of the needs of that society. Social expediency, rather than natural right, is thus to determine the sphere of individual freedom of action."

Fine art online -- NYT website

This is the online NYT website for purchasing prints of various paintings on many different subjects.

Kangen water

Here is a site that challenges the claims of Kangen water enthusiasts as well as the apparently dozens of other water mystics out there whose machines, et al, provide a transformation of water into a cure-all product.  What's interesting here is that the author of this site, a chemist, is unaware of the book Dr. Jhon, now deceased since 2004, wrote about the subject of hexagonal structure (the essence of the Kangen water claims) and it's curative effects.  Having read the book myself, it is clear that Dr Jhon has reservations about the "science" at least in the sense it's not yet proven, but still comes down hard on the side of the studies to date (meaning I suppose as of his death in 2004) that seem to indicate curative effects for the hexagonally structured water.  Also it appears that Kangen water is now being used in clinics and hospitals, at least in Asian countries, because of it's antibacterial properties, or such.  All in all there is more to learn about the value of the water as a curative or preventive curative before pluncking down mega bucks for the machine that makes it. However, on the evidence and facts so far available, it would appear there is definitely something to the beneficial "claims" of the proponents of this water.  There may be no way to know for sure until long term controlled studies are conducted on those who use the water on a daily basis for many years.  In the meantime if the use of Kangen water does nothing more than to make people understand the value of drinking more water than they do currently, that is in and of itself a likely benefit to general well-being, it being generally agreed most people do not drink enough water than they should.

Balancing the budget

In this post from the Powerline boys the fault lines in the argument about how to get control of the budget are on display.  It is obvious that the dems want balance the budget by raising taxes on everyone, especially the wealthy, while the repubs want to cut spending.  Nothing will happen until the repubs get control of the spending machine in the Congress.

Ground Zero Mosque

There is much discussion about whether Imam Rauf and his co-sponsors of the GZM are sincere, moderate and well meaning muslims or sympathizers with the Islamists in Iran and elsewhere who want to bring down the West and establish a new caliphate here in the USA.  Here is evidence that every pro Rauf liberal should study and take to heart. While the Imam comes off as an urbane, sophisticated, nuanced promoter of world peace and harmony, a little digging like that done in this post suggests otherwise.  One is struck by the similarity between the communist and Islamist approach to politics and establishing their hegemony.  Both movements condone lying and deception as a legitimate means to the end of establishing their way of life and power.  In the Muslim tradition this is called al-Taqiyya.

Incomparable Mel Torme

Here is the incomparable Mel Torme introduced to me by Jay Durfee who was my music mentor and to whom I am endebted for all he taught me on this and certain other aspects of life.