Get out of my house

Rand Paul: Get Government Out of Marriage

Yeah, I think so too.  But this article actually goes further than the headline would suggest by telling us what other GOP candidates think about the whole gay marriage thing.  And although this isn't one of my personal big issues for the 2016 election, it's a good a place as any to start looking at the candidates.

So, here's Rand Paul's reasoning in a nutshell:

“I acknowledge the right to contract in all economic and personal spheres,” he noted, “but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a danger that a government that involves itself in every nook and cranny of our lives won’t now enforce definitions that conflict with sincerely felt religious convictions of others.”

Right on.  I don't think anybody can really argue that the federal government is not becoming increasingly involved in all of our personal lives, and I for one don't like it and think we need to reverse the trend.

Of course, Rand Paul isn't the only candidate that is disappointed in the Supreme Court's ruling.  Some candidates think that a constitutional amendment defining marriage is a proper response.  I have two problems with this.  The first is actually a broader restatement of what Mr. Paul stated in the above quote, that government won't now enforce definitions that conflict with sincerely felt convictions of others.  Whether my "sincerely felt convictions" are of a religious nature or not, the government should not presume to tell me how I should believe.  And I believe that individuals have a right to contract.  I don't believe they have the right to contract for the purpose of gaining additional rights at the expense of others who are not parties to the contract, and I don't think the government should have the power to force me to be a party to a contract that really has no effect on me otherwise.

The second problem I have with the constitutional amendment response is that it won't pass.  I'm not sure why anyone thinks it might pass, given that the majority of states have already legalized gay marriage.  The fact that it won't pass makes it nothing more than a talking point designed to get the votes of those people who truly believe that their religious convictions should be forced on others, and that somehow, they are entitled to special rights and privileges because of their religious convictions.

And then there's this gem:

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal went as far as to say, “[L]et’s just get rid of the court.” 

Um, no.

It appears that Ted Cruz and Scott Walker also would support a constitutional amendment, meaning that they don't really have a response that will accomplish anything but want to make it clear that they don't support gay marriage.

Finally, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Ben Carson all came out with a more or less "Oh well, what are you gonna do?  It's the law," kind of response.  Telling me that none of them really wants to take a stand.

So, there it is, and at this point, although this isn't really a major issue for me, Rand Paul has come out on top.  He's the one guy that actually has a real reason, other than his feelings, for not supporting gay marriage.  Yeah, get government out of my house!

Elitist ideas and more

Obama signs trade, worker assistance bills; measures advance administration's economic agenda

This way, we can buy cheap imports, and the government will pay to retrain us to do whatever is left over.  Yay!  Take it from me, though, if you're, say, 50 or older, that retraining won't likely do you a whole lot of good.  But what does Obama have to say about it?

But he said they will ultimately be good for American workers and for American business.

Okay, so, American business, I get because you can't beat cheap foreign labor.  And, it's also good for American workers, cuz, you know, we can all retrain at government expense into something awesome like Medieval  Dance, or flipping burgers at McDonald's.

AAP: Docs Have Role in Preventing Childhood Obesity

No, there's nothing really interesting in the above link, other than some smarty pantses did a study and arrived at some obvious conclusions, like kids should eat lots of vegetables, and not a lot of junk.  Nah, can't be right.  I think we need another study to make sure.

What Is Cryptosporidium, and Should You Be Concerned?

And in more health news, the only thing really surprising here is that people still swim in public swimming pools after all the publicity about it.  Apparently, some people still don't get that using a public pool as a toilet is just, well, rude.  And then there are some that don't see anything wrong with swimming in someone else's toilet.  So, sounds like a win-win for at least those people.  I think I'll take a pass on public swimming pools, though.

Supreme Court quashes clean air rule, says cost must be considered

It's been about 40 years since the Ford Pinto case caused national outrage that a company would actually do a cost-benefit analysis when considering whether to take an action that might save a few lives.  Now, it appears that the Supreme Court is saying that this is exactly what the EPA should do when considering environmental rules.  But, here's a comment that's truly troubling, made by Mike Duncan, president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, an industry group:

“Elitist ideas usually carry lofty price tags.”

Since when is clean air an "elitist idea?"

U.S. Healthcare Spending On Track To Hit $10,000 Per Person This Year 

This is from back in January, but so long as people keep yakking about how much Obamacare is saving us, I'll keep pointing out how much it's costing us.  It will only get worse.  $10,000 per year, per person.  That's a staggering number to me, and should be to everyone.  I know that I can actually live on less than that, and pretty soon, I'll probably have to, since, well, I have to spend on health care every year now, thanks to Obamacare.  Some people will say I've been lucky, and maybe I have been, but I've never come close to spending that much on health care in my entire life.  And yes, I get the whole idea that some people have health problems and so, their costs are much higher than mine.  But $10,000 per year per person is, well, mind-blowing.  Especially when you consider that this doesn't even include the administrative costs associated with Obamacare, like that disastrous website.

Out of touch

So, here's what I'm concerned about:

What's Killing the Babies of Vernal, Utah?

But the rest of the world appears to be more concerned with gay marriage.  Yawn.  I can honestly say I just don't care what other people do so long as it doesn't infringe on my rights.  What I do care about is the fact that certain people are apparently afforded special rights solely because of their marital status, and I don't think that's the way it should be.  I don't understand why people want to turn this into an argument about religion, or constitutional rights.  If people want to get married, I say, let them.  But don't confer special rights on them simply because they have agreed to have sex with only one person for a while.  Why shouldn't I, as a single person, be afforded those same rights?  And what can my sexual preferences possibly have to do with any of those rights?

But, here we are, with some people claiming that gay marriage goes against their religion, and so, shouldn't be allowed.  And some people saying that if you're against gay marriage, you're homophobic.  I'm neither for nor against it, which to some people means I won't take a stance in the discussion.  But I say, my stance is just the third position that no one cares about: the position of single people who are not afforded the same rights because they have chosen to not make a particular sexual relationship "permanent."  Because, shocking as this may be to some, most of those relationships are anything but permanent, and many of them are not even exclusive.

It seems to me that there are two fundamental problems with this whole discussion, besides the fact that there is a third side that no one talks about, that being the side of single people.  The first is that you can't legislate morals.  I thought people were beginning to figure that out back in the seventies, give or take a decade, but apparently I was wrong.  It hasn't worked, and it won't work.  While it may very well be that there is one "true" moral code, it is too much to think that over 7 billion people can ever possibly agree what the moral code is, which means someone is going to feel like their rights are being infringed on by the laws that are meant to enforce those moral beliefs.  The second thing is that it doesn't work to try to legislate guarantees of rights that are already guaranteed to everyone under the Constitution.  As soon as you pass a law saying that certain groups are specially protected, you necessarily infringe on the rights of others not in that group.  It seems that the only way to force equality for some is to step on someone else's toes.

The sad thing is that equality should come naturally.  We're supposed to be some sort of "advanced" civilization and yet we can't just treat other humans with the dignity and respect they deserve simply by virtue of their being human.  We should embrace our differences instead of arguing about who is right.  We used to say that the world would be a dull place if we were all the same, but now, we have to behave as if we are all the same, otherwise we're bigots, or we're stupid, or, well, fill in the blank.

Don't get me wrong.  There are stupid people.  There are bigots.  And unfortunately, that won't change because most of them don't think they are those things.  In order to not be stupid, you first have to acknowledge that you are stupid, and that's something not many people will do.  It's just like what they tell you in Alcoholics Anonymous.  The first step in getting better is to acknowledge that you have a problem.

So, let's see if I can guess what names for me are going through your heads.  I'm stupid, that's a given.  I'm a bigot, which is likely because I'm not "for gay marriage" and I am caught up in my own white privilege.  Of course, I'm a male, and I believe that women deserve special treatment, but I don't think they are so weak as to require special rules to make life easier for them.  I believe they are quite capable of competing in this world.  So, I'm probably a chauvinist.  I'm a dinosaur that needs to "get with the times."  Unfortunately, I don't really have a desire to get with the times.  I think I'll just stay out of touch with the world.

As some of you may have noted, I'm not really addressing the linked article.  That's because no one cares.  It's probably just some statistical anomaly, and we need to study the situation for years before we can possibly determine what, exactly, is killing those babies.  Certainly, it doesn't have a thing to do with fracking, but if it does, you can be sure we'll get to the bottom of it in due course.  In the meantime, why don't you just pack up the family and go for a drive, cuz, you know, gas is cheap, so take advantage while you can.