Sir John Dahlbert, also known as Lord Acton, whose most famous quote is, "Absolute power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" wrote Lee after the northern victory. Dahlberg was one of, if not the most erudite political philosophers of his time. In his letter asking for Lee's opinion of the result of the war he wrote:
".....The institutions of your Republic have not exercised on the old world the salutary and liberating influence which ought to have belonged to them, by reason of those defects and abuses of principle which the Confederate Constitution was expressly and wisely calculated to remedy. I believed that the example of that great Reform would have blessed all the races of mankind by establishing true freedom purged of the native dangers and disorders of Republics. Therefore I deemed that you were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization; and I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo."
Lee replied:
"I am conscious of the compliment conveyed in your request for my opinion as to the light in which American politics should be viewed, and had I the ability, I have not the time to enter upon a discussion, which was commenced by the founders of the constitution and has been continued to the present day. I can only say that while I have considered the preservation of the constitutional party of the General Government to be the foundation of our peace and safety at home and abroad, I yet believe that the maintenance of the rights and authority reserved to the states and to the people, not only essential to the adjustment and balance of the general system, but the safeguard to the continuance of a free government. I consider it a chief source of stability to our political system, whereas the consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded it.......The South has contended only for the supremacy of the Constitution, and the just administration of the laws made in pursuance to it."
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35 terabyte tape cassettes -
The cassette tape is about to make a comeback, in a big way. The need
for something to store huge tranches of data is greater than ever, and
while hard drives have traditionally been the workhorse of large storage
operations, a new wave of ultra-dense tape drives that pack in
information at much higher densities, while using less energy, is set to
replace them, says Paul Marks in this article at New Scientist.Any gold anywhere in the world, that is not in one's physical possession , and has been handed over to an insolvent bank (virtually all of them) for "safekeeping", is currently being sold, lent out, rehypothecated and otherwise traded with, in a way that any demand for full delivery will generally be met with silence, blank stares and phone calls going straight to voicemail.
Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com
That's what happened under communism — and increasingly, it's happening in America. As Joseph Sobran put it: "'Need' now means wanting someone else's money. 'Greed' means wanting to keep your own. 'Compassion' is when a politician arranges the transfer.'"
John Stossel at rightwingnews.com
Ending affirmative action - The underlying principle is the recognition that if you hire people because they can't do a job, they won't.
Fred Reed at fredoneverything.net
Fred Reed at fredoneverything.net
The press and the debates - When conservatives spend their time complaining about media bias, we're losing. When liberals spend their time complaining about media bias, they're collapsing.
Ace at ace.mu.nu
Ace at ace.mu.nu
Chicago will borrow the $78.4 million needed to compensate nearly 6,000
African-American would-be firefighters bypassed by the city's
discriminatory handling of a 1995 entrance exam, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said
Tuesday, compounding the cost of a settlement that's already twice as
high as anticipated. ["Discriminatory" means the Fire Department discriminated between those who passed the exam and those that didn't]
Fran Spielman at suntimes.com
Fran Spielman at suntimes.com
Amtrak
For passengers, late trains mean time lost. For train crews, they mean overtime gained. Bottom line: Amtrak is a jobs program on wheels. [37% persons of color]
Clark Whelton at city-journal.org
Drug and alcohol use by Amtrak operating employees in safety-sensitive positions far exceeds the national average for the railroad industry, Amtrak's inspector general said in a report warning of serious safety risks.
Josh Lederman at ap.org
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