David McElroy

When news came Friday that there had been a bloody attack in Norway, many people assumed that it was done by Islamic terrorists of some sort. Those assumptions produced the kind of hate-filled displays such as the one you see at the right. If the copy is too small to read, it says:

“MUSLIMS ATTACK PEACEFUL NORWAY: WAKE UP CALL FROM HELL!

Once again proof that appeasement does not work! The time has come to declare World War III on Islam. The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.”

(The complete page is still online as I write this, but it might disappear.)

As it turns out, the attacks were actually carried out by a self-described conservative Christian Norwegian with blond hair and blue eyes. This sort of spoils the script for those who are eager to blame everything in the world on the people they hate.

The world is a far more complex place than many people realize. It seems that most people have a script in their heads about the way the world works. Their confirmation bias makes them only see the things that fit their script. The rest is simply ignored, as though it doesn’t exist. It’s bizarre, but it seems to be part of human nature.

Keep Reading

If you believe in the democratic system and want to be a serious part of it in this country, you can be a Democrat or a Republican. That’s it. Most of those who want small government join Team GOP, believing they’re pursuing small government. Sadly, they’re mistaken.

I have lots of friends who are still active in the Republican Party, as I once was. Many of them are very sincere believers in cutting the size of government. I certainly know some who are social conservatives and neo-conservatives, but most among my friends are fiscally conservative and fairly socially tolerant people who are opposed to big government. They honestly believe supporting the Republican Party is going to cut the size of government.

There’s absolutely no evidence to support that fairy tale.

I was reminded of that again today when I saw this story about Texas Gov. Rick Perry — a wannabe Republican presidential candidate — blasting the Obama administration for cutting jobs in NASA now that the space shuttle program is winding down. (The link comes via The Agitator, a site which is worth your daily perusal.)

Keep Reading

If a private company had the right to legally force you to turn over personal information about yourself and then it sold that information to other companies, any state attorney general would be camped out in front of that company’s door holding a news conference about the legal action he’s taking against the company. But if it’s the state itself doing that, well, it’s OK. The rules are different for Big Brother than they are for us.

In Florida — as in every state — you’re required to hand over various information about yourself if you’d like to drive or own a car (or do just about anything). Now it turns out that the state is selling the information that it forces people to hand over. According to a Miami TV station’s report, the state is selling people’s names, addresses, dates of birth and lists of the vehicles they drive.

The state is selling this information to companies such as Lexus Nexus and Shadow Soft, which resell that information to other companies. But the state says it requires those companies to sign documents saying that they won’t harass people. That’s comforting, isn’t it?

Keep Reading