Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Unnatural Selection

Back when I was a young teenager (way before the web), I regularly read Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Hot Rod magazine.  They had a way of igniting the imagination of a thirteen-year-old about what he might drive upon reaching that arbitrary age of sixteen.  In the meantime, go-karts, mini-bikes, and bicycles would have to satisfy that innate yearning for autonomy and speed.
 
One of the solutions that always seemed attainable to a cash-strapped kid was the kit-car.  They appeared in ads near the back of those same magazines.  Cool pictures of a Shelby Cobra GT, a British MG TD, even exotics like the Lamborghini and Ferrari.  The Dune Buggy was the only model that seemed real – or at least not an imitation of a real model.  
  
The prices for those cool bodies always seemed relatively reasonable – as low as $399.  Of course, that did not include the underlying chassis, power plant, and busted knuckles required to make the pipe dream a reality.  It would be on you to find your own Volkswagen Beetle to complete the project.

There is something somewhat similar to the kit-car going on in the South China Sea.  There, the Red Chinese are busy building artificial islands on nature’s VW chassis.  By taking natural reefs and dredging sediment from the seafloor, they’re creating artificial islands.  Some are growing by as much as eight acres a day.


The NY Times reports, “China appears to be pushing ahead with its building spree in the disputed waters.  On Tuesday, Chinese state news media announced that construction had begun on two new lighthouses in the Spratly Islands, adding to the growing number of structures that satellite images indicate China is building, including airstrips.”   The Obama administration argues that China can't use artificially constructed islands to expand its sovereignty, mineral and fishing rights or to impede the international right to freedom of navigation.  
 
Let’s just hope that the invisible-ink pen that Obama’s been using to draw red lines around the globe isn’t water-soluble too.

  Now consider what is going on in America today.  The Obama administration, in a letter to every public school district in the country, has decreed that kids must be able to choose what facilities they’ll use based on their self-declared “gender”.  The declaration goes well beyond bathrooms – it includes privacy rights, education records, and sex-segregated athletics.  Although the letter does not carry the weight of law, it does threaten that failure to comply could result in lawsuits or revocation of federal aid.

It should come as no surprise that Obama wants locker and bathroom use decided by one’s self-professed “gender-identity” over what’s on a birth certificate.


If we do not permit school-age kids to vote, smoke, or drink, why in the world would we let them choose their “gender”?  What kind of a parent gives in to a kid’s every whim or desire – especially on a matter of that magnitude.  Even worse is an administration that would promote this aberrant behavior as acceptable – while demanding the rest of America accepts it too.  


Thinking that a kit-car is the same as the real thing would be wacky.  Acknowledging the artificial islands as legitimate sovereign territory would be disastrous.  Believing gender is a function of the mind or the result of medical modifications is madness.  

Even so, we should have great sympathy for a kit-car that thinks it’s the real thing – no matter how well the bodywork, it’s just a replica.  If girls are suffering from body image issues now with our sex-obsessed culture, just wait until the “girl” that was a “boy” feels the pressure.  What could possibly go wrong?

When questioned about divorce by the Pharisees Jesus reminded them about Moses’ teaching in Genesis:  “But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female.”  Jesus had a stern warning for those that want to let kids decide if they’re “male” or “female” -- “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.   It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.”

In some perverted way, this is reminiscent of the Obama administration’s foolish “cash for clunkers” program.  The last thing the government should be doing is ensuring the destruction of VWs in order to promote the creation of mere imitations. 

So what is the Obama administration’s response to the contention that when it comes to China and bathrooms they cannot have it both ways? 

 “Yes we can!” 

2 comments:

Tim Turner said...

The Chinese "islands" are ingenious and audacious. They probably cost less than a carrier. And besides their geopolitical effect, the "what are you gonna do about it?" effect is incalculable.

daniel_day said...

The Japanese have poured hundreds of yards of concrete around a set of rocks (to prevent wave wear of the rocks) that they say allow them to claim areas of ocean, so the Chinese are not the first to create overseas territory for their own convenience.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinotorishima
Mind you, the objective claimed by the Japanese is fishing rights; there are no air strips or other military furnishings. Oki no Tori Shima is outlined in red here:
http://blogs.c.yimg.jp/res/blog-8d-8a/aki_setura2003/folder/807233/72/31443272/img_2?1388961409