What Matters/ Sander Review / Hiway Update

Fortunately, I don't expect a lot of comments. One reason is that I rarely write short entries, and I hammer on the same theme repetitively. That theme, of course, is freedom, and my disdain for philosophies and people who push to limit that birthright of humanity.

To me everything that matters follows that right to live one's life as unfettered as possible. Our world has become very much like some classrooms I suffered through in public schools. Someone committed a crime; maybe it was theft of a test, minor vandalism, or an inappropriate snicker. If we don't know who did it, the whole class gets punished. Many of these cases involved culprits unknown to me. Not only was I oblivious to the crime but I had no idea who was the evil doer. Most of the others were as bewildered as I.

People tell me that our freedoms are restricted because people make trouble when they can. They abuse freedom so it gets taken away. I find that reasoning faulty. It is no one's job to steal your freedom in order to curb trouble. It is the job of assigned authorities to target the trouble makers for abridging the freedom of others. That is different. Because rights of individuals are not granted. Rights of the authority (government) are granted by the people and supposed to be limited. The document under which our society allegedly operates spells that out. I didn't make it up. Limit of authority was the big theme of thing.

That matters. Especially now, I would say, but that is not quite right. The distinction described above has been blurring for many decades. The understanding and teaching of the concept has flip flopped. People have come to believe that rights equal entitlements and that they are granted by some mysterious all powerful government. Now is just the logical conclusion of a lifetime of Animal Farm/ 1984/ Brave New World style rhetoric and behavior.

It could be that the majority of people never have been, and never will be, capable of living out from under the big boot. It's too bad. Some people cannot function under so much supervision and insanity. Term limits, salary curbs, removal of special retirement and all special health care benefits- all benefits that are now given elected officials--would go a long way toward improving this country.
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The sanders I already reviewed, Dewalt finish sander and Milwaukee random orbital got a good report. The Ryobi detail sander is better suited for brushing teeth. It is ineffective and doesn't even reach places that you'd expect. Thumbs down on that.
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The last two traffic reports I heard today included a cement block on the hiway, and a couch. One was on The 5 I'm pretty sure, and the other was on The 15 or 805, one of those. Couches really do lead the list of highway refuse. This takes littering to a new level. Maybe they just didn't talk about it in other cities I've called home. It seems to be epidemic out here. Probably some environmental issue with rope or tie downs. Whatever the case, lots of people just refuse to believe that anything could fall from their truck or off the roof of the car it seems.