It's interesting to see Pres. Obama back-peddling so quickly on the Sgt. Crowley v. Prof. Gates issue. Let's be honest here; Obama made a jack ass of himself by jumping into a small local issue, not knowing the facts, rendering an opinion on the matter -- that the cops "acted stupidly" -- and thinking he would be safe in his position.
You can read the police report for yourself if that helps, but I'll also provide a gracious synopsis since we all know that clicking and reading would be too time consuming for most of us.
So, a nice neighbor of Professor Henry Louis Gates of Harvard called in a possible robbery in progress, also known as "breaking-and-entering" as she noted two men busting down the front door of her neighbor's house. Upon reaching the residence, Sgt. Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) was intercepted by Lucia, the neighbor who called in the report, and she told him she saw two black men trying to enter the residence.
Sgt. Crowley then went to the residence, noted then Prof. Gates, and asked for ID to see if there was a correlation to the man in the house and the supposed owner of the place. (Remember, Crowley doesn't know who the owner looks like.) From there, race baiting begins immediately as Gates responds, "Why? Because I'm a black man in America?" He goes on to inform Sgt. Crowley that he "has no idea who [he's] messing with!"
When Crowley asked him to step outside to speak with him, Gates replied, "I'll speak with your mama outside..." Becoming louder and more angry, Sgt. Crowley eventually places Prof. Gates under arrest for disorderly conduct. The charges are quickly dropped, but the media's meat hooks are already deeply in.
Tell me, if you were in a similar circumstance, what would your response had been? If the officer was white, black, brown, or heliotrope? Let's put this into perspective even more: the door to your house is apparently jammed shut. You enlist someone else to help you bust it down. You make a lot of noise, maybe even swear because the friggin' thing won't open, but you finally smash it open. Suddenly, the cops are on the scene because someone reported a possible break-in. And an officer asks you for ID, and you say... Well at least you would be pleasant, right? I mean, it's the cops, with guns, tazers, handcuffs and the ability to haul your butt off to jail where fair beautiful people like me are traded for cheap commodities such as two half-smoked cigarette butts. *shudders*
Why Obama decided to get involved at all is perplexing to me -- it really could have been just a small footnote to an otherwise long day. But, Obama does have reasons to hate the Cambridge police department. While attending Harvard Law, Obama got 17 parking tickets in his 3 years there. He paid only two of them in 1990. He paid, or rather, the state of Illinois paid the remaining 15 a couple of years ago when Obama announced his bid for US President.
But let's get back to the real issue here, and that is one about racism. Prof. Gates had the uncanny luck of running into the police officer in charge of racial training for Cambridge. Not only that, a supporting officer at the scene, who is black, said Gates was acting strangely and that he supports the arrest 100%.
The point is that our president, adrift without facts, made an unnecessary judgment in favor of an apparent racist on an otherwise minor incident and in so doing, made himself out to be a fool now that many of the facts have come to light. Why would someone of paramount example to our nation do such a brash thing? Birds of a feather, perhaps? At first, Prof. Gates said he was going to sue the CPD for racial profiling. Since then, the CPD has come out and said they have the entire arrest on audio file, and not surprisingly, Prof. Gates now isn't so sure about his lawsuit. Not to worry, Prof. Gates, Sgt. Crowley is considering it for defamation.
And despite all this, Obama still hasn't properly back-tracked yet. Instead, he said that both parties may have "over-reacted" to the situation. The CPD says everything was done "by the book" so what more (or less) could have the police have done? Sure, Obama called Sgt. Crowley and invited him and Gates to the White House "for a beer," but this is way too drawn out. A simple, "my bad" would have sufficed -- end of story. And what I find truly odd is that Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson didn't jump on this. Maybe Obama usurped them. I dunno.
You can read an article that holds back no punches on the issue here, that delineates Obama to Gates and ultimately, racism. Worth a glance, if you are looking for a more in depth perspective.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Getting to the real news
Will it ever end?! Seriously, I gave my tribute to Michael Jackson and the whole world should have taken note of my lead and ended it there. But no! Here we are, still going over every tidbit of his life as if we hadn't already lived it over the past +30 years. Let the dead bury the dead.
A few things have been happening in the world that were not covered enough. First and foremost, the US House of Representatives passed the Cap and Trade bill on June 26th. It now heads to the Senate to be voted on in September, and who are currently drafting their own version. What is this bill? Who really knows because it's +1300 pages long, with the last 300 pages added between 12am and 3am that Friday before they voted on it. No one has read the entire bill in Congress! Just like the stimulus bill which was quickly passed which no one had time to read, this bill is in that same boat. I'll tell you what I do know; the Cap-n-Trade is a taxing policy that allows companies to trade carbon credits if they go over their government mandated allowance of CO2. For example, if a certain manufacturer doesn't use up all the carbon credits allocated to them, they can trade them for money (or whatever -- favors?) to, say, a coal burning electric company who would obviously go over their amount. Basically, this would translate to higher electric costs for you, me and every building in this country.
It's a lot more than that as well. Actually, if you want the skinny on it, read this article for a huge enlightenment on this idiotic bill. Do me a favor, at least read the second paragraph of the above reference article. Warren Buffett, the second richest man in the world [worth ~40 billion dollars], who owns Hathaway Berkshire, stated that if this bill passes the Senate, there will be no economic recovery in the US. None. How scary is that? Obama has already promised to sign it into law, but make no mistake, this bill is about control and power-grabbing. Hopefully people will come to their senses before September, but now that Stuart Smalley - or Al Franken - gives the 60th vote in the Senate, there may be little we can do to stop it. Some estimates of the impact it'll have on the people is as little as $175 a year per family of four, and up to $1600 a year for a family of four. Here's my deal: either is bad during a prolonged recession! How is this going to help move the economy along? Obama stumped the day before that this is a "jobs bill" because alternative energy jobs will sky-rocket. Really? Well how many will lose jobs because of "trickle down" taxation? Idiots!
The next thing that happened was a "coup d'etat" in Honduras. The media has deliberately downplayed the real story here, and it is a story about people standing up for democracy. President Jose Manuel Zelaya was serving in his legally elected office when he decided the State Constitution didn't suit him anymore. He wanted to be elected into a 3rd term which is specifically illegal and immutable. The Supreme Court told him as much, as did their congress, and even then, the President does not have the authority to change the Constitution. But, he went ahead and tried to get new ballots printed up with his option. No one in the country would do it, but dictator for life Hugo Chavez of Venezuela was willing and did so, sent the newly minted ballots to Honduras. The Honduran Military got ahold of the shipment and held it captive. The President broke into the warehouse to get them. He then dismissed the head General of the military and started handing out the ballots. It was then that he was removed from office, put on a plane in his pajamas, and sent to Costa Rica. After that, the military immediately handed the officiating powers back to the people and elected officials. Not exactly a real coup d'etat in the strictest sense.
What happened then? The whole world denounced Honduras for standing up to a soon-to-be tyrant, and we [Obama and Sec. of State Clinton] sided with Castro and Chavez that President Zelaya should be reinstated. Ridiculous! The US, the bastion of freedom, chiding a country for upholding their near-identical Constitution to ours, because they over-threw a wannabe tyrant. What's the matter, Obama, afraid we're taking notes from our brave neighbors to the south?
Well, considering it is after 1:30 in the morning (I got up late and then took a nap...) I should probably be heading to bed. I did want to say that this week, gas prices actually went down. Somewhat good news, though the influx of extra money still hasn't flooding in yet either. Sure, that drop was .03 cents around here, and the Oregon congress just passed a bill increasing gas tax by .06 cents, so we'll lose that small perk anyway. Still, good news, and again, hopefully things will turn around so I can stop being an alarmist and go back to criticizing The Little Mermaid, which I saw again today, not surprisingly. Yes, I still hate that little hedonistic redhead. Meanwhile, my daughter adores her.
A few things have been happening in the world that were not covered enough. First and foremost, the US House of Representatives passed the Cap and Trade bill on June 26th. It now heads to the Senate to be voted on in September, and who are currently drafting their own version. What is this bill? Who really knows because it's +1300 pages long, with the last 300 pages added between 12am and 3am that Friday before they voted on it. No one has read the entire bill in Congress! Just like the stimulus bill which was quickly passed which no one had time to read, this bill is in that same boat. I'll tell you what I do know; the Cap-n-Trade is a taxing policy that allows companies to trade carbon credits if they go over their government mandated allowance of CO2. For example, if a certain manufacturer doesn't use up all the carbon credits allocated to them, they can trade them for money (or whatever -- favors?) to, say, a coal burning electric company who would obviously go over their amount. Basically, this would translate to higher electric costs for you, me and every building in this country.
It's a lot more than that as well. Actually, if you want the skinny on it, read this article for a huge enlightenment on this idiotic bill. Do me a favor, at least read the second paragraph of the above reference article. Warren Buffett, the second richest man in the world [worth ~40 billion dollars], who owns Hathaway Berkshire, stated that if this bill passes the Senate, there will be no economic recovery in the US. None. How scary is that? Obama has already promised to sign it into law, but make no mistake, this bill is about control and power-grabbing. Hopefully people will come to their senses before September, but now that Stuart Smalley - or Al Franken - gives the 60th vote in the Senate, there may be little we can do to stop it. Some estimates of the impact it'll have on the people is as little as $175 a year per family of four, and up to $1600 a year for a family of four. Here's my deal: either is bad during a prolonged recession! How is this going to help move the economy along? Obama stumped the day before that this is a "jobs bill" because alternative energy jobs will sky-rocket. Really? Well how many will lose jobs because of "trickle down" taxation? Idiots!
The next thing that happened was a "coup d'etat" in Honduras. The media has deliberately downplayed the real story here, and it is a story about people standing up for democracy. President Jose Manuel Zelaya was serving in his legally elected office when he decided the State Constitution didn't suit him anymore. He wanted to be elected into a 3rd term which is specifically illegal and immutable. The Supreme Court told him as much, as did their congress, and even then, the President does not have the authority to change the Constitution. But, he went ahead and tried to get new ballots printed up with his option. No one in the country would do it, but dictator for life Hugo Chavez of Venezuela was willing and did so, sent the newly minted ballots to Honduras. The Honduran Military got ahold of the shipment and held it captive. The President broke into the warehouse to get them. He then dismissed the head General of the military and started handing out the ballots. It was then that he was removed from office, put on a plane in his pajamas, and sent to Costa Rica. After that, the military immediately handed the officiating powers back to the people and elected officials. Not exactly a real coup d'etat in the strictest sense.
What happened then? The whole world denounced Honduras for standing up to a soon-to-be tyrant, and we [Obama and Sec. of State Clinton] sided with Castro and Chavez that President Zelaya should be reinstated. Ridiculous! The US, the bastion of freedom, chiding a country for upholding their near-identical Constitution to ours, because they over-threw a wannabe tyrant. What's the matter, Obama, afraid we're taking notes from our brave neighbors to the south?
Well, considering it is after 1:30 in the morning (I got up late and then took a nap...) I should probably be heading to bed. I did want to say that this week, gas prices actually went down. Somewhat good news, though the influx of extra money still hasn't flooding in yet either. Sure, that drop was .03 cents around here, and the Oregon congress just passed a bill increasing gas tax by .06 cents, so we'll lose that small perk anyway. Still, good news, and again, hopefully things will turn around so I can stop being an alarmist and go back to criticizing The Little Mermaid, which I saw again today, not surprisingly. Yes, I still hate that little hedonistic redhead. Meanwhile, my daughter adores her.
Friday, June 26, 2009
A missing piece of culture
Well, you and the rest of the world should be informed by now that Michael Jackson, the World popstar and "King of Pop" died Thursday afternoon from cardiac arrest. He was 50 years old.
Few people are global icons. It takes a tremendous amount of talent, or power, to become a global icon, especially to the status attained by MJ, who really was talented in both catchy music and dancing abilities.
Lets be honest here, though, the last 15 years haven't been very good for him in terms of legalities and popularity. Twice he was hit with law suits alleging misconduct with underage boys, and he even admitted a few things that just weren't right, such as sleeping in a bed with young boys. Though never convicted, he was permanently tainted because of these issues. I'm not going to opine on whether he was a pedophile or not. But I will say that the US as a whole just lost a valid piece of Americana. Culturally we died a little today with MJ. It kinda feels like we can't have cheese burgers any more. Or maybe a tall glass of Coca-Cola. Gone. No more.
I guess what I am saying is that although he was weird, got caught up in lawsuits, was mostly plastic, and had more nose jobs than Mr. Potatohead, he was, in essence, an extension of the American Dream or Story -- going from relatively nothing, to proving his abilities, and then rising to the highest eschelon in human achievement by becoming a global super star. And even though I do not listen to his music (any more) nor have I ever bought any of his records, I do feel a sense of loss just because of his artistic abilities and the paramount that he achieved. Maybe it's calling to my artistic bones. I dunno. But for a moment, when I read the headline on CNN, it became a surreal moment for me, something I hadn't felt since 9/11. Maybe I just need to sleep on the matter.
Still, odd week no doubt. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and then MJ. Deadpool, anyone?
Few people are global icons. It takes a tremendous amount of talent, or power, to become a global icon, especially to the status attained by MJ, who really was talented in both catchy music and dancing abilities.
Lets be honest here, though, the last 15 years haven't been very good for him in terms of legalities and popularity. Twice he was hit with law suits alleging misconduct with underage boys, and he even admitted a few things that just weren't right, such as sleeping in a bed with young boys. Though never convicted, he was permanently tainted because of these issues. I'm not going to opine on whether he was a pedophile or not. But I will say that the US as a whole just lost a valid piece of Americana. Culturally we died a little today with MJ. It kinda feels like we can't have cheese burgers any more. Or maybe a tall glass of Coca-Cola. Gone. No more.
I guess what I am saying is that although he was weird, got caught up in lawsuits, was mostly plastic, and had more nose jobs than Mr. Potatohead, he was, in essence, an extension of the American Dream or Story -- going from relatively nothing, to proving his abilities, and then rising to the highest eschelon in human achievement by becoming a global super star. And even though I do not listen to his music (any more) nor have I ever bought any of his records, I do feel a sense of loss just because of his artistic abilities and the paramount that he achieved. Maybe it's calling to my artistic bones. I dunno. But for a moment, when I read the headline on CNN, it became a surreal moment for me, something I hadn't felt since 9/11. Maybe I just need to sleep on the matter.
Still, odd week no doubt. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and then MJ. Deadpool, anyone?
Thursday, June 18, 2009
New look and revamp
I really did not like the standard greenery offered, even though I started this blog nearly a year ago. I guess that just goes to show you how engaged I am in this whole blogging business. Not even that, I said I'd change the blog name altogether, and I've thought about it at length, and at best came up with "Socks and Birkenstocks" since that seems like a prevalent theme up here in the Northwest, however, it is anathema to my position (i.e., socks and sandals do not mix). Still, cute name, n'est pas?
Now I don't have an issue with green -- after all, who could argue with a color that has such a rich history in camouflage? Not I. But this cleaner look seems to suit me better. Plus, a little blue here and there is soothing, and the older look was an eye sore. I admit that.
Not to make this post only about revamping the blog, but I did want to add that I did have another one of those dreams the other day. Hard to imagine with my sleeping routine in shambles.
---
In this dream, I was sitting next to two children; an adolescent of maybe 13 years, African American, and a younger boy, Caucasian of maybe 7 or 8 years of age. I was trying to carry on a conversation with both of them, but every few seconds, a new evil spirit would jump into the body of one of these two kids, and disrupt the flow of things. It was really annoying, to put it mildly, but the worst part was that I was rather immune to the whole plight. Instead of rebuking the demons, I would just point and order the evil spirit to be gone. Surprisingly, it was sorta working. Sorta.
Ever read the Sons of Sceva in the New Testament? I love this story. You can read it in Acts 19:13-16. I'll cite it below from the King James version:
13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priest, which did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
This is pretty much what happened to me in the dream. These seven sons of Sceva saw Paul exorcise a demon in the name of Jesus Christ, and they thought that was pretty neat. So they found a possessed individual, and then had the audacity to say, "We adjure (command) you by Jesus as Paul did!" And that smart-aleck demon says, "Gee, I know Jesus, and I know Paul too. But who the hell are you?" And then he beat the crap out of them. Seven brothers versus one demon-stricken man, and they still lost. That gives you a sense of how much power the dark side has.
So here I am, lazily telling these demons to be gone by my own authority, and they playfully obey, but when I got upset that I couldn't carry a common conversation with these two youth, my supposed power back-fired, and just like in the scriptures, they leaped upon me, and as usual, went for my neck so I couldn't utter anything in my defense. These kids were strong, I couldn't make them move at all. Once again, I wake up gasping for air, wondering what the heck is going on around here. I immediately realized my folly -- arrogance and ego -- thinking I have control over something I clearly do not. And I find it odd because, usually, I know what to do. But this time, I felt somewhat entitled and I am not sure why.
At least I have an opportunity to reflect on the matter. And yes, when I'm lazy I do wear socks with sandals. Classy!
Now I don't have an issue with green -- after all, who could argue with a color that has such a rich history in camouflage? Not I. But this cleaner look seems to suit me better. Plus, a little blue here and there is soothing, and the older look was an eye sore. I admit that.
Not to make this post only about revamping the blog, but I did want to add that I did have another one of those dreams the other day. Hard to imagine with my sleeping routine in shambles.
---
In this dream, I was sitting next to two children; an adolescent of maybe 13 years, African American, and a younger boy, Caucasian of maybe 7 or 8 years of age. I was trying to carry on a conversation with both of them, but every few seconds, a new evil spirit would jump into the body of one of these two kids, and disrupt the flow of things. It was really annoying, to put it mildly, but the worst part was that I was rather immune to the whole plight. Instead of rebuking the demons, I would just point and order the evil spirit to be gone. Surprisingly, it was sorta working. Sorta.
Ever read the Sons of Sceva in the New Testament? I love this story. You can read it in Acts 19:13-16. I'll cite it below from the King James version:
13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priest, which did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
This is pretty much what happened to me in the dream. These seven sons of Sceva saw Paul exorcise a demon in the name of Jesus Christ, and they thought that was pretty neat. So they found a possessed individual, and then had the audacity to say, "We adjure (command) you by Jesus as Paul did!" And that smart-aleck demon says, "Gee, I know Jesus, and I know Paul too. But who the hell are you?" And then he beat the crap out of them. Seven brothers versus one demon-stricken man, and they still lost. That gives you a sense of how much power the dark side has.
So here I am, lazily telling these demons to be gone by my own authority, and they playfully obey, but when I got upset that I couldn't carry a common conversation with these two youth, my supposed power back-fired, and just like in the scriptures, they leaped upon me, and as usual, went for my neck so I couldn't utter anything in my defense. These kids were strong, I couldn't make them move at all. Once again, I wake up gasping for air, wondering what the heck is going on around here. I immediately realized my folly -- arrogance and ego -- thinking I have control over something I clearly do not. And I find it odd because, usually, I know what to do. But this time, I felt somewhat entitled and I am not sure why.
At least I have an opportunity to reflect on the matter. And yes, when I'm lazy I do wear socks with sandals. Classy!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
How it goes down
Been a while, no? Well, my apologies. Though I am now unemployed, I still find ample opportunity to not have time to post here. How do I do it? Simple, really. First, my new daughter keeps me from sleeping soundly, then my other daughter keeps me busy during the day, then my allergies keep me from breathing, but then my doctor gives me new allergy medicine but doesn't tell me the major side effect is indigestion followed with abrupt diarrhea. In a way, it makes an unfortunate inharmonious lifestyle that I have yet to master.
Moving on.
Yes, I am still on a political kick, though it has subsided somewhat. Still, since that is my current modus operandi, let's continue along that path, shall we?
I've posted some rather doomsday-ish fodder for the USA in previous posts, but one has to ask what the final catalyst for the ending will be. So henceforth, I'll go into my opinion as to what will happen. Mind you, it is speculation at best so let's not be quick with the "crazy nut job" name calling.
What is the most likely cause of death for us? If you look at statistics, then heart disease would be the most prevalent human killer, at least in the US. Followed by cancer, and then a myriad of other medical complications such as diabetes, liver disease, etc. All of these illnesses come from within your body. They are not extrinsic such as car accidents or homicide, both of which are very low on the likely cause of death scenario.
Such is the case for the US. Our problem is from within. Great nations are not killed, they commit suicide. Since the turn of the 20th century, when the Federal government made the first income tax, up to the present, the founding principles have been eroded away on one law after another, extensively through the New Deal and the Great Society, and of course, right now. And for the most part, good people stood by and watched. Meanwhile, the populous as a whole became complacent and even worse, entitled. This wouldn't be so bad except that we couldn't really afford it as a country. This is evidenced today as we topped 10 trillion in national debt last year, and by some estimates, will be over 14 trillion before the end of Obama's first term.
But the national debt doesn't matter, right? We owe it to ourselves! Well, sorta. Here's what we do know; every year there is a Federal deficit, typically several hundred billion. We sell treasure bonds to offset this difference. Because as a country we have a AAA rating, that means anyone can buy our bonds and be repaid in the future. So, we hold a bake sale, and the lowest percentage bidder gets top priority. Countries, corporations/banks, and private individuals get a chance at these bonds. China has about a trillion dollars of our debt. Japan and England have about half a billion each, and the rest we own, mostly. This deficit is also offset by robbing from Medicare/caid. See, we are overtaxed just a bit on that program, so the government writes an IOU to Medicare for the rest and uses that money for the deficit first, then goes to the bonds.
So what happens when you have a deficit that is 1.7 trillion dollars and during a recession? Well, the potential buyers are fewer, and not only that, the amount of risk is higher too. This is what is happening right now. No one is buying our substantial debt. So what do you do to pay the bills? You make more money. In this case, literally, print off more. This causes inflation, obviously, and we're seeing it start now. Gas prices always go up in the summer because of demand. But this year, demand will be a lot lower because less people are working and, thus, going on trips -- we have lost +600,000 jobs every month since September except for May, which lost only 350,000 jobs. Gas has gone up almost $1.20 since the beginning of this year, and the major reason is to offset the diminished value of the dollar. It is only a matter of time before everything else catches up, if based solely on rising gas costs alone.
So here it comes. The cost of everything will slowly creep up, then quickly creep up as manufacturers try to mitigate the cost of production while maintaining a profit. So imagine working a job that pays $2,000 a month, only to have the price of milk at the beginning of the month be $2, and at the end of the month $3.50, then the following month $4, and so on and so forth. In a word, this is called hyper-inflation, and it is not out of the question.
Next comes rejection of taxes. After all, why pay taxes if they are just going to squander it on another failed program and make life even more miserable. Ever wonder why the president thinks we need national health care RIGHT NOW, in the middle of a recession? Another program that will require $1.6 trillion dollars to fund? How about we balance the budget, find a way to pay for it, then implement it after we know our funding? The people will revolt from paying taxes.
But that's just a side order to the real problem. In the trenches, people will be starving because the cost to live will be outrageous, coupled with possible food rationing and food riots. And since we've turned some fields into bio fuel production, it means we have just a little bit less for everyone (not to mention we feed people throughout the world with our superior farming techniques). Self-sufficiency will be paramount, but little good will that do you with all the armed armadas searching for food for their families. Maybe this is where that Corp that Obama wanted will come into play. This Corp was part of the GIVE Act that recently passed.
Let's go back to those Treasury bonds. Imagine if you were China and now hyper-inflation has surpassed your locked-in annual percentage rate. Every day that trillion dollar investment is worth less and less. Fortunately for the US, the bonds are only back by the dollar, a fiat system, and not the land or other resources. But if I were China, and I was losing trillion dollars, and my 35 million man army was bored, you could bet your bottom bond note that something would happen to make good on that investment. Besides, 1.4 billion people should be allowed to expand somewhere, and since the US would be broke... I should clarify that China does not have 35 million men in the military -- but it does have 35 million more men than women by population statistics. It does, however, have the largest military in the world, regardless.
If China, or some other country did attack the US, it would be a real boon for Obama, because then we are literally looking at a WWII situation here -- a national unifier to pull us all together against a common enemy, revamp our manufacturing base, and get us out of the recession. China has nothing to lose because they could easily take Taiwan back, maybe a few other places (perhaps even get parts of Japan or help North Korea gain access over South Korea) and then expend several million men if not for the sole reason of getting rid of extra mouths to feed.
At this point, I'd like to remind everyone (all 4 of you) that this is just speculation. And yes, I did have to run to the bathroom during an emergency encounter with my last meal moments ago. But I feel better, and I think I can jump higher now too. Less weight to deal with.
Part of the reason I see this all happening (and that last bit about China is not what I expect to happen -- just put it in there to scare ya a little) is that even if this recession ends, say, tomorrow, there is still the problem with the Federal government printing up over a trillion dollars worth of inflation. Worse is the probability that this deficit will not being funded next year either, with national health care costs added on top. Goods are going to cost more. This will either push the above mentioned scenario, or, potentially set up a global backed currency. Most likely both as the government will tell us it is the only way to get out of this recession, kinda like what happened with the stimulus bills, eh?
Lots of experts and economists are telling investors to buy gold, which is $930 an ounce as of yesterday. I'd sooner tell those of us who earn less than several hundred thousand a year to buy food and a way to defend yourself. Gold is expensive, and heavy, and not edible. Buy rice and Top Ramen -- just add heat and water and you have a decent meal. Plus, it is cheap to buy right now.
Well, I am sure this is enough doomsday shenanigans for today. Be mindful, watch for the clues, and also, prepare yourself just in case. Better safe than sorry, even if I am just babbling -- you know you still like Top Ramen anyway...
Moving on.
Yes, I am still on a political kick, though it has subsided somewhat. Still, since that is my current modus operandi, let's continue along that path, shall we?
I've posted some rather doomsday-ish fodder for the USA in previous posts, but one has to ask what the final catalyst for the ending will be. So henceforth, I'll go into my opinion as to what will happen. Mind you, it is speculation at best so let's not be quick with the "crazy nut job" name calling.
What is the most likely cause of death for us? If you look at statistics, then heart disease would be the most prevalent human killer, at least in the US. Followed by cancer, and then a myriad of other medical complications such as diabetes, liver disease, etc. All of these illnesses come from within your body. They are not extrinsic such as car accidents or homicide, both of which are very low on the likely cause of death scenario.
Such is the case for the US. Our problem is from within. Great nations are not killed, they commit suicide. Since the turn of the 20th century, when the Federal government made the first income tax, up to the present, the founding principles have been eroded away on one law after another, extensively through the New Deal and the Great Society, and of course, right now. And for the most part, good people stood by and watched. Meanwhile, the populous as a whole became complacent and even worse, entitled. This wouldn't be so bad except that we couldn't really afford it as a country. This is evidenced today as we topped 10 trillion in national debt last year, and by some estimates, will be over 14 trillion before the end of Obama's first term.
But the national debt doesn't matter, right? We owe it to ourselves! Well, sorta. Here's what we do know; every year there is a Federal deficit, typically several hundred billion. We sell treasure bonds to offset this difference. Because as a country we have a AAA rating, that means anyone can buy our bonds and be repaid in the future. So, we hold a bake sale, and the lowest percentage bidder gets top priority. Countries, corporations/banks, and private individuals get a chance at these bonds. China has about a trillion dollars of our debt. Japan and England have about half a billion each, and the rest we own, mostly. This deficit is also offset by robbing from Medicare/caid. See, we are overtaxed just a bit on that program, so the government writes an IOU to Medicare for the rest and uses that money for the deficit first, then goes to the bonds.
So what happens when you have a deficit that is 1.7 trillion dollars and during a recession? Well, the potential buyers are fewer, and not only that, the amount of risk is higher too. This is what is happening right now. No one is buying our substantial debt. So what do you do to pay the bills? You make more money. In this case, literally, print off more. This causes inflation, obviously, and we're seeing it start now. Gas prices always go up in the summer because of demand. But this year, demand will be a lot lower because less people are working and, thus, going on trips -- we have lost +600,000 jobs every month since September except for May, which lost only 350,000 jobs. Gas has gone up almost $1.20 since the beginning of this year, and the major reason is to offset the diminished value of the dollar. It is only a matter of time before everything else catches up, if based solely on rising gas costs alone.
So here it comes. The cost of everything will slowly creep up, then quickly creep up as manufacturers try to mitigate the cost of production while maintaining a profit. So imagine working a job that pays $2,000 a month, only to have the price of milk at the beginning of the month be $2, and at the end of the month $3.50, then the following month $4, and so on and so forth. In a word, this is called hyper-inflation, and it is not out of the question.
Next comes rejection of taxes. After all, why pay taxes if they are just going to squander it on another failed program and make life even more miserable. Ever wonder why the president thinks we need national health care RIGHT NOW, in the middle of a recession? Another program that will require $1.6 trillion dollars to fund? How about we balance the budget, find a way to pay for it, then implement it after we know our funding? The people will revolt from paying taxes.
But that's just a side order to the real problem. In the trenches, people will be starving because the cost to live will be outrageous, coupled with possible food rationing and food riots. And since we've turned some fields into bio fuel production, it means we have just a little bit less for everyone (not to mention we feed people throughout the world with our superior farming techniques). Self-sufficiency will be paramount, but little good will that do you with all the armed armadas searching for food for their families. Maybe this is where that Corp that Obama wanted will come into play. This Corp was part of the GIVE Act that recently passed.
Let's go back to those Treasury bonds. Imagine if you were China and now hyper-inflation has surpassed your locked-in annual percentage rate. Every day that trillion dollar investment is worth less and less. Fortunately for the US, the bonds are only back by the dollar, a fiat system, and not the land or other resources. But if I were China, and I was losing trillion dollars, and my 35 million man army was bored, you could bet your bottom bond note that something would happen to make good on that investment. Besides, 1.4 billion people should be allowed to expand somewhere, and since the US would be broke... I should clarify that China does not have 35 million men in the military -- but it does have 35 million more men than women by population statistics. It does, however, have the largest military in the world, regardless.
If China, or some other country did attack the US, it would be a real boon for Obama, because then we are literally looking at a WWII situation here -- a national unifier to pull us all together against a common enemy, revamp our manufacturing base, and get us out of the recession. China has nothing to lose because they could easily take Taiwan back, maybe a few other places (perhaps even get parts of Japan or help North Korea gain access over South Korea) and then expend several million men if not for the sole reason of getting rid of extra mouths to feed.
At this point, I'd like to remind everyone (all 4 of you) that this is just speculation. And yes, I did have to run to the bathroom during an emergency encounter with my last meal moments ago. But I feel better, and I think I can jump higher now too. Less weight to deal with.
Part of the reason I see this all happening (and that last bit about China is not what I expect to happen -- just put it in there to scare ya a little) is that even if this recession ends, say, tomorrow, there is still the problem with the Federal government printing up over a trillion dollars worth of inflation. Worse is the probability that this deficit will not being funded next year either, with national health care costs added on top. Goods are going to cost more. This will either push the above mentioned scenario, or, potentially set up a global backed currency. Most likely both as the government will tell us it is the only way to get out of this recession, kinda like what happened with the stimulus bills, eh?
Lots of experts and economists are telling investors to buy gold, which is $930 an ounce as of yesterday. I'd sooner tell those of us who earn less than several hundred thousand a year to buy food and a way to defend yourself. Gold is expensive, and heavy, and not edible. Buy rice and Top Ramen -- just add heat and water and you have a decent meal. Plus, it is cheap to buy right now.
Well, I am sure this is enough doomsday shenanigans for today. Be mindful, watch for the clues, and also, prepare yourself just in case. Better safe than sorry, even if I am just babbling -- you know you still like Top Ramen anyway...
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Paved with good intentions
So I've discussed my thoughts on why socialism is not a good thing. Fair enough. Now lets look at the people themselves who uphold it.
In my opinion, they fall into two categories; 1) are those with clear intentions that socialism is the answer, and 2) those that are "sheeple," a new term conjunctive of sheep + people. These are the ones that "drink the Kool-Aide." More on this latter.
On the first category, we have people that have a penchant for Marxism and an envious eye towards supposedly successful socialized states, such as France, Germany, etc. They are not typically active Christian faith, but they do have a faith -- a faith that the government can fix mans problems; poverty, health care, education, war, etc. Every time a socialist government arises, somehow the perpetrators think that "this time, we will be successful because we are smarter, wiser, and gosh darnit, sheeple like us!" But, people are not perfect (heh, we killed the only perfect one!), and with that imperfection comes imperfect government -- every single time. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
And thus, the situation never improves.
So, looking at those "improved" programs... when capitalism is in full swing, unemployment hovers around 5%. Do you know what the medium unemployment rate is for socialised countries? 10%. What's that? Yes, it creats more poverty instead of curing it. Why not? Unemployment benefits are extended, so why bother working if you get a long hand-out. The Stimulus bill extended unemployment benefits in the US, how cool is that? I'll be drawing it in a week. Guess I can't complain too much.
How about that glorious state driven health care? Many countries in Europe are actually pushing for more privatized health care because it has been a castastrophy. Ever wonder why Canadians come to the US for surgeries? Because it takes too long to get it done up North. We go to them for perscriptions, they come to us for treatment. Kind of a fair trade, I assume. We already nag about waiting 3 hours in an ER room, yet Britain just celebrated the fact that they got the wait to under 18 hours recently. Here's Canada's average, 20 hours 48 minutes.
Here's the real deal: instead of your doctor making the choices, he'll have to remand it to the state, which will be inundated with requests, which will bog the system down, and then some accountant will be doing cost analysis on your request. Finally, a decision will come back and if it was a mastectomy and this took more than 2 months for the turnaround (which is fast for socialized medicine, FYI), well, might as well be a death sentence. That cancer has probably moved on to other organs by now.
I'm not going to talk about all those programs I first highlighted above, but the point is, there are people who have studied and promote socialism despite all the ills it brings to the table. As a matter of fact, we call these people liberals which is a huge misnomer for them. Liberal, from the same cognate as Liberty, meaning, freedom. Make no mistake, it does not free you from anything except responsibility. They now go by "progressives", but they are Statists -- people who support government as the ultimate elixir -- the cure-all for mans ills. These people are educated at some of the finest institutes in the country. They deny truth and facts, and go on good feelings. Well, Hitler made people feel good too, and we all know where that got us.
The Statist has good intentions, and I mean that. They want to help the poor, impoverished, unhealthy, uneducated, and so forth, but they mean to do so at someone else's expense, punishing the actual people that keep the country running and the government in power. This is where the second teer of statists come in. They go to a "democrat" rally and feel energized that he or she can actually do something to help with these world wide problems, and all they really have to do is vote for such a candidate who has an agenda to fix it all. This is called 'drinking the Kool-Aide,' because all you have to do is agree and not think -- that's been done for you. They agree on upping the taxation to be "fair," even though 40% don't actually pay taxes at all. Isn't it fair when we all participate? And that's where the Statist falls off. They don't think beyond the feelings. They do not find the truth of the matter, even though they may be college educated. But let's look at college education these days.
What do you really learn in college these days? Analytical skills? Not so much, unless you go to law, and even then you're not expounding beyond the set plays of the instructor, unless you enjoy jeorpodizing your grades. I was told by a professor that we "needed to be careful who we voted for this election," because " they were talking about bringing back the draft." Which caused audible 'gasps.' Who would do such a thing? I found out it was two democrats who were drafting the bill. This teacher was a liberal, but withheld information in an attempt to sway ideas. I looked it up. Did anyone else in the class? Doubtful. Sure, just one instance of a few, but you aren't taught to think, but just regurgitate "facts" onto a multiple choice test with answers that align with the professor's beliefs. Then you flush it out of your brain and make room for the next class. Seriously, that's what we do.
Moving on.
I've been reflecting upon a quote recently, and it is a great quote. You know it all to well. It is based upon the American Dream in some regards. To quote isn't actually his -- he got it from a school master during his youth, but that doesn't matter. He immortalized it. And he was a democrat back when they were not socialists, but the other side of the coin in an honorable society:
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country!"
-Pres. John F. Kennnedy
Beautiful. Name one democrat that espouses that ideology today? This is a democrat making an anti-Statist statement. Unless, expanding the government is what you think you can do for your country, but let's talk about that.
The Constitution does not grant the US Government to right to set up programs; it deliberately defers that right to the states themselves, as outlined in the Bill of Rights (e.g., Amendments #9 & #10). This means that Social Security (bankrupt), Medicare/caid (bankrupt), Education (always cutbacks), and soon Healthcare, are all unconstitutional. We're being taxed for things that are not even supported by our founding fathers in the Constitution. And the Statists are pushing for even more.
Okay, lets leave the side tangents for a bit and get back to the topic; "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." It certainly is. The Statist has good intentions for the most part as noted above. Then are some, as cited in the new Batman movie, when Alfred is talking to Bruce about the character of men, and, "some of them just like to see the world burn." Socialism is certainly a segue to that. Remember, when you've perfected socialsim, you have communism. And what stopped communism from taking over Europe? Capitalism -- the US. It's what got us into Vietnam, trying to stop the flow of evil ideology. And it is evil because people are evil. Imagine what'll happen once we're binded with socialism. Think of all the places in the world where the US has stopped aggression; Korea, Tawain, Israel, and I know that the US threatened Nicaragua from invading the military-less Costa Rica back in the 1950s. I bet there are lots of similar circumstances.
Socialized Europe looks promising, but it is rotting away. Their cultures are eroding from within, because they cannot sustain growth, and I mean that both economically and citizenry. They are burdened with too many programs, and not enough producers (i.e., taxable citizens). The natural birth rate is 1.38. In order to sustain itself, a country needs 2.11. The US is 2.11 with illegal immigration. No country has survived from 1.3 birth rate. The German Federal Statistical Office recently stated that by 2050, Islam will be the majority in their state (oh, Islam has an 8.1 birth rate in Europe). Do you know why they stated that? It's too late for Germany. It's too late for Russia as well. Illegals in the US have similar statistics.
This is what happens to socialized countries. They lose borders, they lose their health, they lose their wealth, they lose the will to produce because after a while, we all feel the need for entitlement. We cease to have absolute truths and everything becomes "relative." Not your place to judge between rights and wrong. Not only that, we cease to have a religious following.
Socialism basically started in the US in 1932, when FDR took office and vastly expanded the government. It was reitereated with LBJ's "Great Society" and Carter's push with CRA and controlling money loaning. Clinton tried a few things, but was a centrist and failed at health care, but did push harder with the CRA ordeal. Bush gave the government more power with the Patriot Act, which was a honest idea until it was used against citizens as the recent DHS report demonstrated. And now we have a true Statist disciple in power, taking advantage of a crisis, knowing full well of his intentions, and seeking to reface the US. Most likely it'll be a bloodless coup, because the drinks of apathy are aplenty, besides, who's willing to die for a cause anymore? Again, entitlement already -- I have so much more to lose than those forefathers 230 years ago.
And I'd miss my shows... among other things.
I apologize for the randomness of this post. Upon reflection, it is an atrocity. But, it is late, I have work tomorrow, and I'm just going to skip editing altogether. Fish through it as you like.
In my opinion, they fall into two categories; 1) are those with clear intentions that socialism is the answer, and 2) those that are "sheeple," a new term conjunctive of sheep + people. These are the ones that "drink the Kool-Aide." More on this latter.
On the first category, we have people that have a penchant for Marxism and an envious eye towards supposedly successful socialized states, such as France, Germany, etc. They are not typically active Christian faith, but they do have a faith -- a faith that the government can fix mans problems; poverty, health care, education, war, etc. Every time a socialist government arises, somehow the perpetrators think that "this time, we will be successful because we are smarter, wiser, and gosh darnit, sheeple like us!" But, people are not perfect (heh, we killed the only perfect one!), and with that imperfection comes imperfect government -- every single time. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
And thus, the situation never improves.
So, looking at those "improved" programs... when capitalism is in full swing, unemployment hovers around 5%. Do you know what the medium unemployment rate is for socialised countries? 10%. What's that? Yes, it creats more poverty instead of curing it. Why not? Unemployment benefits are extended, so why bother working if you get a long hand-out. The Stimulus bill extended unemployment benefits in the US, how cool is that? I'll be drawing it in a week. Guess I can't complain too much.
How about that glorious state driven health care? Many countries in Europe are actually pushing for more privatized health care because it has been a castastrophy. Ever wonder why Canadians come to the US for surgeries? Because it takes too long to get it done up North. We go to them for perscriptions, they come to us for treatment. Kind of a fair trade, I assume. We already nag about waiting 3 hours in an ER room, yet Britain just celebrated the fact that they got the wait to under 18 hours recently. Here's Canada's average, 20 hours 48 minutes.
Here's the real deal: instead of your doctor making the choices, he'll have to remand it to the state, which will be inundated with requests, which will bog the system down, and then some accountant will be doing cost analysis on your request. Finally, a decision will come back and if it was a mastectomy and this took more than 2 months for the turnaround (which is fast for socialized medicine, FYI), well, might as well be a death sentence. That cancer has probably moved on to other organs by now.
I'm not going to talk about all those programs I first highlighted above, but the point is, there are people who have studied and promote socialism despite all the ills it brings to the table. As a matter of fact, we call these people liberals which is a huge misnomer for them. Liberal, from the same cognate as Liberty, meaning, freedom. Make no mistake, it does not free you from anything except responsibility. They now go by "progressives", but they are Statists -- people who support government as the ultimate elixir -- the cure-all for mans ills. These people are educated at some of the finest institutes in the country. They deny truth and facts, and go on good feelings. Well, Hitler made people feel good too, and we all know where that got us.
The Statist has good intentions, and I mean that. They want to help the poor, impoverished, unhealthy, uneducated, and so forth, but they mean to do so at someone else's expense, punishing the actual people that keep the country running and the government in power. This is where the second teer of statists come in. They go to a "democrat" rally and feel energized that he or she can actually do something to help with these world wide problems, and all they really have to do is vote for such a candidate who has an agenda to fix it all. This is called 'drinking the Kool-Aide,' because all you have to do is agree and not think -- that's been done for you. They agree on upping the taxation to be "fair," even though 40% don't actually pay taxes at all. Isn't it fair when we all participate? And that's where the Statist falls off. They don't think beyond the feelings. They do not find the truth of the matter, even though they may be college educated. But let's look at college education these days.
What do you really learn in college these days? Analytical skills? Not so much, unless you go to law, and even then you're not expounding beyond the set plays of the instructor, unless you enjoy jeorpodizing your grades. I was told by a professor that we "needed to be careful who we voted for this election," because " they were talking about bringing back the draft." Which caused audible 'gasps.' Who would do such a thing? I found out it was two democrats who were drafting the bill. This teacher was a liberal, but withheld information in an attempt to sway ideas. I looked it up. Did anyone else in the class? Doubtful. Sure, just one instance of a few, but you aren't taught to think, but just regurgitate "facts" onto a multiple choice test with answers that align with the professor's beliefs. Then you flush it out of your brain and make room for the next class. Seriously, that's what we do.
Moving on.
I've been reflecting upon a quote recently, and it is a great quote. You know it all to well. It is based upon the American Dream in some regards. To quote isn't actually his -- he got it from a school master during his youth, but that doesn't matter. He immortalized it. And he was a democrat back when they were not socialists, but the other side of the coin in an honorable society:
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country!"
-Pres. John F. Kennnedy
Beautiful. Name one democrat that espouses that ideology today? This is a democrat making an anti-Statist statement. Unless, expanding the government is what you think you can do for your country, but let's talk about that.
The Constitution does not grant the US Government to right to set up programs; it deliberately defers that right to the states themselves, as outlined in the Bill of Rights (e.g., Amendments #9 & #10). This means that Social Security (bankrupt), Medicare/caid (bankrupt), Education (always cutbacks), and soon Healthcare, are all unconstitutional. We're being taxed for things that are not even supported by our founding fathers in the Constitution. And the Statists are pushing for even more.
Okay, lets leave the side tangents for a bit and get back to the topic; "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." It certainly is. The Statist has good intentions for the most part as noted above. Then are some, as cited in the new Batman movie, when Alfred is talking to Bruce about the character of men, and, "some of them just like to see the world burn." Socialism is certainly a segue to that. Remember, when you've perfected socialsim, you have communism. And what stopped communism from taking over Europe? Capitalism -- the US. It's what got us into Vietnam, trying to stop the flow of evil ideology. And it is evil because people are evil. Imagine what'll happen once we're binded with socialism. Think of all the places in the world where the US has stopped aggression; Korea, Tawain, Israel, and I know that the US threatened Nicaragua from invading the military-less Costa Rica back in the 1950s. I bet there are lots of similar circumstances.
Socialized Europe looks promising, but it is rotting away. Their cultures are eroding from within, because they cannot sustain growth, and I mean that both economically and citizenry. They are burdened with too many programs, and not enough producers (i.e., taxable citizens). The natural birth rate is 1.38. In order to sustain itself, a country needs 2.11. The US is 2.11 with illegal immigration. No country has survived from 1.3 birth rate. The German Federal Statistical Office recently stated that by 2050, Islam will be the majority in their state (oh, Islam has an 8.1 birth rate in Europe). Do you know why they stated that? It's too late for Germany. It's too late for Russia as well. Illegals in the US have similar statistics.
This is what happens to socialized countries. They lose borders, they lose their health, they lose their wealth, they lose the will to produce because after a while, we all feel the need for entitlement. We cease to have absolute truths and everything becomes "relative." Not your place to judge between rights and wrong. Not only that, we cease to have a religious following.
Socialism basically started in the US in 1932, when FDR took office and vastly expanded the government. It was reitereated with LBJ's "Great Society" and Carter's push with CRA and controlling money loaning. Clinton tried a few things, but was a centrist and failed at health care, but did push harder with the CRA ordeal. Bush gave the government more power with the Patriot Act, which was a honest idea until it was used against citizens as the recent DHS report demonstrated. And now we have a true Statist disciple in power, taking advantage of a crisis, knowing full well of his intentions, and seeking to reface the US. Most likely it'll be a bloodless coup, because the drinks of apathy are aplenty, besides, who's willing to die for a cause anymore? Again, entitlement already -- I have so much more to lose than those forefathers 230 years ago.
And I'd miss my shows... among other things.
I apologize for the randomness of this post. Upon reflection, it is an atrocity. But, it is late, I have work tomorrow, and I'm just going to skip editing altogether. Fish through it as you like.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
So what's the problem here?
Ya know, I'm sorry my recent posts have not been the light-hearted diatribes from yesteryear. And I'll try to get back on that track as soon as possible. But, while this nation is heading off track, I figured it was time we did some critical thinking about socialism, and why it isn't a good idea. After all, many nations do subscribe to socialism, and we don't hear much issue with that, right?
Recognizing that 53% of the populace voted to put Obama into power, one has to wonder whether they actually knew what they were asking for.
So, socialism, if we could make it a simplistic explanation, it is government owned corporations and industry. Or, in other words, the government owning, say, GM, or the banks, or Amtrak... not that unimaginable, eh? Communism, on the other hand, is the government basically owning everything, including your daily routine. (Although I heard a quote, "Once you've perfected socialism, you have communism.")
I probably do not need to tell you what capitalism is, save for the example the US is and has become the most successful nation in the history of the world based on its model.
Let's go back, way back before we remember. To do this, we need to admit there is a God. Yes, we're getting preachy now. Get some popcorn and enjoy the ride.
There either is or is not a Divine Being. For the sake of this post, there is. In Jeremiah 1:9, God tells him he knew him before he was in the womb. In Revelations 12 we read that the Devil warred with the angels in heaven and was cast out with 1/3 of the hosts of heaven. What were they fighting over? Ideology. Specifically, how things we going to be run here on earth. Let's assume that there are two plans for the future inhabitants on the new Earth; one person says he'll save everyone by controlling them, and the other says he will die so everyone is saved if they choose to accept God. Nevertheless, they can choose whatever they want, but the option to return to God is through his sacrifice.
Hard to choose, would you not agree? One guy, Lucifer (son of the morning light) wants everyone to live in his utopia-esque world, and the other angel named Emanuel (God is with him) offers free will. Either could be the plan of salvation, but only one can be selected. So what's a campaigner to do? Convince as many as possible to accept your plan over the other, thus a war ensued. Maybe it was just a propaganda war, politics as usual, but suffice it to say, one was selected, and my guess is the other party was a sore loser, and was thus cast out.
Let's look at the one that was chosen; Christ's plan. It is obvious we have free will, as no one is dictating to you what you should be doing -- you have that option to select between right and wrong. Coincidentally, all humans are born with the ability to make moral decisions, if it were not so, our sense of reasoning would be on par with common animals. But we know we shouldn't steal, lie, rape or kill. We can desensitize ourselves to it, however, and make it a pleasure as well, but the inherent bad feeling strikes us all universally. From there, you form yourself, or character. (Uhm, side tangent there...)
So, I think we can agree that Christ won, the redemption plan went into effect and Lucifer became Satan, that mighty Devil leading a 1/3 host of heaven on Earth against us. I see it as a loser mentality and heavily influenced by "misery loves company" but also integrating an alternative plan; if enough of the people fail Christ's plan, maybe we'll get another chance at our plan. It doesn't matter really, the point is we're in the first accepted plan and whatever comes afterwards isn't part of this discussion.
If we opine on Lucifer's plan, it was, in essence, the foundation for Communism. We can assume that his plan was the opposite of the winner's plan; freedom to chose. So in my conclusion, Lucifer proposed a communist pseudo-utopia society where everyone was mandated to obey laws that guaranteed a path back to God. Oh, and by default that would have made him the Christ. Still, no one could not chose eternal life -- there is no deviating from the law. You do not choose anything, the government would determine what was best for you and the utopia to salvation.
Let's get back to our world and the facts we do know. You can get to communism without socialism, but it takes massive blood letting of the people. Take, for example, Russia in 1918, or China late 1940's. In China, they were still rejecting communism until the "Cultural Revolution" wherein 20 million people perished and the long traditions of China were erased. [read: Spiral Road]
And here we have the Great USA. If you've been a part of the USA, then you know it is a blessed country, despite the current inhabitants. Looking at the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, there is no leap of faith to determine that this country was based on Judeo-Christian beliefs. Sure, people have tried to split hairs on certain points, but the fundamental premise is there; thank God for helping us make this great country. Not only that, but the government was set up to be a limited entity that protected the rights of its people. Why would they do that? Because they knew that men are free to make their own decisions and that the more laws you make, the more indentured the citizens become to their governments. And looking at the tenth amendment, seems they wanted to keep the federal government limited indefinitely.
The problem with socialism is that it is the stepping stone to Lucifer's original plan -- to enslave the masses with laws upon laws. America is different, we started out free and used that to build up a great nation because we understood our respective responsibilities and accountability. But ever so slowly, more and more laws keep piling up, and if we wanted, we could say that it is because the nucleus of a successful nation is falling apart; the family. We'll save that topic for another time.
Still, with our new president in power, the process of implementing socialism is speeding up quickly as I cited above; the government is seeping into many industries in the country such as housing, auto, banking, credit, charities, and so forth. Now I am not saying Obama is Lucifer or the anti-Christ, because then anyone with a penchant for big controlling government is an anti-Christ and some people just aren't that smart. (he, he!) But what I can tell you is that socialism is not a functioning, thriving government that will benefit any country because it continues to suck away the rights of free men (and women).
Then, what is so appealing about socialism? It is a narcissist dream come true. You don't have to do anything because someone else is doing that for you. Bum on the street? No problem, they have a program for relief. Behind on bills? The government has someone to step in to help. Losing your job? The government will have a program to fix that, either through a union or unemployment. Health care? The government will get you what you need. And so on and so forth. What are you accountable for? What's your responsibility? You don't have to worry about that, someone will be assigned in lieu of you. Of course, you will be taxed for all these defunct programs laden with corruption, and that, too, will minimize your freedom.
Of course, people look for the easiest route to travel. And socialism is certainly that fork in the road more easily traveled. You can claim that Europe has been successfully using socialism for years, but none of them are older than our successful capitalism. Sure, the countries have been around since before the USA, but their respective governments have changed ample times since the end of the 18th century. And, their hands are tied. They do not have the ability the US does to produce wealth and enrich lives because of their government.
And that brings me to perhaps my last point, the death of the American Dream. Obama seems to think that he only needs to tap the top 5% of Americans to make his USA into a socialistic utopia, and this is deceitful. In order for it to work, we all have to give up bits and pieces of freedom -- not all at once -- just small amounts here and there. Because socialism isn't just about money, it's more about control. Money just happens to bring control, but if you have control, then comes even more money.
So there you pretty much have my thoughts on socialism -- it is the end of progress and more succinctly, the end of the productive USA and the freedoms paid for in blood by our forefathers, blessed with divine insight to set up the best country in this world based on a plan founded before the world was inhabited. And it is hard to fathom how this country should end; the same as its inception, or with a slow, pathetic whimper... It could be the sad end note to a great book either way you look at it.
Food and bullets, my friends, food and bullets. Put your faith in God and keep your powder dry.
Recognizing that 53% of the populace voted to put Obama into power, one has to wonder whether they actually knew what they were asking for.
So, socialism, if we could make it a simplistic explanation, it is government owned corporations and industry. Or, in other words, the government owning, say, GM, or the banks, or Amtrak... not that unimaginable, eh? Communism, on the other hand, is the government basically owning everything, including your daily routine. (Although I heard a quote, "Once you've perfected socialism, you have communism.")
I probably do not need to tell you what capitalism is, save for the example the US is and has become the most successful nation in the history of the world based on its model.
Let's go back, way back before we remember. To do this, we need to admit there is a God. Yes, we're getting preachy now. Get some popcorn and enjoy the ride.
There either is or is not a Divine Being. For the sake of this post, there is. In Jeremiah 1:9, God tells him he knew him before he was in the womb. In Revelations 12 we read that the Devil warred with the angels in heaven and was cast out with 1/3 of the hosts of heaven. What were they fighting over? Ideology. Specifically, how things we going to be run here on earth. Let's assume that there are two plans for the future inhabitants on the new Earth; one person says he'll save everyone by controlling them, and the other says he will die so everyone is saved if they choose to accept God. Nevertheless, they can choose whatever they want, but the option to return to God is through his sacrifice.
Hard to choose, would you not agree? One guy, Lucifer (son of the morning light) wants everyone to live in his utopia-esque world, and the other angel named Emanuel (God is with him) offers free will. Either could be the plan of salvation, but only one can be selected. So what's a campaigner to do? Convince as many as possible to accept your plan over the other, thus a war ensued. Maybe it was just a propaganda war, politics as usual, but suffice it to say, one was selected, and my guess is the other party was a sore loser, and was thus cast out.
Let's look at the one that was chosen; Christ's plan. It is obvious we have free will, as no one is dictating to you what you should be doing -- you have that option to select between right and wrong. Coincidentally, all humans are born with the ability to make moral decisions, if it were not so, our sense of reasoning would be on par with common animals. But we know we shouldn't steal, lie, rape or kill. We can desensitize ourselves to it, however, and make it a pleasure as well, but the inherent bad feeling strikes us all universally. From there, you form yourself, or character. (Uhm, side tangent there...)
So, I think we can agree that Christ won, the redemption plan went into effect and Lucifer became Satan, that mighty Devil leading a 1/3 host of heaven on Earth against us. I see it as a loser mentality and heavily influenced by "misery loves company" but also integrating an alternative plan; if enough of the people fail Christ's plan, maybe we'll get another chance at our plan. It doesn't matter really, the point is we're in the first accepted plan and whatever comes afterwards isn't part of this discussion.
If we opine on Lucifer's plan, it was, in essence, the foundation for Communism. We can assume that his plan was the opposite of the winner's plan; freedom to chose. So in my conclusion, Lucifer proposed a communist pseudo-utopia society where everyone was mandated to obey laws that guaranteed a path back to God. Oh, and by default that would have made him the Christ. Still, no one could not chose eternal life -- there is no deviating from the law. You do not choose anything, the government would determine what was best for you and the utopia to salvation.
Let's get back to our world and the facts we do know. You can get to communism without socialism, but it takes massive blood letting of the people. Take, for example, Russia in 1918, or China late 1940's. In China, they were still rejecting communism until the "Cultural Revolution" wherein 20 million people perished and the long traditions of China were erased. [read: Spiral Road]
And here we have the Great USA. If you've been a part of the USA, then you know it is a blessed country, despite the current inhabitants. Looking at the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, there is no leap of faith to determine that this country was based on Judeo-Christian beliefs. Sure, people have tried to split hairs on certain points, but the fundamental premise is there; thank God for helping us make this great country. Not only that, but the government was set up to be a limited entity that protected the rights of its people. Why would they do that? Because they knew that men are free to make their own decisions and that the more laws you make, the more indentured the citizens become to their governments. And looking at the tenth amendment, seems they wanted to keep the federal government limited indefinitely.
The problem with socialism is that it is the stepping stone to Lucifer's original plan -- to enslave the masses with laws upon laws. America is different, we started out free and used that to build up a great nation because we understood our respective responsibilities and accountability. But ever so slowly, more and more laws keep piling up, and if we wanted, we could say that it is because the nucleus of a successful nation is falling apart; the family. We'll save that topic for another time.
Still, with our new president in power, the process of implementing socialism is speeding up quickly as I cited above; the government is seeping into many industries in the country such as housing, auto, banking, credit, charities, and so forth. Now I am not saying Obama is Lucifer or the anti-Christ, because then anyone with a penchant for big controlling government is an anti-Christ and some people just aren't that smart. (he, he!) But what I can tell you is that socialism is not a functioning, thriving government that will benefit any country because it continues to suck away the rights of free men (and women).
Then, what is so appealing about socialism? It is a narcissist dream come true. You don't have to do anything because someone else is doing that for you. Bum on the street? No problem, they have a program for relief. Behind on bills? The government has someone to step in to help. Losing your job? The government will have a program to fix that, either through a union or unemployment. Health care? The government will get you what you need. And so on and so forth. What are you accountable for? What's your responsibility? You don't have to worry about that, someone will be assigned in lieu of you. Of course, you will be taxed for all these defunct programs laden with corruption, and that, too, will minimize your freedom.
Of course, people look for the easiest route to travel. And socialism is certainly that fork in the road more easily traveled. You can claim that Europe has been successfully using socialism for years, but none of them are older than our successful capitalism. Sure, the countries have been around since before the USA, but their respective governments have changed ample times since the end of the 18th century. And, their hands are tied. They do not have the ability the US does to produce wealth and enrich lives because of their government.
And that brings me to perhaps my last point, the death of the American Dream. Obama seems to think that he only needs to tap the top 5% of Americans to make his USA into a socialistic utopia, and this is deceitful. In order for it to work, we all have to give up bits and pieces of freedom -- not all at once -- just small amounts here and there. Because socialism isn't just about money, it's more about control. Money just happens to bring control, but if you have control, then comes even more money.
So there you pretty much have my thoughts on socialism -- it is the end of progress and more succinctly, the end of the productive USA and the freedoms paid for in blood by our forefathers, blessed with divine insight to set up the best country in this world based on a plan founded before the world was inhabited. And it is hard to fathom how this country should end; the same as its inception, or with a slow, pathetic whimper... It could be the sad end note to a great book either way you look at it.
Food and bullets, my friends, food and bullets. Put your faith in God and keep your powder dry.
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