Agenda 21; Ever Heard of It?

Have you ever heard of Agenda 21?  How about the United Nations?

Way back in 1992 President Bush went to Rio de Janeiro and signed a non-binding UN treaty to basically outlaw private property.

Okay, that is a bit of a stretch, but it is pretty much a master plan to control everything. as Wikipedia says:

Agenda 21 is a non-binding, voluntarily implemented action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development.

How to define sustainable development is the next problem. Most, on the right and left, see this as expanding the cities and ending the idea of ever expanding suburbs. The left sees that as a plus; the right as a minus.

There are two things (well; at LEAST two things) wrong with city living; it limits your space and it makes you dependent on the government for basic necessities. I don't like either of those things. I want a yard- even if I crab about mowing it- and I want to be able to do as I please in that yard.

Monday night we had my sons and grand kids over for Easter dinner. It was a beautiful day, so we sat in the yard all day. I can remember the last time I ate Easter dinner at a picnic table. After dinner the kids ran in the yard and the adults sat around and shot the breeze.

Agenda 21 says that is wrong. Mowing that grass is now allowing for natural growth, and the flowers I have planted are invasive species that are killing off the native plants. We should have been in our 800 square foot apartment, or at a park if we wanted to be outside. we should leave the planting and such to professionals, trained in how to allow the native plants to thrive.

A few years ago I was watching This Old House, and as usual they were doing a home in the Boston area.

There was a controlled area at the rear of the property that was very restrictive as far as plantings, because it was near a navigable waterway. I have no idea why being near a waterway should determine what you plant, but this is Massachusetts. At any rate, the homeowner had to remove a common flowering plant (iris if I remember correctly) because it was not native, and could not touch the poison ivy, because it was a native plant. Yes; that's right. Flowers are verboten, but poisonous plants are not. Its all about the natural world, don't you see. Humans are interlopers. Humans have no rights. Poison Ivy does.

Another example; the Delta Darter. The state of California has restricted water rights to the San Joaquin River because low levels are endangering the smelt. Instead of endangering this 2 inch long fish, the state has instead cut off water to one of the most productive farming valleys in California. The smelt may eat, but we won't.


Maybe instead of San Joaquin Valley vegetables, were supposed to eat Soylent Green?

Just in Time for April 15th

I'm not sure I will ever be able to blog from my back porch. The only time I can do it is when the weather is nice, and when I'm sitting on the porch swing in nice weather I can't seem to be snide, cynical or raucous. All I can do is a post like yesterday's. It is another nice day, but two posts in a row like yesterday's will drive away my last reader.

I will need to abandon my porch swing and back to the desk.

First an update on a post I did a few days ago on Clivden Bundy, the Nevada rancher the Bureau of Land Management was harassing. Apparently they the BLM has seen the light and pulled out, and returned his cattle in the process. Did my post have something to do with that? Probably not. But a Blogger can dream, can't he?

I don't follow Lame stream media at all; newspapers, TV news or the alleged news magazines, so I have no idea how they have been following or covering the IRS scandal and Lois Lerner's involvement, if at all. But it has been almost a year since the news broke of the way the IRS was holding up approval on 501 (c)(3) applications for conservative groups. Just in time to stop them from participating in the 2012 election. And now we find out that the ranking Democrat on the oversight committee was encouraging them, and targeting one outfit in particular; True the Vote.

I looked for a Lame Stream Media outlet to link to, but none existed. ABC; NBC; CBS. None are covering it. Is it because it isn't news, or is it becasue they Don't want it to be news?

I have said many times that News reporters have always been biased; a situation that goes back to the founding days of the Republic. What is different now is not the bias, but the declaration that their bias is not biased.

And that is wrong. I don't mind that  ABC, NBC and CBS are basically Outlets for Democrat propaganda. What I mind is that they aren't honest about it.

Even the folks on the left should be upset about what their friends in the media are doing. If you believe you are getting all of the news from these folks, then why aren't you upset that you're not?

Like this IRS deal. If you are only getting the part of the story that doesn't harm your elected officials, how do you know that its time to vote them out? If the Administration is as crooked as a ram's horn don't you want to know that? Or are you happy with the rainbows and unicorns you are being feed, and don't want to know?

Maybe I'm different, but I don't want to be represented by crooks no matter what letter follows their name on the ballot.

No Law West of the Pecos

There is a lot wrong with this story. Nobody comes away with clean hands, but the Federal Government's are by far the dirtiest.

It almost reads like one of the old pulp westerns I read so many of in my youth: Honest, hardworking rancher gets attacked by a hoard of villains who isolate his ranch, steal his cattle and beat up his children.

The only thing the haven't done yet is poison his well.

YET.

The trouble is, in the old westerns salvation always appeared in form of a few cowhands, some of whom helped out the rancher- and his pretty young daughter- while one rode 'hell for leather' to bring in the US Marshal; the only law in the territory. In this case, it is the law doing the terrorizing.

Not that Mr. Bundy is blame free; the story doesn't get into why he stopped/never started paying the fees for grazing on Federal land, but he did; that was the nexus of his current predicament. $1.35 a head per month doesn't sound like much, but with 1000 head that's $1350.00 a month; $16,000.00 a year. To graze on public land that the family has used for 130 years.

Fine; so he owes the Feds money. Do they come after him with a court order? A judgment maybe?

Nope; they come after him with 200 armed agents and proceed to evict his cows from the land. Do they run them back onto land owned by Mr. Bundy? Nope. They IMPOUND the cows. At an estimated cost of $3,000,000.

Yep; the Federal Government is spending over $3 million to collect on $300,000. Do you know now why we are TRILLIONS in debt?

But just like an infomercial at midnight; Wait; There's MORE!!!!!

Not content with wasting a small fortune to make a point, and not content with harassing a man and his family over what is essentially a trifle, they have also closed a public highway and the airspace over the ranch (that $3 million to impound the cattle is starting to sound cheap, ain't it?), but they have also co-opted the local sheriff (well, he was usually crooked in the pulp westerns too) into creating and enforcing a 'free-speech zone', so the folks protesting this atrocity can't get close enough to see what is actually going on.

But WAIT; There's STILL MORE!!!!!

This is just part of the story. They are also closing almost 187,000 acres of land to grazing permanently- one of the reasons for the bovine eviction- to reserve the ground for a 'critical desert tortoise'.

If you have been following the news lately, you know what has been happening to the price of beef. what do you think the closing of 187,000 acres of grazing land will do the cattle herds? And to the price of beef.

So the next time you hit McDonald's and your Big Mac costs more than your first car, remember what the Feds did to Clive Bundy.

Rights and Freedoms

I saw something the other day that has been bothering me ever since. It said "Healthcare is a RIGHT".

Rights are things God gave each of us because we are alive. We have the right to be individual. We have rights that are God given and Constitutionally protected; Freedom of Worship; Freedom of Speech; the right to be secure in our property and papers.

You will notice that none of these rights require any action or participation from anybody but ourselves.

So what makes taking the labor of anyone else a right?

Why does a Lawyer have a right to a Doctor's services? Does the Doctor have that same right to the services of the Attorney? He has the right to representation certainly; any representation he can afford, or if he can't afford representation, then he gets what the County will provide.

Or, does a Farmer have the right to the Doctor's services anymore than the Doctor has to the Farmer's?

I mean; isn't eating a right as well?

Saying you have a right to something means you can possess it without payment. None of the rights guaranteed us in the Bill of Rights cost a dime to use. Neither do they cost anyone else for us to exercise them. Like the Free Speech right I am using now. I can write on Blogger for free, and you can read it for free, or not read it, as you choose.

But if I exercise my 'right' to healthcare? Someone has to provide that service. I am expecting another individual or group to use their time and talents to provide a service. I have no more right to that service than anybody else has a right to my services for any purpose.

We certainly are guaranteed a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but where does health come in? We are not guaranteed a healthy life; even the best, most expensive and most competent healthcare cannot guarantee a healthy life. Franklin Roosevelt is proof of that.

That is not to say that we cannot give of our time and talents to help our fellow man; in fact that giving is encouraged.

But the transfer of $5.00 from one individual to another can happen two ways; gift or theft. My making the conscious decision to give my services to another is vastly different than the other individual forcing that 'gift'. You making a conscious decision to take $5.00 from me is theft, no matter who facilitates the transaction.

Even if it is a 'lawful' taking by the government from one to give to another.

And that is not a RIGHT anyone has.

Crimea; Oh Crud

Too often we worry about what is best for us, individually, without worrying about what may be best for everybody.

Yes; I'm thinking about Crimea, Ukraine and Russia.

The whole Western world is considering sanctions and putting troops on alert because of the Russian invasion of Crimea and possible Ukraine.

Russia has publicly stated its reasons for the invasion; to protect the predominantly Russian speaking people in the state. Country? Protectorate? Provenance? Territory? What exactly IS Crimea?

I have been kidded because I collect old Encyclopedias. I do for two reasons: One; I hate to see any book get sent to a landfill, and two; they don't change. What ever they said 30-40-50 years ago, they still say.

 So I drag out my 1968 Edition of the Gospel; The Encyclopedia Britannica. Apparently Crimea has been what amounts to historically, constantly under attack. Settled in 1000 BC by the Cimmerians, they were conquered by the Scythaes 300 hundred years later. The Greeks showed up in 500 BC, who gave way to the Romans in 15 BC, except for the areas under control of the 'nomadic hordes'. In the 10th Century AD a Prince Vladamir of Kiev took over, but very shortly later lost Crimea to the Kumans and the Taters, who lost out to the Turks in 1475.

Here's the part that starts to sound familiar: in 1774 Catherine the Great (of Russia), forced the Turks to recognize Crimean Independence, and 9 years later she annexed the Crimea Peninsula into Russia. Sound familiar?

Well, except for the 9 years part. Putin only waited about 9 minutes.

The New American Encyclopedia, from 1957, adds that Crimea became a republic in 1917- during the Russian Revolution- but in 1921 was annexed back into Russia. I think I am seeing a pattern here.

The Funk & Wagnalls from 1975 adds that Crimea was conquered by the Goths in 250 AD; and by a series of other invaders: the Huns, The Khazars; the Byzantine Greeks; The Kipchaks and the Genose for the next 1000 years.

For anybody still reading who hasn't had their eyes glaze over, what does this mean?

Well; although Crimea has existed as a land mass for thousands of years, very few of those years were as an independent country. And a very significant portion of the last 200 was as a territory of Russia.

Does that mean it should still be a part of Russia? Hell no; not unless it wants to be.

Which brings us to Sunday's vote. 75% of Crimea's voters want to rejoin Russia. I would put a lot more faith in this vote if every street corner hadn't been occupied by an armed Russian soldier, but still.

The entire Western world is up in arms over something that the citizens apparently voted for.

So now the question becomes one of International Incident versus Civil War.

And do we get involved in that Civil War. Has Russia? Hard to tell.

What is best for Crimea and her people? For the Ukraine? For Europe? Russia? The USA? How about adding Caucus Georgia? How will the Russian success in Crimea affect their somewhat fractured Independence?

Lots and lots of questions; very few answers.

Who do we look to for those answers?

For a couple of generations, it was Washington DC.

Oh crud.

The Ukraine

A topic I have been trying to avoid for the last two days has finally surfaced in an unavoidable way.

The Ukraine.

I have been trying to avoid the topic for several reasons; None of them good ones.

First; What the Hell do I know about the Ukraine? Of it's history, past and recent? Of its past; its people; its customs?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing but what I have herd on the radio the last few days and what a quick skim of Wikipedia could tell me.

So them the question is, what is the best future for the Ukraine and its people?

First off, I would be fairly sure that any future with armed foreign troops on their soil would not be the most optimal. If those troops are form the same country that had a boot on their neck for 70 years even less so.

The fall of the Soviet Union freed a lot of people; the Poles and the Ukrainians among them. The Georgians too.

But where are the Georgians now? Looks to me like they are (at least partially) back under Russian control.

But what is best for the Ukrainians? I know part of the reason the whole country has been in turmoil that last few months is because they have been pulled two ways; part of the county wants to return to an alliance with Mother Russia, while another portion (The Majority?) want a more Western alliance. This difference of opinion has lead to a months long Civil War and very recently a new government.

Next question is why do I care?

Two Words:

Pax Americanus

The American Peace. For 70 years it has been American military power that has stopped most conflicts in the world. The United Nations would cease to exist without our support, and it isn't the pronouncements of the nattering nabobs that work; it the knowledge that those words are backed up by American might  that give pause in the world.

Until recently. We now have not a President who speaks softly, and carries a big stick, but one who bellows constantly, and carries a stick he keeps whittling down, both in actual dimension, and in respect.

Twice in recent months he has drawn a 'line in the sand', and twice those lines have been crossed, and twice the consequences have been 'Line? what Line? I didn't draw any line".

And each time America's standing has taken a hit. We are no longer the county that is able to respond in a few weeks to an attack from abroad, like we did after 9-11. Without that fear of reprisal we are leaving ourselves open to a new attack.

Bluntly, I really don't care what happens to the Ukrainians. I don't mean that in a heartless way, but in a practical way. The situation will work itself out, one way or the other, and, to the best of my knowledge, we do not have any treaty or alliance with the Ukraine.

But we do with the Ukraine's neighbor, Poland. what if Russia swallows not only Crimea but all of the Ukraine? And then turns it greedy eyes toward another lost Soviet satellite, right next door?

Then what happens when the line is drawn and crossed?

Its not a situation I want to be in. Poland is a member of NATO; we do have mutual defense treaties with them.

Do you really want President Bluster in charge of NATO's response to Russian aggression in Poland?

And now you know why I avoided this topic as long as I could.

What is Law Anymore?

Well isn't that special.

74% of the voters in the Commonwealth of Kentucky say one thing; ONE Federal Judge says another. Guess who's opinion matters?

Why is that?

I have talked many times about gay marriage, most recently here. I have also said that a state or a community should be able to make its own laws on morality. Things such as drinking, gambling and prostitution should all be local decisions. If Ohio wants to get rich off of sin, so be it. If Kentucky chooses not to, so be that as well.

Basically, here is what this judge has decided; He has decided that the will of the judiciary in Massachusetts has more weight than then the will of 74% of the voters of Kentucky.

Full Faith and Credit clause of the United States Constitution; any marriage license issue in one state is valid in all fifty; just like a driver's license.

So; if a single judge in Rhode Island can determine that it is legal for two men to marry, Kentucky has to recognize that marriage, no matter how illegal it is in Kentucky.

Why do the same rules not apply to Concealed Carry? Why isn't my CC permit valid in Illinois?

Article IV, Section 1:
Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

If that can be construed to mean that something legal in one state must be recognized as legal in all states, then there should be no cherry-picking on what is allowed.

Smoking dope is now legal in Colorado and Washington; why isn't a citizen of Colorado allowed to light up in Kansas? Full Faith and Credit.

If where I come from has a speed limit of 80, how can another state say that is illegal? Liquor should be the same way; if the state I came from says an activity is legal, the state I go to shouldn't have any right to make that same activity illegal. Full Faith and Credit, right? Isn't that what this judge has said? The religion or morality of a given state can't control acts legal in another state?

Talk about the lowest common denominator; we are now stuck with, as a base, whatever state has the lowest laws in any given area. Prostitution is legal in Nevada. Full Faith and Credit now says NO state can outlaw Prostitution.

Florida and Texas, among other states, have made not paying an income tax legal. I guess that means I shouldn't have to pay one either; Full Faith and Credit, right? 

What's that you say? It doesn't work like that? Only CERTAIN THINGS can be ruled as legal everywhere? Certain things that celebrate an aberrant minority and crucify the majority?

 Yes; I said aberrant. The sexual acts of consenting adults has one purpose; procreation. So, by definition, any sexual act that cannot lead to procreation is aberrant; just like any child born out of wedlock is a bastard. Words have meanings. Sometimes cruel meanings,

And just because a behavior is aberrant doesn't mean it should be illegal or even immoral. Neither should it be celebrated.

 All that aside, what happened to majority rule? More states have outlawed Gay marriage by popular vote than have approved it. More states have had gay marriage thrust upon them by judicial fiat than have voted it in by popular vote.

While I firmly believe in the rights of the minority to voice whatever opinion they hold, no minority has the right to enforce that opinion on the majority.

 What's next? I do believe I will keep a copy of Bourke V. Beshear in my holster. The next time I get stopped concealed carrying in Illinois, guess what the officer gets, along with my CCW license?

Yep; Full and Credit Friend; live with it.

What a Comment on our Society

I did a screen capture yesterday morning of my Bing homepage.

As usual, the photograph is stunning. Capturing an owl in flight, and starring directly into the camera; incredible.

But not as incredible as the line of text across the bottom of the screen.

These are the current 'hot' search terms. Isn't it nice to know that with everything going on in the world, in this country and in Washington DC. the biggest concern on everyone's minds is David Cassidy's second DUI? Or that some actress may be anorexic? Amanda Knox? Do we really care what happens to Amanda Knox?

Bing has a whole list of the top 20 search terms (With Pictures!!!) that will scroll across the bottom of the screen. I took a look at the whole thing. Even the Chris Christie bridge debacle, the hot topic among the media darlings, is no where to be found.

There were reports from last year of Google 'scrubbing' certain terms and search results of any reference to Daniel Snowden, so that he would not appear as one of the hot topics from 2013 as far as the Google search engine goes.

Here is my problem: aren't these search engines supposed to deal in information? Maybe it is just me who thinks they should be dealing in UNBIASED information.

Can we assume, for the sake of discussion, that you are on the board of directors of a corporation. You and the board are responsible for staffing a manufacturing plant, and already have a team in place, but are considering making changes. You hire a head-hunting organization to report on the fitness of the current staff and the applicants, and believe their report to be the truth.

After decisions are made and the staff are in place, you discover that certain members of the current staff and some of the applicants had conspired with the organization you hired to falsify some of the data you had used in your hiring decisions. These falsifications varied from ignoring some minor infractions of company policy to the commission of felonies that were not reported against some of the employees/applicants. Personal habits and family misadventures of some applicants were given prominent spots in the reports, while in other cases this derogatory information was completely ignored.

Would you feel betrayed? Both by the organization you hired and the people who had conspired with them? People who were now your contract employees?

You know where I am going with this, don't you?

In a few months- May and November to be exact- we will be hiring new staff to serve us our employees in Washington. To use their talents to best serve us. And they will be under contract for 2 or 6 years.

We need valid, unbiased information to choose which employee to hire. Where will we get this information?

Isn't it strange that in the era we are calling The Information Age we are having all kinds of trouble with our information?

Since we seem almost unable to control our personal information, and because of the failure of people we have relied on to supply us with correct information, perhaps (especially since 2008), we should call this The Disinformation Age.

A Street Car Named Disaster

There are I would imagine, some very upset voters in the City of Cincinnati.

For those of you from out of town, or in town and under a rock somewhere, the last election was a referendum on the Cincinnati Street car. And all of the candidates who came out in favor of the Street Car Named Disaster lost.

So it was toast, right? No more Choo- Choo through The 'Nati?

Well, yes. And then maybe. And then no.

Half of the folks elected solely because they opposed the Streetcar CHANGED THEIR MINDS.

Yep; within a week of being sworn in the the Little Engine That Shouldn't was once again the Little Engine That Was.

Here's the thing: I ain't got a dog in this fight, so to speak. I don't live, work or pay taxes on that side of the river. The only thing I will spend money on in Ohio is a 12 -pack of Yuengling, and then only because I can't get a 12-pack on this side of the river.

And then I drive far enough to avoid giving Hamilton County any money, just in case.

So they can do almost anything they want over there; it won't effect me. Except for when they will try to export that insanity down South, or will try to form a 'Regional Coalition' to force me to pay for something I didn't even get to vote on. Like that mattered to the newly elected City Council anyway.

But here are a few facts they need to consider:

1) All of the cities with an extensive mass transit system had that system in place prior to the invention of the Automobile.
2) All of these 'viable' systems (New York; Chicago; London; Paris, etc.) have had over 150 years of building and investment; Trillions of dollars.
3) These 'viable' systems work because there are concentrated living areas and concentrated work areas.
4) All of the cites with those 'viable' systems grew UP because of the need for mass transit.
5) Any city that has grown since the advent of the automobile has grown OUT.
6) All of these 'viable' systems Still Need Taxpayer Funded Support.

These are facts that are inescapable; they can't be whitewashed, and shouldn't be ignored. and Cincinnati does not meet any of the points that would lead me to believe that mass transit would be viable in Cincinnati.

Viable mass transit is a pipe-dream, and in this case, most likely a crack-pipe dream.

UFOs Don't Exist Either

Two things I seem to remember from last years election; One- the entire election would be determined by Hamilton County, Ohio; and Two- there is no voter fraud.

Having spent many hours trying to figure out how Obama got re-elected (I admit I am probably the guy who has caused the shortage of Maker's Mark. Obama isn't only a good gun salesman- he has also increased the sales of hard liquor) I think this video answers a lot of questions.

How Much Did You Miss Yesterday?

Was yesterday a bust-ass day or what?

Half a dozen bloggable things happening and I, to use my Dad's phrase, felt like death warmed over.

I'm a little better today, but not by much. Now I'm only a near death experience warmed over.

Rand Paul hit Hillary rather hard yesterday, didn't he? Not hard enough, but still, harder than anybody else did.

And he's right. We not only no longer keep score in kid's sports, apparently we no longer keep score in government.

Who was responsible for the four deaths in Libya? What  is/will be their punishment?

What are we doing to make sure this does not happen again?

All questions that should be asked and answered.

But won't be. We don't want to ruin somebody's career over a little thing like this, now do we?

Even Hillary's. She will bail on the job of Secretary of State- a 'post turtle position' for her for sure. And don't even get me started on Kerry's "QUALIFICATIONS"- and retire to her estate in New York or somewhere, and start showing up at shopping malls and diners in Iowa in a couple of years.

And no one will ever mention it was her inadequacies and errors that cost us the lives of 4 Americans, including an Ambassador.

And then we have Biden hinting he will be in the running in 2016. Why? is he looking for another 4 years as Vice-President?

And last, but by no means least, we have Leon Panetta stopping on his way out the door as Secretary of Defense to announce the end of the ban on women in combat roles.

Really? Talk about dumping a hot mess into the lap of whoever is next Secretary. Who is the current sacrificial lamb? Is it still the RINO Hagel? But that description even gives RINO's a bad name. When was the last time we actually had a Democrat as Secretary of Defense? The middle of the Clinton Administration? 20 some years ago?

Why don't any Democrats want the job? Too much responsibility? You can lose a few diplomats an still keep your job. Lose a dozen young men and there is Hell to pay.

And of course they won't change the standards; any woman wanting a combat MOS will need to meet the same standards as the men currently do.

Yeah; that'll last. Only until the first batch of 250 women wing up producing 5 qualified applicants.

Three of which who will withdraw when they break a nail.

And then watch the race to the bottom.

I'll be blunt; I have never served in a combat unit. But I have served in the military, and I have seen what happens to a group of young adult males when a few women have been dumped among them.

It ain't pretty. The men lose all control and the women gain it. And nobody can resist following their instincts to protect the weaker sex.

It wasn't just in the military; I saw it happen in the workforce too. Not as pronounced- because the folks are older, in general- but still the same jealousies and conflicts.

Comparisons will be made to the integration of the services during the Truman Administration. Some of them may be valid, but I really doubt there were breakdowns in unit cohesion because the new arrivals stopped dating one fellow soldier and started dating another, or a breakdown in discipline because of an over protective attitude toward the black unit member.

Hopefully we can start reversing the damage before it's too late.

But I am starting to have my doubts.

Placebo

Everybody knows what a placebo is right? A pill or procedure that does absolutely nothing, but we are supposed to be convinced it is working wonders.

Kind of like the Republican Party.

They keep talking a good game- and have since 1988- but accomplish nothing.

They held the House, the Senate and the White House for 6 years.

6 YEARS!!!!

And government got bigger, along with the debt. Abortion is still legal, along with a host of other things they supposedly are against. But it's not there fault. It's the Democrats.

Don't take my word for it; spend a few minutes with talk radio.

I have become convinced that talk radio is our circus, designed solely to keep possibly expatriating Republicans on the ranch. Keep us convinced that the Republicans are doing their best and are deserving of our complete support.

And they cave again.

Just like on the 'Fiscal Cliff', when it comes time for the debt ceiling they will fold with the best of intentions. The debt ceiling will go up, debt will increase, spending will increase and taxes will rise again.

All things we sent them to Washington to OPPOSE.

I have faith in some of the younger members; ones who are now holding their first elected office- like Rand Paul- but the old timers have learned the ropes. When to speak out and when to act. Or not to.

Just start making real noise about a new third party; one to represent the people of this country, not the people and the companies sucking at the government teat, and watch the words fly. The only time most of these idiots can quote Ronald Reagan is when they say one of two things: 'Never criticize a fellow Republican', and 'we don't need a third party; we need a revitalized Republican Party'.

Just about the only two things President Reagan ever said that I don't agree with.

Did Anybody Else Lose Two Days?

I almost feel like I had a Lost Weekend. I can't believe I missed posting Monday and Tuesday. Well, a belated Happy New Year!

I did have a lost couple of days; I was lost in a book. Started it Sunday and finished last night, along with a few other things. I had to finish before I started back to work; I knew I wouldn't have time to read for the next few weeks.

I intend to do a review here in a few days, as soon as I collect my thoughts. I read the whole book- 1087 pages- and there is a lot to digest. It will be an interesting review; trust me.

The New Year so far has been good. The weather hasn't been too bad- 20's but sunny, and the family is all healthy.

And the 'Fiscal Cliff' has been avoided.

Well; postponed anyway. Maybe.

Interesting vote, wasn't it? According to the NBC News Article:

More Republican congressmen (151) voted against the Senate bill than for it (85), meaning that Democrats' support was needed to advance the final deal. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, took the rare step of casting a vote, and did so in favor of the legislation. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the former Republican vice presidential nominee, also supported the package. But Boehner's top two lieutenants, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., each opposed the deal.

I won't have a Congressman until tomorrow, so nobody to berate in the House. Paul Ryan's Yea surprised me. Was all of the deficit hawk just a campaign posture? Hard to tell at this point.

The Senate is another matter. I had to get after Mitch McConnell the other day; apparently I need to do it again. He needs to start paying more attention to the Junior Senator from Kentucky when it comes to voting the people's interest.

And then we go through it again in February. Oh well; no sense having the Republicans cave all at once. Lets break it up into 2 separate cave-ins.

But the good news is it is only the leadership that is caving; the rank and file are holding true. we just needed to change 45 more minds.

I'll have to see how many of those 45 were 'Lame Ducks' this session....

A note to Mitch McConnell

Here is a copy of the note I just emailed to Senator McConnell:

Senator McConnell:

Can you explain the logic behind not granting all forms of communication the same constitutional and Supreme Court reviewed protections? If US Mail and wired phone lines require a warrant, why shouldn't email and wireless phone conversations?

I have a 4th Amendment right to privacy in my papers and in my communications. The government does not, at any level, have a right to review those communications absent a warrant. PERIOD.

I have voted for you that last four times you ran for the Senate, but it has become increasingly clear that you are no longer a resident of Kentucky, but a resident of Washington, D.C.. It is time Kentuckians found a fellow citizen, like Senator Rand Paul, to represent us.

2014 can not come soon enough. 

If he reads the message, will he get it?

I doubt it.

Funny Business in Washington

I have been holding this post until after Christmas, just because I promised only happy thoughts before Christmas.

I can't come down on one side or the other; they each bother me equally.

And then I found another strip that so much so quickly:

I'm not sure how the cartoonist was looking at the issue, but Doesn't Cooperate can cover a lot of ground. My first sense was that they don't cooperate with the people who elected them, but he could also mean, given the current 'fiscal cliff' fiasco, that they don't cooperate with each other. Also true.

But it seems to me the only time the Politicians do cooperate is when they are screwing over the people who elected them.

The one exception I can think of is Rand Paul, my Senator from Kentucky. Not being a politician or a lawyer, he understands the evil that government is.

He just put forth an amendment to the FISA bill to increase Fourth Amendment protections on electronic communications; basically to give email and cell phones conversations protection from warrant-less searches. Here is the transcript of his speech on the Senate Floor.

Its about time we had some one in Washington who understands what the people want and is ready to fight for it.

Apparently, based on the vote in the Senate, we are at least 79 people short of what we need, including my other Senator, the one I don't claim much, Mitch McConnell.

He will hear from me today.

Scary Numbers

I was just listening to the news on the radio and they had a case of dueling quotes.

John Boehner was asking Obama where his list of spending cuts were.

Nancy Pelosi was asking where Boehner's revenue was coming from.

Nancy: right now the Federal Government is spending over $11,612.00 a year for each man, woman and child in the country, over $4,800.00 of that amount is borrowed money.

Don't take my word for it; do the math yourself. $3,600,000,000,000.00 spent; $1,300,000,000,000.00 borrowed divided by 310,000,000 million citizens.

Scary number, ain't it?

Dreams

There is a line in the John Wayne classic, Big Jake that is appropriate today.

Wayne's character is about to pay a one million dollar ransom- in 1909 dollars- and as he tosses the key to the strong box to the lead bandit Big Jake says "That's the stuff that dreams are made of."

There is a lot of dreaming going on today. How long would it take you to decide how to spend $550,000,000? What would you spend it on? How long would you keep your job after you won?

Five Hundred And Fifty Million Dollars; Half a Billion Dollars. No matter how you say it, it sounds like an unfathomable amount of money.

How would it make feel to know that that amount of money would not even put you in the top 400 richest people in the United States? You would have to double your jackpot, and then some, to even get a sniff at number 400. You would have to multiply it by 132 times to become second on the list to Bill Gates.

Adding up the fortunes of the ten richest folks in the country brings in about $346 billion; a staggering sum of money; 750 times the Powerball jackpot.

Then take that $346 billion and multiply it another 48 times; that's our national debt.

Kinda puts it into perspective; doesn't it?

Decline and Fall

 

Occasionally I get an email that I think deserves wider distribution; along with my comments.

I got one today titled "The Decline and Fall of The American Empire". I wasn't ready to copy and paste the entire email into my blog- it is rather lengthy- and sine it looked like a blog post I figured I could find it online. 

I actually found several. There is this one, at the Nation. and this one; at Nolan Chart blog. Or this one, from the Guardian, for a foreign perspective.

Then I found it; at the Jewish Press.com.

Apparently a lot of folks are predicting the end of America's World Dominance.

I'm not sure I'm predicting it, but I am worried about it. Especially when Obama now has four more years to make it happen.

There will be an end to the American Empire. Face it; we maybe a benign despot, but America does rule an empire that spans the globe. Not like the Europeans did in past centuries, with puppet leaders and colonies, but with the export of our culture and our life-style. There probably isn't a corner of the hasn't been infested with the latest dreck from Hollywood or had it's ears assaulted with American rap music.

And the American Dollar is even accepted as a medium of exchange in the countries that hate us.

How can we be in decline?

Because empires are always facing threats from the outside. We are no different. Outside threats usually leave us stronger, as we band together to face a common threat. But currently we aren't banding together; we are splitting apart.

It's the internal threat that is ending the American Empire. We are powerless to stop it, as the power to stop the decline is actually working to hasten it.

Yes; I'm talking about Obama.

When our currency becomes more valueless daily, from the administrations policy of printing however much they fell we need to spend this month, we had no way of stopping the slide.

When our military becomes more and more demoralized- as it was under Carter 35 years ago, (John Kerry as Secretary of Defense? Please tell me that is just a trial balloon to make Obama's actual choice seem better by comparison) we lose the fear factor that has kept our enemies- and our allies enemies- at bay for the last 70 years.

When our allies have more to gain from not being friends than they do from being our friends, another step down the road to degradation is taken; another part of the empire edifice crumbles away. Israel; Taiwan; Japan and numerous other countries that have become parts of our Empire will gradually fade away, realizing that some autonomy under a new regime joined willingly is better than no autonomy under the same regime joined unwillingly.

And presiding above it all a mawkishly grinning Obama.

You have heard it before; Elections have consequences. The consequences of the last election maybe fatal.

Only time will tell.

I Couldn't Resist

As of a few minutes ago.

Look at the chart since November 6, 2012.

We are so screwed.

And So It Begans

Trouble with the economy is just beginning my friends.

Hostess is just the latest symptom of the sickness, along with the Stock Market and restaurants, like Papa Johns.

Welcome to the Greater Depression.

If Romney had been elected last Tuesday the press would already be calling the most recent Stock Market crash "Romney's Recession".

I haven't been following the Hostess deal until today, but here are the basic facts: Interstate Brands- the Hostess predecessor- went thorough bankruptcy a few years ago, and came out as Hostess. Now Hostess is in Bankruptcy, and as part of the reorganization has renegotiated their union contracts, which included an 8% pay cut and greater contributions towards their health insurance. Welcome to the New Normal. These changes tended to upset the unions, who promptly went on strike, in selected locations.

Hostess had now closed those locations.

The unions will scream and shout. And then go on on unemployment for 99 weeks. Welcome to the New Normal.

If another company buys the plant and reopens it, it most likely will not be a union plant, and the wages will be lower again by 50%. So, if those workers do happen to find employment there, they won't be down by their 8%, but by 50%, or more.

But that is what has to happen. Companies can't compete by paying a union wage.

Apparently they can't compete anymore by having employees work over 28 hours a week either. Welcome to the New Normal.

People will have less and less money, and its not just from crashing wages. If the reports are to be believed, $2,000 to $4,000 a year more will go to the Federal Government because of the repeal of the Bush tax cuts in January; $40 to $80 a week, or thereabouts. About a tank of gas, depending on what you drive; unless it starts going up, like I expect it to.

And the cost of fuel will drive everything else up; everything that requires energy to manufacture, package or ship.

Food and fuel going up; paychecks going down. Guess who gets squeezed in the middle?

Anybody still trying to get by earning a wage.

Welcome to the New Normal.