Insanity

Not exactly a question i received today but it was a thought that i recently had. History Channel has been airing a show called, America, the Story of Us. It is a show that just as poetically titled as it's theme is catching. Just the opening alone makes you lean forward in awe and think about just how far we've come (i usually think about how far we've spiraled down this dark, bleak hole).

I am something of a history buff. For the last year, i have read everything that i could get my hands on, scrounging up dollar after dollar to buy books that i have been able to read in one sitting. I have found that when books and television take history and place a human spin on it, they can open doors that most people my age find boring or shadowed in cobwebs of 6th grade memory. Some books can really make history fun and exciting and it can make you think again about what you once knew. They can bring you back to a time when you had to be by the phone to receive a phone call and even further back to when you would have had to ride a horse into town to buy goods (with gold i might add).

And this show did it. It gave a personal spin on Washington and Hamilton and all of the big names in history. But sadly, it failed desperately short.

I was surprised to see the truth in one episode that featured George Washington's real trials and tribulations during the American Revolution but it fell at the very end. Personally, i think that Washington was a substandard general. I think that a lot of people could have done the job of First President better than General Washington. If you take a moment to read, Washington's Secret War, you too might stumble onto this discovery.

I remember after i read the book, someone asked me what i thought of Washington after i read it. I know what i answered and i know what my brain was screaming and i still went with the response that years of public school implanted in me. I stammered in an unconvincing voice that he had done well at Valley Forge and that all great leaders have stumbling points and blah blah blah.

But i knew that i was wrong. I have been in a military situation and i can say from experience that he would have destroyed his army had it not been for a genius military leader from France. He didn't know what to do. It seemed that every 'noble' thing he did was in total panic and he made several wrong decisions.

Of course, the only thing that they had to say about the Whiskey Rebellion was that it was a brilliant move on Washington's part. I think it was a terrible one. He raided a state, a sovereign state, that was using whiskey as currency and he raided it with an Army! First of all, how dare he raid a state with the military! Secondly, how dare he interfere in a state that wasn't breaking any laws what so ever!

To put it bluntly, before i start to get angry and explode, every episode was like this. They glance over titillating information and plow straight into a shameful, "look-at-how-wonderful-our-empirical-government-has become-thanks-to-so-and-so" diatribe.

Over and over again, i watched every episode that aired and shuddered at almost everything that they said. They praised FDR in a light that was almost Godly. They did admit that Lincoln had done terrible things but they praised him still for saving the Union.

He didn't save the Union. He caused the deaths of over 600,000 people! That's right! He started a war with another country (the South had already seceded) and pitted brother against father and in some cases *cough* General Sherman *cough* he destroyed whole towns. Women and children included and i believe in some cases targeted.

That's right! Beloved Lincoln, champion of civil rights, had full knowledge of Sherman's murderous march and not only allowed him to commit these terrible crimes, but exalted him for it! General Sherman burned whole cities and killed wantonly. His men took whatever they wanted and burned the rest. This is the great leader that we have enshrined on our nations doorstep? We should be thanking God or whoever you believe in that he is gone and we should be promising to never commit these crimes again.

The whole day i was consumed in lies that generated from the T.V. It was like a watching a beautiful tornado destroy a helpless town. Some parts of episodes made me want to cheer their innovation at making true points of history come alive. Other parts made me want to readjust the high end on my Bull-Shit-O'Meter.

And so i came to this conclusion. I can't believe even what i see on T.V. But most importantly, i glimpsed again what i had once believed about history and just how wrong i was.

Try this... check out a book that doesn't take the beaten path and see what you believe. Pick up The Constitution in Exile, Hamilton's Curse, An Honest President, A Nation of Sheep, Legacy of Ashes, How Capitalism Saved America, Bourbon for Breakfast, A Case Against the Fed, What they Fought For, FDR's Folly, The Real Lincoln, Lincoln Unmasked, Lies my Teacher Told Me, or Lies Across America (just to name a handful of the books that i've read) and tell me that these books don't teach you more than you have learned in years of public school and government teaching programs. Tell me that they don't ring a bell. Better yet, tell me that they don't make something inside of you click into place and make you think that everything you have learned might be wrong.

"Pittbulls are Dangerous!"

You know, i used to think so too. I used to think that anything with those broad shoulders and massive head had to be labeled as dangerous.

But i was wrong.

I used to think a lot of things. I used to think that the police force was as much as we could ask for. That the lines at the post office were just as the lines at the DMV. I used to think that there was a place for everything and everything had a place yada-yada-yada...

And then one day, i turned on the T.V and i saw a calm, submissive, happy, pittbull terrier named Daddy. I learned as i watched the show, The Dog Whisperer, that i was wrong. That this dog was an amazing dog and that everything i had ever known was upside down and backwards. I began to read everything that i could get my hands on about Cesar Millan and i knew that i was on a path that i had never traveled.

The path of nature.

No, i don't hug trees, though i have a deep respect for ecologists. And i do not value an animals life over my own, but there is a spot in my heart for this late dog. He has taught me that to act against nature is to do a disservice to everything that you are... and that Occam's Razor applies to us all, animal or human.

Daddy made me open my mind and explore new alternatives to everything in life, including politics and government. And true, it was my history teacher that changed my life in a way that i will never forget, but i doubt he'll ever know that it was a rednosed pittbull that built the base for it all.

So i go off the beaten path tonight with my post. It's not politics or government or even a conspiracy. It's not a speach about empire or it's faults. It's just a tribute to from one creature to another. A small light in this dark world that signifies that not everything is what it seems...

Tonight, and honestly every night, i toast you, Daddy. For showing me, not that i was right, but that i was wrong.

Men...

I knew it would come to this. Of all the complaints i hear every day, this one is at the top. Women will always complain about men when no men are around. And i am sure that it's always been this way. Don't take it personal, though. It's impossible to try and keep us all happy at the same time.

Don't worry, i'm going somewhere with this.

Not that long ago i ran across an old picture of my grandfather. He was strolling down the street with a few friends of his. They were wearing smartly colored fedoras and creased pants. I could see the shadow of pocket watches (something that all three of them had) hanging from their crisp vests that buttoned all the way to pressed ties. They had their jackets buttoned as well (and i have been told by officers in the military that gentlemen unbutton their jackets when they sit and button them again when they stand).

To put it bluntly, they looked the way men should look.

They looked sharp and sophisticated. They seemed to be the very embodiment of manliness and grace all rolled into one finely pressed package. There was no arrogance in their eyes, no suave move to attract a lady. This was simply the way that they looked.

Some men have an innate ability to project this kind of confidence. They need to only walk into a room and the whole world seems their oyster. But to those who do not have this ability to stop a room from moving, fear no more! All it takes is to put your shoulders back, check the collar of your shirt, and tighten that tie!

I don't care what kind of woman you speak with. Nothing is more seductive than a confident man in a handsome suit.

What does this have to do with government or politics? Nothing really. Just a small insight.

"He's hurting those poor dogs!"

Ahhh... Cesar Millan. You know, i really don't care much for most personalities. They appear almost as blank and lifeless as my potted plant (which is been declared dead as it rots on my front porch). Many people on T.V. seem as interchangeable as car parts and it's difficult to even remotely care about what they are telling you or what is happening to them.

Cesar Millan is another story.

I am no dog trainer. Or, to do justice to Cesar (as he doesn't train dogs) i am no dog expert. The functions and thought processes are so foreign that it's almost impossible for me to consider what life would be like as a dog. I can no more predict what life is like for my cats and my lizard than i can a dog (or hell a shark for that matter)! But i do know that dogs do not care if you get fired. They could care even less if you were broke or ugly or drove a crappy car. They don't really seem to care...about anything. Well, not the way that we care about things. We say that we love things, and that we will never forget them. But animals live for that moment. If they do love, it's in a way we could never imagine; completely and straightforwardly, without complexities or pride...without asking how, or why, or from where. They simply....are.

Here is a man who has a genuine gift. He has a seemingly innate ability to register the energy of a single dog or even a pack of 50. This is apparent when he addresses dogs. He doesn't look at them, he moves forward. He doesn't pet them and kiss them (well, not to the extreme of 90% of the population). He doesn't say "good boy!" in an overly excited ambitious voice. He doesn't let them run and jump on him. Actually, he never lets his pack get away with anything that is out of line or different from what he wants. By understanding the nature of his pack, he has learned to become the leader of it and in return, he gives his dogs lives that are truly and completely full until they take their last breaths on this earth.

You would think to accomplish this, Cesar Millan would have to resort to violence or a tyrannical overthrow of the pack itself. But once more, you would be wrong. He corrects his dogs with a swift touch and he follows through with his method of discipline. He doesn't hurt them or make them feel insecure. He simply does what any pack leader would do with a dog when they were out of line.

For example, we've all seen wolves on Discovery or Animal Planet. They roam for miles in a pack in search of food. It is easy to spot the alpha dog. He (or sometimes she) is always out front. The dogs are usually plowing through snow, following a herd of elk or stalking a young deer. They don't stop to use the bathroom or to bark up strange trees. They keep moving. They follow their leader and if they try to step out of line to say, chase a squirrel, they are quickly brought back into line with a touch that reflects the intensity needed. The offending dog usually backs down, lowers it's head, and then resumes it's hunt. The leader doesn't care that the dog disobeyed him or that he might step out of line again. He can't process this kind of complicated thought. He moves on, along with the rest of the pack.

To see any man take control of a pack in this way is simply amazing. It's impossible to think that this powerful and exacting man is only a few inches taller than me and that he seems to spend most of his life laughing and smiling. I can see him as a teacher walking into a class room and silencing the students with only a look. And like any good teacher, accomplishing this simple task looks as easy as breathing. (The best teachers are usually the ones that have this ability to take leadership and hold it for hours at a time)

People on his show hear the words over and over again (along with people watching), "you must become the pack leader," and something happens. You see people panic for a moment then you see them look at their dog as if to apologize for what they are about to do. The look is only there for an instant but i still see it. Do their thoughts turn to images of wolves fighting each other for pack leadership? Do they think of gnashing teeth and flying blood and fur?

What most people don't understand is that Cesar is working with nature instead of against it and that in reality, wolf packs rarely fight over leadership. Pack leadership can turn hands (or paws rather) in the fraction of a second and to the untrained eye it would be almost impossible to detect. It is the same for Cesar. His assertions of leadership are usually very fast and at the most may take a few hours (though total rehabilitation can take years). There may be some confrontation, but the majority of dogs are happy to let this responsibility go. The dogs even look happier and you could swear you see the smile that crosses their faces as if to thank Cesar for giving them the chance to be dogs again!

But, if he is to control a pack of dogs, he must think and behave like a pack leader. He has to let nature dictate what he can and can not do through careful observation and self determination.

It rings a bell that reminds me of the way that the free market works. You can not try to tame it or regulate it. You can not bind it or hope that it will bend. If you try and fight it or work against it, the results are disastrous in the best of cases and dangerous in the worst.

But if you work with it, learn it's language, and find out it's nature, the market can literally be a mans best friend.

Yet it's just as easy to misinterpret what is really happening. Criticism of Cesar Millan has grown along with his popularity. Why though? Does he mistreat his dogs? Does he not love them enough? Does he use outdated techniques and does treating the dog like a dog really cause unknown psychological harm?

Of course it doesn't! Why? Because he moves with the pack and follows the rules of being a good pack leader. His shoulders are back, his eyes are forward and he presents himself the way a leader of a powerful pack of dogs should. I have even read accounts of people who have met him who say that he's a force of nature and that it's impossible to not be impressed by his honest self confidence and love for his work. I have also read that he is humble, compassionate, and patient with all of the people that he works with and that his good humor is infectious to be around.

This doesn't sound or look like someone who is doing something wrong. It sounds like someone who is working with the nature of things and because of it, he's been able to capitalize on all of the good that he has done and not only in money but in life. Dog rehabilitation to him is what he knows and he's proven that he is good on several occasions. And even though most people who watch his show still hold on to the same skepticism that what he's doing is wrong, i can't help but to hope that they do see the honesty in the simplicity of it all.

It is the same for all aspects of life. To go against nature only results in frustration, loss of money, loss of independence, loss of freedom and private property. But if you flow with the real issue, and you start to work with the situation instead of regulating it, you too may find yourself with your shoulders back and your eyes forward.

A look at the stars

Global warming. Ah, that old subject. Are we doomed because we expanded in industry? Have we destroyed our planet?

No. That's the simple answer.

How do i know that we are not the cause?

For those of you who have forgotten, take a step outside and look up. That bright yellow thing does more than power Superman and a few rich suburban homes.

The sun is only one star in a universe teaming with them. To boot, our sun isn't even that powerful. It can't even create a supernova.

It's time to take a step back and remember that we are almost nonexistent to what is happening all around us. To think that we could affect even the smallest animal populations on our tiny planet, let alone our own weather is a colossal mistake. Remember how tiny we really are.

An amazing view of everything from Stephen Hawkings

"But you have to vote!"

Why? Why do i have to vote?

STOP SAYING THAT SOLDIERS/SAILORS/AIRMEN/MARINES DIED SO YOU CAN HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE!

I don't even know where to begin with that grossly inaccurate statement. So i won't.

The fact is that i honestly believe things will remain the same until we either: A. Stop being sheep and pay attention. or B. Simply stop voting. Can you imagine the real change that would come about if NO ONE went to the polls? What would happen if we turned as one to the government and told them as a single voice, "NO MORE!"

And no, I don't think that it's my "Patriotic Duty" to have to choose between voting for a complete ass or a total a turd. I wouldn't trust either of them to boil water, let alone hold any kind of office. Hell, i am surprised that our current campaigners don't have that Darthvadar theme playing every time they walk into a room!

It's time to take the power back! Remember that at one time, we were sovereign. Remember that we were once a Republic. For those that say, "There are people who died for your right to vote," once long ago, a gathering of several states fought a war against the greatest world power for real freedom. And even though it sounds unconventional, they never wanted this.

I will close with a quote:

"Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention. Have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths"

Erik's Poem

Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.

I miss you, babe.

"Hey...that's you."

I saw a video in class that was very educational. The comment came almost instanly from a young man seated behind me. On the huge white screen we watched as a reporter spoke of what the government calls, "suspected terrorists" and, "risks to national security."

Veterans, people who own dissenting websites, young voters, people who outwardly speak of the horrors of empire, gun rights supporters, anyone with a Ron Paul sticker, a "Don't Tread On Me" flag and anyone who is openly against our empires illegal conflicts abroad.

Well...

That's me.

100% across the line.

And guess what? You only have to have one of these attributes to be labeled right along side me.

I guess it's 'to hell with liberty!

Live free or die.

It's a shame that the "or Die" part seems to be more likely than anything else.

The dollar is in the toilet and falling fast, the government is loosing our money (because they don't care) and the unknowing are growing so massive in number that it is almost like drowning. This administration can no longer blame the past administrations for their failure to take action then take no action themselves.

Which action? Well, instead of giving unyielding and unfailing power to the government, we should be taking it back. The power was supposed to be ours and we gave it to them out to fear. They were supposed to be limited by the Constitution, not given free reign because of it. Do people really think that a bunch of lawyers in a city 3000 miles away can figure out what counties need roads or where our money should go? Hell, they can't even read the document that they SWORE to protect and defend! Let alone uphold it, enforce it, and not line their pockets with our money.

"Did you hear about the sun?"

You may wonder what diminishing sun spots has to do with the economy/government/politics. Well, that's a good question.

(Just in case you didn't hear, the spots on the surface of the sun are at a low point in history.)

The Washington Post's article on the absence of sunspots briefly touches on new studies dealing with eruptions and climate change. To think! They hinted that the change in climate might not be caused by us!! Full Article

The simple truth is that carbon emissions have about zilch to do with climate change. Here is a great video to prove that point (video is in sections). The video moves to say that many scientists have always believed that the sun controlled all climate on earth (my Chemistry Professor is one of these many scientists). The reason that these people don't come out with that knowledge has to do with the fact that there are trillions of dollars tied up into environmental pork. To put it bluntly, a lot of people would loose their jobs and a lot of high ranking people will loose money and the power they have snatched from the Constitution. I can not think they would give up without a fight.

But with this new study, there is hope that maybe...just maybe, enough sheep will look up at their sun and realize that it is the cause of climate change and not them.

Here's to hope.

"Did he really say that?"

Yep. He sure did. Remember when Ben Bernanke said that he would drop money out of a helicopter?

I remember. I remember chuckling a little (you've got to laugh at some of this stuff or you'll loose all sanity and start chewing through your furniture).

Those who care to take a ride in the way back machine remember that in 2002 Bernanke claimed that money isn't real and that being unreal that the government could print as much of it as they wanted and drop it from a helicopter.

Just...wow.

This is obviously absurd. I don't even have anything to say to it, other than this.

Oh, and the Onion had this to say.

Why these links you ask? Why not links dedicated to tearing apart what Helicopter Ben has to say? Read "The Case Against the Fed" and you're questions will be answered. For now, just...laugh a little.

"What are they talking about?"

Awww...nothing brings that question to the forefront faster than C-SPAN and this time, it was no exception.

So there i was. Me, my friend, and on the television was Timothy Geithner speaking on behalf of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

I realized something as i watched C-SPAN and listened to him speak to the Congressional Oversight Panel...

...One of us is f**king crazy...

...And for once, it's not me!

The spin zone around that man is so powerful that i think he's established his own source of gravity. You can't....you can't just print money and borrow your way out of debt! These people are so blinded by their own greed that i believe that they think that what they are doing (bailouts and such) somehow will help.

Bailouts come from higher taxes. Higher taxes only take money out of the hands of the buyer (You, me, everyone who pays taxes), making it impossible for that person to save properly or to invest that amount back into the economy. That is putting it shortly and sweetly.

The question that started the blog came during the political gymnastics as Tim and the Congressional Oversight Panel began to debate on a subject neither of them understand: economics. They were like two little dogs that wouldn't stop barking.

Both sides where convinced that the economy is getting better and both of them realized that mistakes had been made. Both of them called for more and more funding, be it borrowed or simply printed out of thin air. Really, i think that the core of their 'debate' was which one of the many illegal programs the government has they were going to pump all this counterfeited money into.

"This time, it's different."

I never really understood why someone would walk away from this statement, but sadly, there is little more that can be done. For things to change, to really change, we need not only all people to stand up and face the tyrants that have been destroying our liberty for the sake of security, but we need things to change on a political level.

A part of me sees the money that is flowing into the hands of demons and i can't help but to think that it will never change. Thomas Jefferson said himself hundreds of years ago that we had already screwed the pooch. Thanks to dictators like Abraham Lincoln and Roosevelt, we may never again live in a free market, specie rich society where our individual liberties are protected by our government instead of being regulated by it.

Today i listened as a group of individuals (who will not be named) spoke of their government and their country as if they were one in the same. Our founding fathers would have shuddered at placing such two different ideals under the same name. The government was to protect the rights of the people (excluding the 3/5ths clause and a few other things that i didn't care for. That is for another time), not to use our constitution as claws to tear us to nothing.

They were adamant that the economy was getting better, excited about the bonuses going to small businesses, and most of all, they had full faith in our president and his administration.

The simple truth is that the economics just don't make sense! You can't just print money out of thin air and expect it to do anything other than devalue the dollar even further. Anyone who has had to pay bills for a few years knows that you can't solve debt by borrowing. And i fear that all too soon, our dollar value will drop to relatively zero and what will happen as a result will be chaos.

As for small businesses...well, the sad truth is that some businesses fail. Period. In a free market society, this happens because that is the nature of things. If you produce a product, and it can't compete, it won't stick around. That's it. It's not rocket surgery by any means. Free market can warm but it does pinch and that is just the reality of it. The socialist economy that we live in now only pinches and it showers affection on the very people who keep it's gears turning with truck loads of government pork. It is a self feeding machine that is destroying everything in it's path.

Our president...I've read his books and to be honest, he seems like a genuinely nice and kind, caring person. That being said, he's doing exactly the opposite of what needs to be done. The fact that he taught Constitutional Law is a double edged sword. Surely he's read the words, felt the passion in them, and understood that things like the Patriot Act and NSL's eviscerate our rights. But the other side is just as sharp, and i fear that he has become one of millions who think that the Constitution has to be interpreted for the times.

But there are no shadows to be found in the document. There were never meant to be penumbras. The rights of the individual where to come first and foremost in all ages, for all times because the power to create laws and conditions not stated was left to the state. If the state wants to create a welfare system, then it is completely legal. If it wants to offer unemployment to help people in a time of guaranteed tribulation, then so be it. That is also legal. But it is NOT legal for the government to do anything ANYTHING that is not stated on that document. PERIOD. Including passing legislation that takes money out of the hands of tax payers and does with it as it wishes.

Therefore, all pork, every single tiny little itty bitty penny, IS THEFT!!!

Not only that, but the creation of the Federal Reserve is so unconstitutional and harmful for our markets that their daily operations are at best criminal. It's time to wake up. The dollars in your pocket, in your bank, hidden under your mattress, are worth 4 damned cents and the value is dropping because the FED has been COUNTERFEITING MONEY FOR YEARS.

But maybe they are right on one subject. Maybe this time it is different. Maybe this time, the states that are packed with wolves will finally break free of tyranny. Maybe this time, they won't slaughter our fellow man by the hundreds of thousands and demand that we re-join the union. Maybe, they will let us go and we will truly taste freedom in our lifetimes.

So we, the wolves, have to keep moving. We have to stay together and keep our pack strong. Today's run in with those people made me feel helpless and alone but i know that i'm not truly alone. My pack is large, our wolves are strong. We are not blinded by their lies, we are not bound by their chains, and we will not be beaten into submission.

"...I think democracy is best..."

Really? That's not what our founding fathers wanted. It's not what they had in mind at all.

And i don't care how many people say that democracy was the intent and it is the right way to go. The simple truth is that they are wrong. And i have no hatred for them for it. It is not their fault that they do not see the truth for it has been hidden for a long time.

The founding fathers wanted a Republic. A republic is a nation that is run by the rule of written laws. These laws protect the rights of the individual against a tyrannical government.

But what about democracy?

Don't take my word for it. Here's a few quotes that i found from some people of interest:

"Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention. Have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths" - James Madison

"Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes itself, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." -Samuel Adams

When Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of nation the founders had worked tirelessly to secure for soon to be freed men, he replied "A republic…if we can keep it."

See, a democracy rules by public opinion. The founding fathers knew that democracies always degenerate into favoritism, special interests groups, mob rule, and ultimately tyranny, due to a majority of the uninformed public consistently and predictably voting to elect those politicians who would guarantee them the redistribution of public wealth.

I want the republic back. The one that is guaranteed to me in the writings of the Constitution.

You know, the best way i can describe democracy is this: Democracy is like two ravenous wolves and one sheep, voting on what they will have for breakfast.

"It's not Legal?"

No!

It's not legal, Constitutional, or right!

Congress only has 18 powers and not one of them says anything about regulating health care.

Now, people can say, "What about the General Welfare Clause, the Commerce Clause, and the Necessary and Proper Clause (better known as the Elastic Clause)?"

Let me take these three all at once because they were never meant to be swords that the government can use to take rights from the states or the people. General Welfare and the Elastic Clause, as per Madison (you remember James Madison from History right? That guy, you know, that guy who WROTE THE CONSTITUTION!) were only meant to be slight extensions on the already stated enumerated powers. Madison even said (i'm paraphrasing here) "Why would we put all of these restrictions and checks on the government if we wanted them to wield supreme power?"

As for the Commerce Clause...this had only to do with interstate regulation. Health care is INTRASTATE. Interstate commerce was only meant to regulate commerce between foreign nations and the commerce that crosses state lines. At what point does health care cross a state line?

If i live in Bellville and i go to Houston to see the doctor, that isn't moving interstate. It's moving intrastate and Congress has absolutely no right, NO RIGHT to tell us that we absolutely have to use their health care.

Besides, where does everyone think that this magic health care is going to come from? Remember taxes? Yep. It's coming from there. You're going to pay for people to have health care in California, New York, Montana...all of the 50 states. I love all of you guys, but honestly, BUY YOUR OWN DAMNED HEALTH CARE!

I digress (again). Here is a great video on this issue and thank you to Thaddaus Hill for the link.

"What about North Korea?"

Why can't we just trade with them? Remember that useless war with Vietnam? We're trading with them now. Why did we have to kill thousands of people to gain nothing when in the end we just trade with them?

And now we're looking down the barrel at war in North Korea. A war that we will have to help South Korea fight.

I'm not clairvoyant, but i bet you with one guess what will happen once all the smoke is cleared. Thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of people will be dead and we will return to trading. We'll probably slap a few more bases here and there and piss people off even further while waiting for the next catastrophe.

That's if we're lucky and that sick bastard doesn't start a nuclear war.

I digress, here is a quick and great article on this very issue.


Thanks to Antiwar.com for the great post.

"Don't you wish you had a million dollars."

Yes...No. Let me say that i wish i had a million dollars that was worth every penny. Right now, the very dollars in your pocket are only worth 4 damned cents. Yep, that's it. Four. Cents.

This question made me think of something i read from Murray Rothbard.

Here goes:

"people will almost always say, if asked, that they want as much money as they can get! But what they really want is not more units of money--more gold ounces or "dollars"--but more effective units, i.e., greater command of goods and services bought by money. We have seen that society cannot satisfy its demand for more money by increasing it's supply--for an increased supply will simply dilute the effectiveness of each ounce, and the money will be no more really plentiful than before. People's standard of living (except in the nonmonetary uses of gold) cannot increase by mining for more gold. If people want more effective gold ounces in their cash balances, they can get them only through a fall in prices and a rise in the effectiveness of each ounce."

I love the Austrians! They are always right.

Just say 'no' to....

The alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter.

You remember the JSF right? That aircraft that is almost complete and ready to be distributed? Ready for it right? I hope so because you paid for it.

Now pray that we don't pray for an alternate engine. Thanks to Citizens Against Government Waste for bringing this to the public's ever diminishing attention spans.

"FDR saved America: Hoover was the bad guy!"

You're almost right.

Hoover crippled his economy by doing exactly what everyone praised FDR for doing when he "saved" America from Depression. How the depression really ended (and some would argue that we never really recovered) is a topic for another blog (It wasn't FDR). But i need to address this common belief.

What they don't teach in school is that Hoover promoted legislation on conservation, oil, electric power, flood control, farming, labor arbitration, foreign debt, child hygiene, ocean shipping, exports and many many more. Sounds great right? Sounds familiar right? Didn't FDR promote a lot of similar forms of legislation that millions of Americans today applaud him for?

So how did this ruin the economy?

Hoover believed that certain people made too much money. He didn't address, however that a ton of the wealth that rich people acquire goes into savings and it also goes to fuel business investment. This benefits all society! Wealthy entrepreneurs create jobs, invest millions, and contribute to economic survival.

He also believed in what economists call, "purchasing power fallacy." He even said, and i quote, that he wanted: "To maintain the purchasing power of labor through high wages." He also believed that under no circumstances should companies ever lower wages of it's employees.

Here's the catch. This all sounds familiar to anyone who got a decent grade in History back in high school. But this shit right here is what they didn't teach you: High wages can not possibly be increased without an increase in production or productivity. When the government push up wages artificially above what can be justified by actual productivity, the only possible result is higher unemployment.

Answer this one: Would you rather A)Keep your job but have to deal with lower wages or B)Advocate higher wages (that the company can not maintain) and just get canned?

He also championed the Railway Labor Act which interfered with private labor relations. The act empowered the unions at the expense of the employers and this hurts the consumer. He also helped to push easy credit by having the Fed simply print more money. Easy money leads to mistakes in investment which leads to a bubble which eventually pops. (Housing Bubble...sound familiar?)

Hoover wanted to eliminate "destructive competition." *sighs* What destructive competition? Competition is what lowers cost and keeps consumers happy!

He also pushed for high protectionist tariffs. Gee, i wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that the people who benefited from them, were the ones who were too lazy (or simply weren't good enough) to compete for your business and decided instead to put there millions into his party. These tariffs only exacerbated the Great Depression!

He also taxed everything imaginable. We can thank Hoover for the following taxes: tax on gasoline, tires, cars, electric energy, malt, toiletries, furs, jewelry, and many many more. He also introduced stock taxes, taxes on bank checks, bond transfers, telephones, telegraphs, and radio messages. Then there was the raise of the personal income tax. All of this adding more and more fuel to the burning fire. (Hmmm.... Gee wizz mister, didn't we have a Revolution or something because of something along these same lines?)

So why do we as a society LOVE FDR (the thug and slayer of our Constitutional rights) for doing exactly what Hoover did only on a larger scale?

Better yet, why are we still doing this today?

A great free-market capitalist once said: "Isn't the definition of insanity when you do the same things over and over again and expect to get different results?"

[Factual references taken from "How Capitalism Saved America" by Thomas J. DiLorenzo]

"I hate rich people!"

Really? I LOVE THEM

Rich people are the reason that flat screen tv's are available at rock bottom prices and the reason that the computer that i am typing this post up on is more powerful then the computer that sent the space shuttle to the moon!

How does this happen? Well, let me explain it.

(As i've said before, THESE ARE BROAD STROKES)

(And i must also say again that i am not an economic professor or a political genius. This is just my view from down here.)

When something like...say...the iPhone came out, they were not readily available to the masses. The original price for the iPhone was almost 600 dollars and i don't know a lot of people my age who have 600 dollars floating around. But there are people who do. Lots of them bought the phone and that in itself made the prices start to slowly decline. It's been years since it first came out so the price drop wasn't quick but it did happen. Why? Rich people who could afford the product in the first place made the prices drop by creating competition.

You would think that prices rise. But that is not the nature of business. Only business in danger begin to sell their products for more, though some do cater only to the super rich (Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, etc).

Another example: DVD players.

When they first came out, only the wealthy families had them. But many wealthy families began to buy them and companies sprang up to make the product. When they did, they had to compete with each other for business. Technology also improved with competition and manufacturing DVD players became cheaper and cheaper, allowing the companies to do what they had sought out to do in the very beginning: Sell a low price product that every American can afford.

My parents first DVD player cost upwards of 400 dollars. The one in my apartment was a housewarming gift that cost a whooping 30 bucks.

Yes, this kind of thing takes time. When companies compete for your money, they naturally drive costs down. It is every companies (except the stupid ones) goal to produce a product that they can sell to every American.

Rich people just get to go first.

"But we need Government to help us..."

While trying to explain the broad strokes of free market, i was challenged by a fellow employee. He was adamant in explaining that if it weren't for the empire, we wouldn't have the roads and highways that we have now. And you know what? He's absolutely right.

We'd have better ones.

Not long ago in the 20's-30's, roads and railways were built by private companies. These roads were beautiful, went to specific destinations and were built with the public in mind. Why? This is what happens with free market. If you want to market a product (even roads) it is advantageous to build the best and most efficient product possible because competition is everywhere. People won't buy your product if it is not good enough to buy.

Let me digress slightly.

When the Great Northern Railway was built, the owner of the company spent millions of dollars building impecable lines through navigable country side. The GN's lines could also be seen dotted with storage facilities for near by farmers to use. They spared no expense in creating a top rail line that could better benefit the consumer and the people who used the lines to transport goods.

Side note: When something like a railroad companies are built, the prices are more or less fixed (that's just the nature of big business). When customers are added, prices drop.

But being the best in business has it's enemies. Some will compete with a big business by immitating them and by building or selling a better product for a lower price. This is what drives prices down and this competion caters to the public. For your product to succeed, you have to be better than the others. We've saved millions thanks to company competition!

But there is another way to deal with competition. Many of the real "Robber Barons," turned to the government for help to deal with their competition. They lobbied and spent money on political parties and members of legislature to start regulating the Railroad. Why? You think they give a shit about safety or any of the hundreds of other things that they say the regulations support? Of course not! They are destroying the competition through legislation and price fixing instead of making their own product better!

So when the government provided subsides to companies to build railways, they paid them by the mile. The lines were build in a mad rush and they often went in loops or circles or over seanic routes to guarantee larger payouts by the government. What ended up happening? Dozens of railroads went bankrupt and they were given more subsides to start all over again.

In the case of the Great Northern, the government didn't need to get involved to make better lines. When they did get involved in the railways, they didn't care who they pleased because it was just free money to them. GN had to please it's customers to keep them and they kept their customers (until Regulations prevailed) because they had to produce a product that satisfied the masses.

Moral of the story?

We don't need government to do everything for us! Are we really so stupid (collectively) that we honestly believe that private companies could not provide a better quality product? Do they think that we can not sustain ourselves because we can and we DID until the dawn of FDR and his legion of thugs.

We need to stop trying to control the market and we need to set it free.

Cash for Gold

I had planned on posting something serious.

But then i decided against it.

Although i could almost see our government doing something this stupid.

"When did this all start?"

Today, i will try to sum this up without sounding like a complete idiot. But first, something has to be made abundantly clear:

What i know about government is only slightly more than the average person my age. For more detailed and pointed questions, i can only direct you to books, websites, or professors that i know. As my blog title goes, this is just my view from down here.

That doesn't mean that i'm not right. It just means that my picture is blurrier than others.

Back in the early 1900's the Supreme Court stuck like tar to the Constitution. The fabled Four Horsemen (HEROES in my book) Justice Butler, McReynolds, Sutherland, and Van Devanter dissented on legislation after legislation, using the Constitution to strike down tyranny as it tried to violate our Natural Rights. To them, the commerce clause had only to do with interstate commerce and commerce had to involve the movement of goods. PERIOD. Free market and due process actually meant something. Contracts were unbreakable by the government. Congress only had 18 enumerated powers. And the rights of the INDIVIDUAL were strictly upheld.

For example: The Lochner case of 1905. In Lochner (I must quote here because i couldn't put it in better terms if i spent all day trying) "The Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a New York State law that limited the number of hours a baker could work. How dare a state in the land of opportunity try to steal the liberty of a laborer to work and a small businessperson to employ them? That is precisely what the New York legislature attempted. And this theft is precisely what goes on everyday in twenty-first century America. But the Lochner court, one hundred years ago, would have none of it!" - Judge Napolitano.

They also struck down a law that would require women to have a minimum wage, clearly violating the Contracts Clause. I can tell you that as a woman, and a proud one, i don't need anyone HOLDING MY DAMNED HAND! Here we were, struggling for decades to get the right to vote, and then suddenly the government wants to walk me to work, make sure i got there alright, and make sure i get paid properly? Once more, the Four Heroes dissented to defend our Constitutional right to have contracts and another New Deal policy was crushed.

I am no scholar, but i'm pretty sure that the Founding Fathers never wanted big government to chaperon me to work!

Back on track before i loose myself.

Economic crises at the time began to call for immediate action. The Supreme Court only had a handful of Justices, which explains why the Four Heroes made such an astounding impact. So what did FDR do? He packed the Court and within a short time, he'd changed everything. The Four Hero's voices could not be heard through the throngs of people who had begun to panic. Enter New Deal legislation!!! Cue the Vader music!


So even though a lonely single mother with only the government to take care of her pulls at all of our heartstrings, where would we be if we had just followed the Constitution and gotten back to free market and individual rights that USED TO protect us from tyrants? I can tell you this. We wouldn't be in the shit we're in now.

I'd like to end with a favorite quote from one of the Heroes, Justice Sutherland:

"Whether the legislation under review is wise or unwise is a matter with which we have nothing to do. Whether it is likely to work well or work ill presents a question entirely irrelevant to the issue. the only legitimate inquiry we can make is whether it is constitutional. If it is not, it's virtues, if it has any, cannot save it; if it is, it's faults cannot be invoked to accomplish it's destruction. If the provisions of the Constitution be not upheld when they pinch as well as when they comfort, they might as well be abandoned!"

"So what are they spending money on?"

I get this question a lot. The honest answer is that it's hard to divide every bill that passes when an omnibus goes through. And the even more shocking truth?

Most Congressmen don't even read it.

But here is a small list of congressional pork that was found in the 2003 Omnibus Spending Bill taken from The Constitution in Exile

"1. Congress allotted $200,000 for an American Cotton Museum.(Why should people in New York pay for this museum in Alabama?)

2. Congress allotted $70,000 for the International Paper Industry Hall of Fame in Appleton, Wisconsin.

3. Congress allotted $150,000 for the Therapeutic Horseback Riding Program at the Lady B Ranch in California. (Does Hillary Clinton's 1992 Health Care Reform Act cover this?)

4. Congress allotted $1.5 million to transport cold water to Lank Onondaga from Lake Ontario. (Why on earth are we doing this?)

5. Congress Allocated $160,000 for seafood waste in Alaska.

6. Congress promised $75,000 for the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame. (Where is this in the Constitution?)

7. Congress gave $99,000 to train students in the motor sports industry at Patrick Henry Community College. (Is motor sporting a natural right?)

8. Congress voted $250,000 to build and renovate city pools in Banning, California. (The next time it's hot in your neighborhood, why don't you go to California for a swim to cool down? After all, you paid for this.)" -Judge Andrew P. Napolitano.

Uggg... Revolution?....Anyone??

Books! They's not just for dorks anymore!

I've got a little book list i'd like to share before i post the final installment of my Whiskey Tango Foxtrot series. I've blown through these books and i can't tell you how wonderful and insightful they are.

1. The Constitution in Exile
2. The Case Against the Fed
3. What has Government Done to Our Money
4. Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
5. Lies my Teacher Told Me.
6. Where Keynes Went Wrong
7. Mises and Austrian Economics: A Personal View

These books are great, easy reads (even Legacy of Ashes which is as thick as a family Bible) and i've got to give it up to The Man, Mr. Scott, for recommending them. Most of these are really cheap to buy (especially Mises and Austrian Economics). So if you're a reader and want something to read while having a cold one after work, take these babies out for a run.

It doesn't hurt to learn a few things either.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!: Tails of Socialized Medicine Part Three

My finger almost killed me:

The ship is very quiet at night. Almost too quiet. Perhaps this is what led me to slam my finger in a water tight door and almost die from it. Sounds ridiculous right? You'd think i was lying.

I'm not.

It was around 2 or 3 in the morning. My friend Hurde and i went across hanger bay two to check out some paint from HAZMAT. It was a quick trip but the journey took me through a strange, tilted water tight door and while closing it behind me, i slammed my finger in it. I quickly pulled my hand away and made the mistake of looking down.

You see, i don't do well with seeing my own injuries. While i'm working at the veterinary clinic, a part of me switches to what i call 'Doctor Mode' and i vastly ignore what i see. I only see a job to do and a chance to learn something new. But when it involves my own blood and pain, i tend to panic.

That's exactly what i did. What i looked down and saw shook my world. I saw my fingernail holding on by a thread and coated with thick, foul looking, black blood. It was dripping so slow and i remember thinking that it looked strange and i brought it closer to understand what was happening. It must have hit and hit me with something fierce because i pretty much instantly started feeling light headed and queezy.

I was able to stumble down the stairs and walk to medical which wasn't far away. I didn't say anything to the receptionist but went straight away into the small emergency room. I just wanted a bed and some place to lie down for a while.

I don't remember a whole lot after that. I do remember people around me and an impossible pain radiating from my stomach. It hurt so badly that i curled up onto my side and tried not to cry from the horrible cramps. I remember them asking me far more than once if i was on my period and i was given pepto-bismol to help fight off the pain.

Of course it didn't work.

I also remember someone messing with my other arm. I remember trying to figure out what the pain was around my arm when i realized that they were taking my blood pressure over and over again. By this time, an actual doctor had shown up and he insisted that the cuff was too large for my arm. I'm a small girl, no doubt there, but i have never, not even once, had a nurse say "this cuff is too big, get me another one." Halfway between passing out and the searing pain in my stomach, i heard one of them try to tell me that my blood pressure was drastically low yet my heart rate was through the roof.

Guess what was happening yet? Keep reading.

I struggled to regain some sort of conscious thought for what felt like a life time before i finally came around. When i could talk and focus on people, they told me to keep lying down so that they could take a better look at my finger (they thought i had broken it). It was almost an hour into the ordeal before the doctor warned his staff to never wake him again for something so trivial. Then he left.

I didn't find out what had happened to me until later that night. I e-mailed my boyfriend Erik (at the time a medical student at Cornell) and told him what had happened.

Once again, i was shocked by what he had to say.

I had went into shock and had been looking down the barrel of tachycardia. He asked me if they had tried to elevate my legs or calm me down and only grew angrier when i told him that they hadn't.

To think, i was inches away from a heart attack because of a smashed finger.

As for the fingernail...i lost it. It grew back. And my finger wasn't broken. Or at least i think it wasn't broken. It took me almost another 3 months to get an x-ray. By then, i didn't feel any pain in it anymore.

Ready for Socialized Medicine yet?

VIVA REVOLUTION!

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!: Tails of Socialized Medicine Part Two

The year of the spider:

Back in 2002, i was fresh in the navy. I still loved my command (and the empire) and had full confidence in their abilities to take care of me. I was 19 years old and a bit naive about the world around me. Little did i know, that i would turn 20 in incredible pain. Looking back it is impossible to imagine how i lived the way i did for so long...

In early spring of 2002, i woke one morning and the back of my leg hurt! I limped to the mirror and saw a huge red dot on the back of my thigh and went into the hospital immediately. It was already starting to turn darker as i sat down to wait my 4 or 5 hours to been seen. It burned to sit because of the pressure on my thigh so i spent a good chunk of that time pacing.

When i was finally seen, the doctor drew a circle around the now very painful and inflamed spot on my leg then wrote me a prescription for a broad spectrum antibiotic. He told me that it looked like a spider bite and that he suspected that during the night, i had gotten bitten. At the time, i believed him. I've always been fascinated with insects and arachnids (they are truly some of the most amazing things on our planet) and i knew that the bite of some spiders can go unnoticed.

So i faithfully took my horse pills and went back to the barracks where i was living at the time and told my roommate what had happened. She and i pitched in and rented a steam cleaner and steamed the crap out of everything. We even checked out an extension cord from the main office, pulled our cars around, and hit those up as well. Just in case.

I spent the rest of the day in pain, constantly checking my bite to see if the redness had grown outside of the line. Sure enough, in only a few hours, it had grown larger than it had been before. Antibiotics can take a while to build up in the system so i figured i would give it a while to do so and until then all i had to take for the inflammation were giant pills of Ibuprofen.

The very next day, i woke up in incredible pain and another small welt on the back of my leg. This one felt very very tender and it took me a great deal of time to sit up and put my pants on. I decided not to wait the week like i was going to and i went in to have my new spot looked at.

Like playing tennis with a brick wall, the doctor said that it looked like another spider bite and here is where the fun begins. I got another round of antibiotics because he assumed that i was allergic to the ones he gave me (i've never been allergic to anything and to top it off, they were only broad spectrum). He said that the new ones should do the trick but told me to keep an eye on it and come back in if another one popped up.

To make a long story short, more came. First they covered my right leg, then my left and every day was agony. I was constantly tired because of the drain on my body and it was so painful to sit up in bed that i had to have a very good Marine friend come over and help me out of bed. He came every morning that he could make it and help me get around while my body woke up. I was able to sleep at night but barely and that was only thanks to the gigante (giant) ibuprofen that they were giving me to stave off the pain. And no, i never once got anything remotely stronger than ibuprofen...but i was taking around 1600 milligrams three times a day just to function.

The only thing that felt good was direct, searing, heat. I constantly had a heat compress on my legs whenever i got a break at work. I was able to function but how i did is still a little mystery. Looking back, those days blurred from one painful day to the next. You would think you'd get used to it, but every new day would bring fresh painful swelling.

6 months passed of this before i was seen by a dermatologist. 6 months of weekly visits to the doctor and having them tell me that it was just a spider bite. 6 months of constant waiting and waiting and waiting and canceled appointment after canceled appointment. So it finally the day came where i could talk to a specialist. He cleaned a lot of the swollen vacuoles out and took several samples (i never did get the results) and took my blood pressure. I was excited because i thought that i would have an answer.

This prick...he took one of his many books off the shelf, flipped to a couple of pages and showed them to me before asking, "Does it look and feel like this to you? What do you think?" What the f**k do you mean, 'what do i think?' I haven't been to medical school, dickface! I thought you'd know you prick! So we went through the book together (reluctantly) and thought we'd found the answer.

Nope. Not even close. It took me another 5 months of constant pain, canceled appointments and waiting to figure out that i had something relatively common: MRSA. Oh, but i didn't find out from a doctor. Noooo... i had to find out from my aunt who had had it before. She said that when she had it, they quarantined her and gave her so many antibiotics that she built up immunities to many of them. I looked it up online and there it was. The thing that i had.

So i took my new found knowledge and went into see the doctors again. I told them what my aunt had told me and what i'd found on WebMD and we started a round of very powerful antibiotics. I'm now allergic to them, but after another couple of months, the MRSA died off and i went back to normal.

Of course, the MRSA is linked to bringing on my asthma years later. Or so i've been told...

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!: Tails of Socialized Medicine Part One

In this three part blog post (i can't fit it all into one post), i will be telling my own past history with military medical treatment. The military has FREE medical coverage for all and that DOES include dental AND it also includes medications. Sounds great right? Let me start with a story that in 2015 will be common place.

Asthma:

While living in beautiful (i say that sarcastically) Lemoore California, i contracted asthma from the horrible quality of air. But before i get ahead of myself, i have to expand on the terrible encounter i had with socialized medicine.

The first time i had an asthma attack i was 2 miles from civilization, running down old farm roads. I was lucky in that when the attack hit, it was swift and i eventually was able to recover by laying on the ground and trying not to panic. The moment i recovered and walked back to my car, i drove straight to the base hospital emergency room where i waited for 3 hours to see the first available doctor. He took a while to listen to all of the different lobes in both my lungs then scheduled me for X-rays...where i waited another 2 hours. After a quick review when i finally made it back to his office, he concluded that i was only suffering from the backlash of a bad cold. A cold that i never had, by the way. I was given a script for drugs that took another hour to receive and i went home knowing that the medication would do nothing.

I was right.

That night...THAT NIGHT, i woke up around 1am and i couldn't breath. My boyfriend at the time rushed me to the base hospital again where i waited another hour before i was put on medicated oxygen. The doctor was quicker this time as he only took an hour to show up and told me that i had to let the medication work. It was as if he was pissed that i was sitting in his office hooked up to oxygen...as if it were my damned fault!

I was lucky that i didn't have any more problems for a week but almost exactly a week later, i had another mild attack and had to leave work to go to the doctor yet again. This time, i waited "only" 2 hours until i saw another doctor who ordered more x-rays on top of the ones i had only 7 days before. He also listened to my lungs and shook his head. His diagnosis was the same as the last fool. I was just suffering from a strange cold, he told me, then prescribed me a different set of antibiotics. (Wait time for this trip including X-rays and prescription pick up: 5 hours)

For lack of room, i'll simply say that the following week was HELL. I was in constant fear, wondering if i would drop to the ground unable to breath at any moment. I worked around aircraft engines and operated these aircraft as well and it was during my time in the cockpit that i was the most afraid. Looking back, it was only that they did put me on oxygen when i went into the emergency room that kept my asthma down.

After more than two weeks, i was fed up with treatment (and frequent mild attacks) and scheduled a formal appointment with yet another doctor. And i will tell you that i lucked out because the doctor i saw this time had been around longer than the others. He only had to listen to my lungs before he confirmed asthma. (Wait time for the appointment: 6 hours from walking in to leaving).

The man probably saved my life when he put me on my asthma regiment. I would more than likely be in the ground right now if i hadn't lucked out and ran across him.

I know what you are thinking...what did i do about the other "doctors" who diagnosed me with the common cold? Well, i told my Commanding Officer. That's all that i could do. I wasn't allowed to speak with the medical branches Commanding Officer and if my CO talked to them is anyone's guess.

But my guess would be no.

This is only the beginning. I was cursed in that i spent a good number of those 8 years at the hospital and i could write a book about the lines, the wait, the ignorant doctors, and the near death experiences that i had, not because of my illness' but because of the time it took to treat them.

"What's all in the health care bill?"

You know, i don't know everything that is in the bill. And honestly, i haven't been able to find a reputable source that knows what is all in the bill.

But i can give you a run down on what this...socialized medicine is going to do.

It just might break us.

We can all look forward to longer lines, rationing, and a cost that will almost be too much to bare (just to name a few). Soon, jobs will not be able to afford to keep their employees on a health insurance program. Instead, they will just pay the government penalty and in less than 10 years, no one will have private insurance.

See what happens when you take away free-market?

Think if everyone you knew had the ability to go to the Dr. whenever they wanted. Take for example Bellville's most popular doctor, Dr. Hill. Waiting in his office to be seen as a walk in is bad enough as it is. Bring a book because you will be there for at least four hours. As far as appointments, it's already a 6 month wait.

With everyone and i mean everyone rushing in to be seen, lines will be near unbearable. As a woman, this upsets me to no end. How far in advance will i have to schedule a routine check up? What about women with children who need regular medical check ups? I worry enough already about getting sick. What's going to happen if people need surgery and they have to wait YEARS to be seen?

Socialized medicine DOESN'T WORK!

Need further convincing? Watch this and tell me what you think after.

Life

I don't have many Followers yet... Okay, none. But I'm taking a moment to encourage my few readers (i actually have a few now) to spend one hour this Sunday watching Discovery Channels Life, the second part series to Planet Earth.

It's not politics. And it's not a question that someone asked me. But i firmly believe in educating the masses about the world around them and that includes the planet that we live on.

So take an hour, relax, switch to Discovery at 8 on Sunday and learn what you have never learned about life on our amazing planet.

"But....why?"

Why oh why have history books made it their prerogative to obscure almost every aspect of history? Do they fear the education of the students and their ability to think for themselves?

I still don't have an answer to this and i'd love to hear one. I've found myself nearly engulfed by "Lies My Teacher Told Me," a wonderful book that expands history and offers the whole story in several situations, including the reign of Abraham Lincoln who has somehow become known as *shudders* a great president.

No. I don't believe everything that i read in books, but i'm finding that my generation, and every generation after mine has no idea why they think that some people were great. They are only told that they were great and that they did great things. And it is also so for organizations.

My current history book (with no fault to the professor), is decent at best. Yet it still labors to speak volumes of blessings for things like the National Bank and Lincoln while skimming over Patrick Henry (who is mentioned, so far, only a few times and each time, he is like a 'stand in' than the icon that he really was). James Madison is painted as a hero and the father of the Constitution but the reason behind that is never fully explained, as is Washington. General Washington is mentioned far more than once, but he is shadowed by useless facts about him such as his demeanor, appearance, and nothing of the political and logistical asualt he endured at Valley Forge. (Though in their defense, they did talk of the creation of the National Bank, something that i had never even heard about in High School history).

To truly expand on every important issue would take volumes and i understand the need to keep costs (and student sanity) at a minimum, but to paint every picture for our children is to blind them to the truth about our history.

I asked several students not long ago why they thought Lincoln was a great president and all of them had the same, obvious reason. But when i informed them about his treachery, his indifference to slaves, and his near complete destruction of the constitution, they either said nothing or said something along the lines of, "He did what he had to do to save the union."

Some even accused me of skewing the facts because they had never heard of such a thing and one even insisted that the books i had read were lies distributed by liberals who want only to succeed and will say anything to change the hearts of Americans. I stood shocked at this as Lincoln's horrible reign has been expanded by not only shelves of books, but by Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and the History Channel. This is not the rant of liberals, yet the general consensus of hundreds of note worthy individuals. But, once more, thanks to our school system, the roaring of a few lions will do nothing, and have done nothing to change the minds of my peers.

But...but, what if we wrote history as it was? What if we spoke of Lincolns desertion of the constitution and of Columbus and of FDR and of the First National Bank? What if we let the doors of knowledge open? Would chaos ensue or would faith in my fellow man prevail and would we eventually learn from history?

Imagine that! Putting real history on the table and letting people make up their own minds.

"What happened to our money then?"

Today...is my day off. A good day to study and prep for up coming exams but i received a pretty good question.

But since it is my day off, i'd like to play a bit. So here it is...this is where your money goes.

The Hole.

"....Then what the hell are you doing here?"

I was asked this question of a member of our armed forces just yesterday. When i told him what i did while i was in the service, his mouth dropped open and he surveyed my surroundings at work. We were far away from the closest thing resembling the F-18 Super Hornet that i used to work on and the kind of money that i used to make.

He had a look on his face that was filled with his own ensuing fears of leaving the service. I suppose he thought the rudimentary and useless training that he had received as a special weapons operator would suffice in the "real world."

Ha!

Our military is too large (don't get me started) to give our soldiers, Marines, Airman, and sailors the kind of training that they need to actually perform their job. Not only that, but veterans who think that they can waltz into public jobs with experience alone will suffer deeply. Members of our service are lucky to find a job when they exit the military, let alone in the same field, not counting commissioned officers who are actually trained properly. (Some pilots that i've spoken with aren't even licensed to fly by the FAA, and they will suffer the same fate).

Case in point: Myself. When i was in the service as an aircraft mechanic, i was told that the Navy would do what it could to get me my certification in Powerplants and Airframes. But they did nothing. The letters that i wrote and the certification that i fought for came to naught. And only after months of trying did the FAA recognize that i was eligible to begin their extensive examination. When i told my command this, they did absolutely nothing to help me prepare and once more, i had to scrape and fight and scour to find the right people. Even then, it was a disaster!

So after 8 years of extensive work with turbine engines and aircraft fuel systems, i have nothing more to show for it than a few worthless certificates that are only good if you are in the service. I couldn't get hired on as a mechanic unless i went through two more years of school for something that i have already done for almost a decade. Note: I was also a Quality Assurance Representative, aircraft operator, and a Collateral Duty Inspector for the aircraft's engine itself.

In the end, 90% of our honored soldiers can not even keep their heads afloat in today's world and more than half try to re-enter the only thing that gives them solace: The empires military.

Sure, our empire thoroughly abuses the military by shoving it up every countries backsides, but shouldn't the people who give their lives without pause receive something that will help them to transition back to the life of an earning civilian? It is after all, not the fault of the service member that he/she is being used to create hatred for the empire around the world.

"Just don't drive drunk..."

That was one of the replies i received while fuming about the ability of the police to force a suspected DUI to give a blood and urine sample.

....God...

It's not about drinking and driving. That's a no brainier. Just don't do it. But what happens when you pass the breath test and they STILL drag you to a hospital, strap you down, and FORCE a catheter into you and draw blood?

Don't think it's happening? Think again.

And don't fight them or try to explain yourself or become upset when they shove a catheter into you. If you do, you'll STILL be arrested for obstruction of justice.

God bless America! Land of the free, the brave, and unlimited power of the empire!

"But we need a big military to like, keep us safe..."

From what? All of the enemies that we've created by HAVING a huge military and policing the world with wanton power and demand?

What of Switzerland then? They are completely neutral and guess what? They're left alone! Well, i'll be damned!

Alas...had we only listened to Washington at his farewell address to the nation.

Just to keep things in perspective:
-There are 737 military bases in foreign countries alone. That is NOT counting the ones here in the US.

-The US Navy has 11 Aircraft carriers and 2 that are still being built.

-A single Aircraft Carrier roughly controls a slice of territory the size of California.

-We have NOT declared war since WWII, making every war since then UNCONSTITUTIONAL at best.

I want to cut myself off there before i begin a huge list of expenses and logistical nightmares. My experience is only with the navy and i could talk for hours about the staggering amounts of worthless money that it takes to keep just ONE aircraft Carrier afloat but i'll stop.

I do believe in a strong navy, though some might say that i'm biased. Perhaps i am. But i've seen the navy in action and there are excellent patrol and protect ships worthy of our money, but not the earthshaking amount that we have! Eleven aircraft carriers is expensive and insane! And aircraft carriers travel in packs, them taking the lead as Alpha and dozens of smaller ships as followers. They are never, EVER alone.

Want to keep us safe? Really? Here's the deal:

-Close almost all of the bases that we have around the world. Leave a few open, such as Guam, Hawaii (US territories ONLY) and close the rest. We do need some military, so keep a smaller army (wayyyy smaller), train them properly (that's a topic for another blog) and cut the navy down to a handful of ships.

"But what if people attack, and we are weak."

That's what the new, smaller navy would be for. Just a few aircraft carriers could defend not only the US, but all of our territories if need be. I believe in taking up arms to defend this country, but i don't believe in sticking our guns up other countries backsides and demanding that they be more like us.

It's just like having a boss that screams "You pricks are nothing without me!!! Hahahahahaha. You're wrong because you're not like me and i'll force you to change if i have to!!!"

But just like the boss theory, what if he stopped? What if the prick was silent and he returned to his office and spoke to you only when something was under negotiation or business was to be done? Few people if any would bum rush him in his office and cut off his head.

And so i end with the military should only be for defense. Not for the expansion of the empire.

"Why can't we just print more money and bring ourselves out of debt?"

This question was asked of me not that long ago. I remember it well as i was doing my best to explain the basics of Austrian economics and the failure of good ole' Lord Keynes. It was frustrating to say the least as the school system has me beat. They've been teaching Keynes for so long that his words are rooted into our system. And like a virus, his polices (vague and inept at best)have hijacked my fellow man and have apparently stopped rational thinking.

Trying to explain the system and how our money is backed by nothing more than hopes and dreams, is almost enough to make me want to spit blood. The truth is that only a handful of people (3 million or so) know that Keynes was WRONG.

But thankfully, after a few moments to compose myself, i was able to explain that if you give every person in the world a hundred thousand dollars that isn't backed by anything, then no one is really wealthier. We only dig ourselves further into our own hole. Just as in Idiocracy (which i HOPE isn't as accurate about our future as i think it is) where the smallest bills are 500000, that amount of money is virtually worthless. Unless you really want some of Carl's Jr. Extra Big Ass Tacos.

It was amazing to watch the transformation. In an instant, everything i had told her made sense. The next day, she told me of how she became involved and began to read up on Austrian economics. By the next week, she was also amazed by the ignorance of the common populous.

"No one has ever taught us Austrian economics before, or the faults of Keynes. But i'll be damned...it makes sense! So why do we keep doing this?"

I can't wait to see her reaction to how bubbles are created. I'll be sure to hold her hair back when she has to throw up.