Here be monsters...

Nine Stories of Failed Currency

We are headed here.  Fast. President Bush started the ball rolling with the war spending and that was then exponentially increased by the Demolition-crats and the  RHINOS trying to appear all soft and fuzzy in the face of the coming elections. Elections which the Demolitions won and with the urging of POTUS-O have spent us into new, uncharted financial territory.

Explorers of old set out with NO idea where they were going and pretty certain that the world had an edge that they were going to fall off of, but still they pressed on.  Our leaders, with our permission, have set out on a similar journey, the difference being that we KNOW where this course is going to take us and we can SEE the edge of ruin that we are going to fall off of in short order.  Fiscal conservatism is gravely wounded and floundering under the weight of the masses who expect to have it all without the pain and effort of actual work and sacrifice that comes with any good reward worth having.

If we don't change our current course then we are going to totally weaken our economy to the point that the dollar is going to be devalued like those mentioned in the link. A wheelbarrow full of cash just to buy a soda.  Most people just tut-tut that idea as preposterous, but it's coming.  America is dying.  She can be saved, but we are going to have to pull together, suck it up, pay off our debts, and get back on the manufacturing band wagon and start making (and buying) our own goods again.  This is what grows our economy.  This is what makes us strong and able to move forward: self-sufficiency.

This means shrinking the Gov't and NO deficient spending. Not the people, not our government. This means that people are not only going to have to learn to live within their means, but also to learn to live with less.  We got along fine like that for years, but have gotten soft and think that we have to have it all. And now! And that everybody should make a million dollars doing it.  That is not a sustainable philosophy, however, and to continue in this line of thinking will lead us to destruction.

We can do this in a sustained and controlled manner and manage our futures, or it will be forced on us. And given the current state of our population centers people will starve and die as a result.  Physically starve and die.  People have little idea and NO skills to survive the manner that will be required if we plunge over the edge.  Ironically, it will be the same people who voted our current power structure into place.

I see a potential problem here...

There are going to be record numbers of people on hand for this "historic" moment.  I won't go down the obvious path on the care and feeding of racism here (Yeah, the President is of mixed race - get over it.) , but rather I see a potential problem for America.  A HUGE issue.

This crowd is going to be so large that it is going to be impossible to control or police.  And I don't say that because I expect rioting to breakout or people to behave badly.  But a crowd of that size, a city that full of people, a population so immense that it is not only impossible to control or police - is also going to be impossible to protect.

This has got to be a terrorists version of the perfect storm.  To set off a bomb at the Inauguration of PE Barack Obama would guarantee any terrorist of any stripe instant notoriety. A coordinated attack at multiple points around Washington DC would cause mass hysteria and potentially kill thousands of Americans if not tens of thousands. 

And God help us if that happens because the left wing pacifists who believe that they are in control of this country would do two things: First - Blame the Bush administration for not doing enough to protect the People. They would have "obviously known about it and kept it quiet".  The second is that they would do nothing.

Pray people. 

Pray.

On petty dreams and wishful thinking

Iraq may be stable, but the war was a mistake - Fukuyama

 

Ok, seriously, what the ...

 

Isn't that like saying, "Ok, the hungry are fed, but cooking dinner was a mistake."

The results of the war are undeniable.  The biggest issue now is on getting our troops out of Iraq while maintaining the stability that has been gained there.  Most of the violence is from factions that see us as an occupying force, which we are not.  We will leave that country in the hands of her countrymen; free to do as they wish.  No longer under tyrannical rule.  Perhaps that type of rule will return, but if the people can come together then they have a shot.

I realize that total freedom is as strange to these people as true oppression is to we Americans, an perhaps that is an impossible dream, their religion determining a large control on their lives.  However, I feel that a political model can be contrived that will allow all sides to be truly and equally represented and real voting and democracy can develop.

Mr. Fukuyama?  You have gotten it totally wrong and your piece is simply wishful thinking.  In reading between the lines, you would have had America and her people totally fail and be ridden over.  And to this undercurrent I say: never.

Why do we need leaders in government?

 

Tom Brokaw came aboard Monday's Late Show to promote his book, Boom! Voices of the Sixties: Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today, but soon chided David Letterman with some historical context after Letterman forwarded standard liberal claims about how the America of 2008 is in a “horrible” state thanks to the awful President George W. Bush, and when Letterman fretted about government inaction on global warming, Brokaw embarrassed the late night host by pointing out how he's a big carbon-producer since he drives a big vehicle and flies executive jets.
On the terrible state of the nation, Letterman contended “everything...has gone so lousy in the last eight years” so “things are horrible in ways they shouldn't be horrible.” Brokaw pointed to his book about 1968, and delivered a friendly lecture:

Let me remind you that forty years ago this year, Doctor King was killed, Bobby Kennedy was killed, we had the Chicago riots, 16,000 people were killed in Vietnam, Lyndon Johnson decided not to run for re-election, the Kerner Commission said we are two societies -- one white, one black, separate and unequal -- we had urban riots and in the fall we had as cantankerous and as contentious and in many way as mentally violent an election as we've ever had...

Similarly assuming the present is the worst ever, Letterman complained: “People are all talking about, 'okay we're going to change the emissions by 2035, by 2020.' That's too late. I mean, it's a hundred degrees now!” Letterman pleaded: “It's got to come from the government. They have to lead us.” Brokaw agreed, but then made the host uncomfortable:

BROKAW: The government has to lead and those of us who drive -- uhh uhh -- big carbon-emitting vehicles or fly in airplanes that have only two passengers on them-

LETTERMAN: Alright, alright, that's fine Tom.

NewsBusters.org | Exposing Liberal Media Bias

The above is from Newsbusters.org about a back and fourth between Tom Brokaw and David Letterman.  And while I like what Tom Brokaw had to say ( I really don't know about his politics, but this was fine), but it was Letterman's comment that really stuck in my mind:

Letterman pleaded: “It's got to come from the government. They have to lead us.”

They do?  Why?  Are we not capable of making our own decisions?  Are we not adults?  Are we going to destroy our lives if we are not told what to do, when to do it and how to go about doing it?

That is ludicrous!  The whole American Dream and History of these United States are littered with free thinkers and those who dared to implement what they dreamt.

The Government is there because of US, The People, to represent US, The People, to put forth our thoughts, dreams, desires and to facilitate the running of the country.  Not to run the country.  Not to lead the people.

It is a Government OF the People, BY the People, FOR the People.  Any other way is to destroy America as we know it.  Socialism in any way shape or form will destroy us.

 

"Democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions -

it only guarantees equality of opportunity."

- Irving Kristol (1920-)

Working on Sunday

It is a very strange feeling to be in the lab on Sunday.  Appeasing the time off gods after my vacation and trying to get everything caught up before I leave again on Tuesday Evening.

I remember when I was a little kid, nothing was open or even  moved on Sundays.  You went to church, home and ate dinner, then puttered around the house doing not much.  Pop would read the paper, then work in the garage, the yard or his gun room depending on the time of year.  Ma would do some light cleaning, then usually sew or help Dad with whatever.  They usually seemed to spend Sundays in close proximity.  If the weather was especially nice we would "go for a drive".  Set out with no particular goal in mind and just see where the day took us. We didn't have television and all was right with the world.

I don't really remember when things changed.  I think it was a slow, subtle change that snuck up on us.  I think it was when we got our first "discount" store: Gibson's.  Or perhaps it was the 7-11.  I think the truck-stop was always open, but it wasn't a place that we ever went to as I recall.

But things did change and pretty soon everything was open on Sunday, and staying open later in the evenings.  And this has been true of every "city" that I have lived in.  The exception to this was the small towns that we lived in.  They were closed by 5 PM every day and totally closed on Sunday.  And this is how it should be.

The parks were full on the nice days, whole families took walks when the cool of the evening rolled around.  People did watch TV all day if the weather was bad, but that was rare.  Extended families got together and talked, sang, and played games.  This doesn't happen in the cities too much anymore.  There is simply too much to do!

I don't think I am a fan of what used to be called the "blue laws" but I would love to see a slight return to the simpler times when owners of stores lived in the towns that they served and stayed closed one day of the week.  If not out of reverence to God and His Word, then simply as a day of rest and family.  If you had a serious emergency and needed a major plumbing component or something, you could call them and they were happy to meet you at the store or would bring it by the house and see if you needed help fixing whatever broke.

I miss the "good old days" and I am sure that they were not as golden as shine in my memory, but they were simpler, happier times. 

The only thing I have today that resembles those days is that we still don't have a television set that gets more than one channel.

Kicking it all off by waxing political.

As a man just starting into middle-age, many things are suddenly starting to make some sense to me and other things are starting making me go, "Huh?" We will explore the meanderings of my mind on many issues that face America today from the viewpoint of an average American. You might agree, you may not; but that is what makes this such a great country. I will listen and consider any opinion as long as it is well thought out and not just soundbites being parroted around. I am willing to learn, but I am fairly set in my ways and my mind will be hard to change. I also do not take spelling and grammar into consideration as these were never my strong suit.

On with the show...

Politics have always made me go,"Huh?" But suddenly (well, over the past ten years or so) I have started to pay attention, read and learn, develop my opinions on several issues. After all, truth is often subjective to a point and opinion is the main guiding factor for our mindset and that on which we base our lives.

I tend to identify mostly with the Republican party in the sense that I am a fiscal and social conservative for the most part. But with the way the GOP has been wobbling around all over the idealogical map, I could almost be considered a Libertarian as I will not sacrifice my ideals and principals just to follow a bunch of people who tend to follow polls that are fuzzy science at best.

I support our President for the most part, but find myself separating from him on many issues: immigration, education, and the war to name a few.

I have supported the war in Iraq since its inception and will always support our troops; but I feel that we are now done there. Having family and friends who are serving there right now and given what they are saying about the war indicate, to me, that we should start a "Phase II" to the liberation of Iraq. Let's pull back to Kuwait or Saudi Arabia and train the Iraqi forces and then arm them (this will eventually bite us in the butt, but that is for another time) and send them back home to deal with the insurgents. We will still have troops in the area if needed and could even patrol the boarders to help keep foreign fighters and weapons out of the country. Then the bulk of the troops could go into Afghanistan and re-suppress the Taliban and perhaps flush Bin Laden out of Pakistan; with or without their permission. I do not claim to be the smartest man in the world (Joe Average) and I can not be the only person to have thought of this line of action.

I do applaud President Bush for holding to his beliefs and sticking to his guns this far. I will always feel that we have done the right thing in this regard. The Liberals (can't say Democrats, because they don't all feel the same) will put our troops, the Iraqi people, and our country in danger if they put a time line or budget restrictions on the Iraqi war. And that is a very slippery slope that we can not afford to approach.