06.08.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:56 pm by
Maintenance. It’s necessary to keep things going, usually. It’s something that drives me nuts when I have to try and convince a mechanic that “We really should do something before it breaks completely.” A while back I took the van we’d acquired to the shop. I asked the mechanic to change ALL THE HOSES AND BELTS UNDER THE HOOD. We’d no idea what maintenance (if any) had been done by the previous owner and I wanted to get the fragile stuff taken care of - so I wouldn’t end up stranded by a busted hose in the middle of nowhere - or rush hour traffic. The mechanic took a look and said “They look fine to me, don’t worry about it.” So I had him pull off one of the hoses and I squeezed it. Sure enough, it looked fine on the outside, but inside it was cracking and full of sediment. So he got to work. When I came back he assured me that “every hose has been changed.” Off I went. Sure enough, about a week later I was in a neighboring town - broke down because he’d NOT changed a hose on the back of the engine.
So what? Big deal! Well, yeah. BUT there’s a point to this rambling. Lives need maintenance. Marriages need maintenance. Nations need maintenance. If you don’t take care of the little things as they come along, you’ll end up with MAJOR problems down the road. Just like that two buck hose on the rear of the engine (what idiot engineer thought to put it there, out of site?) there can be problems brewing in our lives, marriages of nation that need attention NOW, before they get bad. But human nature being what it is (I keep meaning to procrastinate, but keep putting it off ’til tomorrow) we tend to put things off and wait, hoping that we can “just get along”.
Some folks get pretty doggone irritated at me for saying, “We must take care of issues NOW.” That’s fine. SOMEONE needs to voice things. We can pretend that every thing’s OK and muddle on, or we can take care of problems NOW. Issues like illegal immigration should have been cared for years ago. But we need to take care NOW. The Republican Party (”America’s Bastion of Conservatism”) has declined to the point where anyone can claim to be “conservative”, while voting for bigger government, higher taxes, murder of unborn babies and sodomite “marriage”. Sheeshkabob! Something’s wrong when members of both parties have near identical voting records. And we need to demand change NOW.
Why is there little positive change? Because folks are not demanding it. Well, folks WEREN’T demanding it. Today’s glad tidings that the Senate bill to reward law breaking foreign nationals within the United State’s borders shows what can be done - if enough folks scream for change.
Let’s overhaul our nation. Let’s do the maintenance necessary. We can change for the better - if we will but make the effort. Saying that things need taken care of is not bashing our land. Just as I liked the ol’ van when I took it in for maintenance I also love my land - even while calling for folks to get behind an effort to put things in order.
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Posted in Freedom at 5:24 pm by
Having been raised to answer for my actions and to be an honorable man I find it difficult to deal with a culture in which people are doubted. From early childhood we were taught that one is innocent until proven guilty, to give folks the benefit of the doubt. I can only imagine what was going through the minds of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America when they hammered out the United States Constitution. What outrages had they born that caused them to pen the Fourth and Fifth Amendments?
Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Those two amendments are beautiful They basically state that the government can’t push you around nor take what is yours “just because”. They presume innocence and demand that the government treat citizens with respect. The government is forced to gather evidence first and THEN make a search or arrest. They must establish “probable cause” rather than invade and look for evidence to charge someone.
Few folks in the US know what it means to be subject to search anywhere, anytime just because the police are looking “for something”. Few know the indignity of being presumed guilty until proven innocent, of your mere presence on a street being “probable cause” for a pat down. Let me tell you, it rankles. It rankles to have private property taken and held “until we can show there’s not a problem with it or you.” It rankles to be subjected to searches along the roads, in town or wherever the authorities choose to do so. And in the area we live, there’s nothing one can do about it.
That is why I thank God for the freedom I have in Christ. That’s why I agitate for freedom in my native land. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND why folks in the US simply don’t care that their airline baggage is subject to search and seizure of anything the airport authorities decide you can’t have - and all out of the sight of the public. Why is there no outrage that private individuals are allowed to paw through the belongings of the citizenry? Why have we sunk so low that we do not care that our constitution is violated time after time, day after day, all in the name of “security”. What a slap in the face to our forefathers that a third world nation where the concepts found in the fourth and fifth amendments of the US Constitution are unknown and folks are stopped and searched day in and day out has a far better system of searching airline baggage. They run the bag through the X-ray (just like in the US) and if there’s something they want to see closer or examine they have the owner of the bag unlock it, then they open it in his presence. It’s still not perfect, but it beats the current US aberration all to bits.
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Posted in Firearms, Freedom, Politics at 8:08 am by
I read somewhere (and don’t feel like looking it up right this minute) that a government that distrusts its citizens is not to be trusted. And indeed, why should we trust those who project their own selves onto us? For that is what it amounts to. Those who want to prohibit others from the use of firearms “because gunfights will break out in the streets” are projecting their own base selves upon men and women of honor who merely wish to have the ability to defend themselves from the violent people who infest society.
There are many things I do not understand. The idea that one may carry a weapon all over a state, but if one wishes to cross the border to a neighboring state the weapon must be unloaded and locked away is ridiculous. What is it about crossing a state line that will cause someone to suddenly have murderous urges? What is it about crossing a state line that will suddenly remove the danger from common criminals? Well, if you’re leaving California, New York, New Jersey or the Northern part of Illinois to a freer state you could argue that one is no longer in jeopardy - but those are states which limit or prohibit the carrying of weapons anyway!
Locally we have a problem in that certain officials have determined that merely utilizing a motorcycle for personal transportation will turn an otherwise law abiding citizen into a murderous maniac - and have declared that carry permits are null and void while transporting oneself upon a motorcycle. This is idiocy, to say the least. The process of obtaining a legal weapon here is such that one must come out squeaky clean in back ground checks run by the federal investigators and local police. After running such a check and obtaining the permission to carry a weapon for self defense, why should that right be denied simply because of the mode of transportation one uses? But then, in the US of A, we also prohibit folks from carrying the means of self defense while on certain modes of transportation, as if crossing a terminal’s entrance will have a sinister effect upon one’s personality, converting a law abiding citizen to a depraved assassin merely by entering into a hallowed sanctum such as an airport. And places like Virginia Tech which prohibit lawful carry of weapons seem to think that their decrees are enough to keep their students and faculty safe. Indeed they feel that “the pen is mightier than the sword” - and wrongly, as proven by the despicable acts performed on V-T’s campus in April of 2007. Their penned decrees did nothing to prevent the tragedy, and much to enable it by ensuring that those who possibly could have curtailed the murderous rampage were unable to do so - because only the law abiding will abide by such an asinine rule.
Indeed we should be suspicious of those who wish to “pull our teeth”. Why do they wish us disarmed? It’s CERTAINLY not for our own protection as proven day after day in city after city around the world. Those who are disarmed are easy prey for the violent. So if they don’t trust us, why should we trust them? We must push and fight to roll back the asinine laws which disarm the law-abiding. We must push for stiffer punishment of those who wreak havoc upon our land.
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06.07.07
Posted in Freedom, Politics at 4:55 pm by
A while back I found a site called Infidels Are Cool that is mainly (from what I’ve read so far) a site dedicated to keeping an eye on the problem of Islamic Jihad against those of us who are not muslim. Today I found an article there about the impact of illegal immigration. It is well written and I recommend you read it. A Message From A California School Teacher is the title of the article.
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Posted in Freedom, Politics, Religion at 4:41 pm by
Many e-mail lists and forums prohibit the discussion of religion and politics. There are various reasons for this, the main one being that they want to limit discussion to the subject matter at hand. Another reason is that there are few topics around that can be as inflammatory as religion and politics. Why? Because they both deal with ideas, the very core beliefs that fuel our being.
Many people are intimidated by the discussion of religion. Often because their own ideas on the matter are tenuously held. They believe something, very strongly, and yet are not sure why.  Often the reason is that they have inherited faith or belief. We see this a lot here. “I’m a Catholic because Mom was a Catholic, Grandma was a Catholic and Great Grandma was a Catholic. In fact, our whole family has been Catholics clear back to Adam!” Of course, there’s also a lot of Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and even Charismatics of all sorts who follow the same type of “reasoning”. This makes it difficult for people to discuss their ideas since their ideas are usually vague suspicions gathered from forced attendance at Mass or while sleeping through sermons.
The matter of politics is even more difficult. Folks tend to vote “Brand Name”. They are “Democrat”, “Republican” or some other label if they are in a country other than the US. They may (probably) not know what all their party stands for, but because “My papa told me to always vote for X or Y brand.” that’s good enough for them. Nor do they often pay attention to the voting record of their representative (whether Congressman, Mayor, Councilman, Senator or any other position). All to often folks have NO idea what their candidate will actually do once in office. Nor do they care enough to find out.
The big question is, how do you get folks to think? How do you get them to open up their idea box and use their reason? It’s not easy. Far easier to fall back on old ideas rather than to search for truth. Far easier to cop out with “There’s no alternative other than X or Y” than to actually seek out alternatives. One of the most difficult things around is to galvanize folks into action, to drive for change instead of the status quo. How to do this? I’m not sure. But if we DO “stir the pot” occasionally, perhaps folks will start thinking rather than feeling and learn to make wiser choices.
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