Government

   Here is a universal and intrinsic truth about Government, any and all Governments. Government is a political instrument, and as such can only made political decisions. That is, if you invest your personal healthcare to the Government, the Government can only make political decisions concerning your personal healthcare. The result being, Government cannot make personal healthcare decisions for you, only you can make personal decisions concerning your healthcare. For example, your country has only a Government run healthcare system to care for you, and you are now at an advanced age and have prostate cancer. You make a personal decision you want to live as long as you can and request prostate surgery to remove the cancer. The Government makes a political decision, based on actuary charts, that you have already lived a full life and the limited healthcare resources available will be better served reserved for younger citizens who have not yet lived a full life.
    I could make the same case for the situation where you make the Government responsible for your eventual retirement security. What's that you say? We should TRUST our Government to do the right thing for us. Really? TRUST the Government? Ask any American Indian tribe how that works out.

Hoping

There are many nowadays who treat the country like the person who treats the airline when they board an aircraft for a flight and hoping the airplane crashes so they can prove the pilot is incompetent.

Blow Hard

It's time to award the all time "Senator Blow Hard Trophy" to Senator Linsey Graham, R- SC, and Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. An award richly deserved and long overdue.

Covid-19

I believe we have a perfectly good example of socialism in action during our current Covid-19 pandemic, right here in the good old US of A. What I’m referring to here is the massive bureaucracies that already exist in the USA that could, and will, sustain socialism and Statism, should that day ever come for the USA. Our bureaucracies have gotten bigger and more powerful as time rolls by regardless of the political party in power, i.e., they seem to have a life of their own. As I have said before, “Even the powerful Roman dictator Julius Caesar could not overcome the Roman bureaucracy”, and was done in by that bureaucracy and eventually caused Caesar to be done in and killed. Our current burgeoning USA bureaucracies, that more and more rules our lives, and the land, have shown in practice what a “top-down” control and centralize Government really means, in particular with regards to the Covid-19 emergency.

First let us stipulate a common truth about any bureaucracy, i.e., bureaucracies first order of business is to ensure that their power is maintained and constantly expanded at all times. With this in mind, the current FDA (Federal Drug Administration),  CDC (Centers for Disease Control), and HHS (Health and Human Services) are all demanding that in this Covid-19 crisis, any treatment must first be approved by their respective bureaucracy before a practicing Physician can prescribe and treat patients with the Covis-19 disease. This is bureaucracy in action, regardless of the noble cause. (Evil is never done in the name of evil, it is always done in the name of public good and righteousness).


It has been said that war is much too important to be left to the Generals, I can also say that Public Health is much too important to be left to the public heath Generals. To wit, If we let the public heath Generals have their way, we would all be forced to live in a sterile bubble and the entire population would be subject to endless “clinical trials” so that they (Public Health Generals) could generate more and more data in order to construct more and more models, ad infinitum. For our own good, of course.

Which leads us to one practicing Doctor of Medicine, Dr. Vladimir Zelenko. Dr. Zelenko has been successfully treating hundreds and hundreds of Covid-19 patients with a cocktail of unapproved medicines for that purpose, i.e., Hydroxychloroquine 200 mg, Azithromycin 500 mg, and Zink Sulfate 220mg. This saving of life and misery from the Covid-19 disease has drawn condemnation from the above health bureaucracies Generals because his successful treatment regimen has not been approved. And before such a treatment can be approved, many structured trials must be performed (maintaining bureaucracy power) before that day can arrive. And indeed, the good Doctor is now under official investigation for a laundry list of related and unrelated possible offensives by other bureaucracies to ensure punishment is administered to anyone who would dare to disregard the edicts of a powerful sister bureaucracy.   

Need I say more?     

Hanging Out

We are all Hanging Out,  just waiting for that Herd Immunity to kick in.

For God's Ears Only

You make the call. In the 1920s USSR, a Tanya Khodkevich wrote, "You can pray freely, but just so God alone can hear." For that verse, Tanya got 10 years in the Gulag. In the 2000s USA, you may not yet get 10 years of prison time for praying to God out loud, but the force of law makes it increasing clear, you can pray freely, but so only God can hear. Where are we headed with this? You make the call.

War Nuevo

Its possible that a diabolical Chinese Government could take down the world's greatest economy without firing a single shot.

Perfection

People, People, People. Perfection is the enemy of Good. And my good dogmatic friends, and good stringent folks,  perfection is a subjective enterprise.

Say That Again

You do understand that the person investing your money is called a BROKER.

Growing Old Gracefully

My eyes no longer widen in wonder when something splendid happens my way, nor do they narrow in pain when sorrow blocks my path. I no longer lean forward into the task, and take no pleasure from a challenge mastered.

I rest easily even though great mysteries remain to be solved, and I fatigue too quickly when pompous words ring in my ears. My resolved has been hobbled by the three stages of indecision, Could Have, Would Have, and Should Have, and satisfaction is no longer a condition for contentment.

Excitement and rest have now become equal in importance and closely watched rituals now earn a nonchalant hand. Earnest gossip and sage advise are both received with equal enthusiasm, and a mind-numbing throb results when intrigue comes calling.

The only thing that has never diminished, even though the sprit weakens, is my love for family and dear friends. So the day will come when my life’s torch will flicker and die, and on that day, I will say, Its been quite a ride, and oh yes, a splendacious dance of edges and curves. And my profound thanks to the gracious being that made such a life possible.

Rest in peace, Ronald Russell.

HORN HONKING

 If You Love Peace & Quiet, Honk Your Horn

I am as guilty as anyone else when it comes to taking note of what we consider negative things or trends while ignoring the many positive things that constantly surrounds us. Indeed, if one reads all that I have written lately, the conclusion would certainly be that I only feel compelled to give voice to things that I consider wrong or at least, not correct. Sadly, I can say that upon rereading my stuff, few words can be found that point out what is going well with the world, only wording that promotes concern and worry. Perhaps the reason for this imbalance is that I am only running the master DNA program that God, or Mother nature if you prefer, programmed into all of us standard Mark 1, Mod 0 human type people, i.e., we have a survival instinct that is inherent to us all and this programmed instinct causes us to focus on negative things more than positive things so that we can consolidate our actions to prevent circumstances from disturbing our well-being, or worse still, cause our ruin.

Well, that my ten-cent theory, if you have a better one, I would like to hear about it. One thing I know for certain is that how we look at things to determine if they are positive or negative depends in large measure upon our perspective and our perspective is a result of our respective life experiences to date. For example, my Grandfather had a sign over his desk that he would always point to when I complained about a perceived injustice or that everyone always seemed to have more desirable stuff than I had. The sign read:

“I complained I had no shoes to wear until I saw a man with no feet.”

I think that old sign sums up the perspective thing rather nicely. I can also remember how my Grandmother once told me how wonderful things had gotten during her lifetime (circa 1887-1954). She said the most important improvement was that people are so much better looking now than in her day because modern faces are no longer being scared by the Pox and everyone was more graceful because contemporary people were no longer being broken by hard physical labor. I know about the hard physical labor thing because labor killed my Stepmother’s Father before he could reach 50 years. His premature death was a result of the hard physical labor required of him by being a laborer in the Stone Quarries of Bedford Indiana and he was done in before disease and other age related infirmities could take their due.

 My own personal perspective about things like this is that I can remember winters in Indianapolis when the primary heating for residents was coal fired stoves and the like. The coal burning produced black soot that fell from the smoke stacks and covered everything and everyone so that just staying clean and breathing was a full time job. With this coal soot perspective in mind, it’s understandable why someone like me would find it difficult to get all excited when the Penthouse Environmentalists* tell us that we must continuously do more and more to help Mother Earth get back to a pristine state of cleanliness or we all are gonna die while gasping for breath in polluted air that will not sustain life worth living. So when a contemporary person’s perspective about air quality is that today’s air is dirty, it is because they have been repeatedly told that the air is indeed dirty and needs to be made completely void of man’s byproducts in order to arrive at the final desired state of cleanliness.

Of course my perspective about today’s air is that the air is wonderful compared to what I lived in during my younger days when we had soot, sulfur, and God only knows what, to breathe. My perspective about clean air causes me to be concerned about the necessity of wrecking our economy and jobs to arrive at an unreachable and mostly academic notion of clean air when today’s air, while not perfect and can always be prudently improved, is a remarkable improvement over what was before. As a matter of fact, I am thankful that the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) was created and is responsible for the wonderful air we have today. Here is the problem. Once an Agency is created and the bureaucrats are entrenched, they must continuously expand their reach and authority in order to remain viable.

This means that the air will never be clean enough, the water will never be clear enough and the environment will never be pristine enough. So how do we determine when enough is enough of a good thing? Therein lies the dilemma is being positive or negative. In any event, young people have no idea what a blessing modern life is today and the idealistic notion that we need to get to a more natural state of living is naivety at its grandest folly. I just wonder when today’s youth grow up to become old geezers like me, will their perspective be that their modern lives are much better than when they were young? I hope so. However, I’m afraid they too will be mostly negative about things because they also want things to continuously improve just like those who proceeded them and that requires that we be mostly negative. So keep on honking those horns for peace and quiet, it’s really not as illogical as it sounds. 

* Penthouse Environmentalists.

Those well meaning, but out of touch souls, who bang on Teflon covered pots and stainless steel pans about the necessity of saving Mother Earth from the evil humans. They have actually persuaded the ideologues in the Environmental Protection Agency to rule that the exhaled breath of animals, which includes humans, is a pollutant. I kid you not. All plant life will also be surprised at the news that CO2 is a pollutant, because CO2 is the building block for all things green. After a hard day’s work saving Mother Earth from all things human, the Penthouse Environmentalists climb into their Beamers to go home to their electrically wired, air-conditioned and WiFied Condos, and feel really, really good.

SOCIALISM'S LEGACY

Or How Socialism

Makes a Famine Where Abundance Lies

Trump A Dem?

Apparently, the Dems must believe that President Trump is a closet Dem because they keep blaming him for doing what the Dems do routinely. Who Knew?

VESTING

We Can't Win At The Ballot Box

You say you want to cut Big Government down to size and regain our freedoms by using the ballot box? Good luck with that. It can’t be done and here is the reason why. VESTING. 

That’s right fellow citizens, VESTING. What is vesting? Vesting is when you invest your money, time or other good and valuable resources into a program and then expect a return on your investment.

 Let me give you a real life example of how our elected Government uses Vesting as an insidious device to perpetuate and expand power by creating basically social programs that cannot ever be stopped or curtailed because of vesting. Let’s take Social Security as an example and here is how it works. You start a safety net program for old age and pass a law that says you must participate in the program by paying taxes to support the program. Viola, you are now part of the program and you can’t get out without losing all of the money you have paid in even if you could.

 After time passes you realize that you have paid a great deal of money into the system and you then demand that the program be continued in order that you receive your fair share of what you have invested into the system. In short, you have become VESTED regardless if you wanted to be or not, and the program can never, never ever, be terminated because the citizens have become VESTED in the program.

 It only gets better. The Government keeps on expanding the program (Social Security) into other areas and forces you to pay more taxes because you can’t or won’t get out of the program due to VESTING. I bet most people don’t realize that Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, Aid to Dependant Children, etc. were all enacted under the Social Security Act. Insidious because those who don't even pay into the system are now VESTED. Now multiply all of the others program that use vesting to perpetuate themselves and you have a situation where the citizens of this country will never allow anyone to stop these programs because of VESTING.

 For these programs to be fair, they should include an “Op In” clause so that if you want the Government to run your healthcare or retirement, then you must Op In into the program and only you and others who Op In to pay the taxes to support the program. I am now laughing out loud! You should live so long. I’m sorry Brothers and Sisters, you can’t fix our Big Government via the ballot box, our big Government was designed to be unstoppable.
FDR quote upon signing the Social Security Act:
“I guess you’re right on the economics. They are politics all the way through. We put those pay roll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and their unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program. Those taxes aren’t a matter of economics, they’re straight politics.”

The Road To Hell

It may be true that the road to hell is paved with good intentions;
It may be true that the freeway to tyranny is also paved with good intentions.
Or as someone much smarter than me said:
"A society that puts equality (in the sense of equality of outcome) ((social justice)), ahead of freedom, will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use it to promote their own interests."
Milton Friedman

Socialism

Socialism and Flim Flam

   One of the most enduring mysteries is how Socialism continues to maintain a viable political position in the modern world. I say that because history has clearly shown us that all of the variants of Socialism, that have been practiced throughout human history, has been an unmitigated disaster for every class of Human on this Planet, save one. And the one class of people who exclusively benefits from the practice of Socialism is the establishment Ruling Class.

   You know, the establishment ruling class that could even take down the dictator Caesar back in the days of Roman power. So, the question is, how does the establishment ruling class benefit from the establishment of socialism in any of its many forms and variants? The short answer is, POWER.

   The reason the establishment ruling class finds Socialism so attractive is because it is the preferred political vehicle to obtain and practice unlimited POWER with the consent and approval of the people. And when Socialism is put into practice, it becomes a Tyranny, vested not in a single person, but with consent of the people by virtue of the establishment ruling class incorporating Statism as the necessary operational paradigm to force compliance by the people.

   There is little value in discussing why freedom loving Humans find obtaining POWER and using POWER more additive than gold had over Midas. Obtaining and exercising POWER is a means to many ends, most to the disadvantage of others. It is a sad statement to make, but history has also shown that the most educated often use their superior knowledge to obtain and exercise POWER over others. Perhaps we should never elect those with the most education and knowledge to positions of power. Oh well, that is another subject for another day. Enough said.

   So, you would think today's educated and free citizens would never embrace Socialism’s top down “Command and Control” government over Capitalism’s bottom up “Freedom and Liberty” laissez-faire  

Government. Au contraire mon frère!

    Most of todays inexperienced, and privileged youth are embracing Socialism today because of the ubiquitous indoctrination by our institutions of learning, even onto the primary and secondary education. It appears that those who manage and operate our educational system has been indoctrinating our youth that Socialism is the enlightened way for Human social conduct. They do this while teaching Capitalism is an evil and corrupt system that enslaves freedom loving people to work and toil for “The Man” in order for the rich to maintain their privileged and wealthy lives at the expense of the people.

   Other people who are responding positively to Socialism's siren call, are the well-meaning, but naive people, who have obtained a burgeoning altruistic streak enabled by a comfortable life brought about by the enduring success of Capitalism, free markets and the American way. They naively believe that their hard-earned comfortable life should be further paid for by sharing their good fortune with those who have less. And even more importantly, to support their altruistic feelings, they also insist that other people must be forced by government to share their earned wealth and freedom with all those who have less, regardless of circumstance.

   And then we have those who embrace Socialism because it's promise that they will enjoy all of society’s blessings by forcing those who have earned their way to happiness to forcibly share their earned wealth, property, individual freedom to all, regardless of circumstance. That is, they who have not earned free society’s blessings will now be able to equally share society’s blessings regardless of station, circumstance or earned right. These supporters of Socialism are the most strident of all because they are victims of the ancient practice of Flim Flam. That’s correct. Flim Flam is the operational paradigm used by the establishment ruling class to ensnare dishonest and gullible people into socialism.

    How so, you may ask. Flim Flam is the nonsensical use of words to promote one’s objective, and more importantly, it is a form of trickery to mislead people into believing that they will gain something of value without earning it. Or in advertising parlance, “We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you.”

   In socialism parlance, it is the Flim Flammer promise, that by embracing Socialism, the people will all finally usher in and experience the illusive social UTOPIA. You know, the UTOPIA where all are equal in all of human endeavors and equally blessed by society. That’s correct, like the UTOPIA that was brought about by the New Harmony and other UTOPIA experiments that always fail.

   And most importantly, the Flim Flam promise that all will gain free society’s blessings by not having to earn them but because they have a POLITICAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to all of free society’s blessings. Unfortunately, the establishment ruling class never explains to the people that socialism will mean that individual freedom and liberty will be required to be sacrificed in order for the promised Socialism UTOPIA to become viable.

    It is truly sad that Flim Flam only works because there are always dishonest people willing to believe in the promise by those practicing Flim Flam (Socialist and Opportunists) that you can get something for nothing. In other words, Socialists promise that you do not have to earn your way to prosperity, all you have to do is support your Socialist Government to force people who have earned their prosperity to share that prosperity with you. The old turn of the century saying, “You can’t cheat an honest man,” applies here. This is also, in essence, the same message of dishonest advertising that says "We cheat the other guy, and pass the savings on to you."

   If you think I'm off base here, well then, just listen to and marvel at the support Bernie Sanders and the burgeoning class of Democratic Socialists that are now embracing  Socialism as preferred government for the people.

Taxes

TAXES ARE POWER

If you never understand another thing while living and dying in the land of the free and home of the brave, this is it, TAXES ARE POWER, i.e., more taxes equals more power, less taxes equals less power.

Why, Why, Why? 

Why do they put rear pockets on women’s jeans? Why does my brother do a comb-over? Why does our Government think it can pay off a credit card with a credit card? Why did God put all of that easy to get oil in the Middle East? Why does gray hair look awful on a woman but great on a man? Why is it that only bellies and ears get larger with a man’s age? Why did Osama bin Laden smile when he said that all Infidels must die? Why be a dirty old man when you can’t do anything about it? Why do women’s breasts succumb to gravity while their butts seem to defy gravity? Why doesn’t hair on your arm grow longer? Why are black people called African Americans but white people aren’t called English, French, German, Irish, Indian, Italian, et all Americans? Why does my Sunday Newspaper contain 90% ads and 10% news mostly gathered by outside sources? Why is my Newspaper known as a Newspaper? Why are the chairs called Lazy Boys when nothing but Lazy Men buy them? Why are they allowed to advertise “Free” with purchase? Why can only white people be racists? Why do Brides smile so broadly when they say, “I do” while Grooms have a vacant, almost innocent look on their faces? Why are prisons called “Correctional Facilities?” Why do I fall asleep watching television? Why is it called he Democratic Party? Why do small children and old men keep asking why? Why do Politicians swear an oath? Why does Dolly Parton seem so different? Why does Hip Hop produce a mind-numbing throb? Why is it called Social Security? Why are women generally referred to as “Ladies?” Why aren’t men generally referred to as “Gentlemen?” Why do all of the really smart people live in Hollywood? Why is it called investing? Why do little-old people buy really big automobiles? Why is it called the “Armed Services?” Why are most Lawyers rich? Why did they put the pointy ends on a football? Why do they build Churches so big? Why did the great scientist Albert Einstein believe in God? Why do they build local Schools so big? Why does beer make you fart but wine doesn’t? Why do new cars go 120 mph? Why do Thongs cost more than Mumus? Why do they pass the plate before rather than after the sermon? Why does my childhood house seem so small now? Why do I have an urge to say, “Have a Nice Day”, to strangers? Why does “thinking outside the box” only works for others? Why is it when I have a 50/50 chance of being right, I’m always wrong? Why does a long line (queue) move faster than a short line? Why does it require force to produce good change but bad change is spontaneous? Why do I become frightened when a woman says “Fine?” Why do men try to understand women? Why don’t women want to understand men?  Why are some people color-blind to the red color of stop sighs? Why do old people think Perry Como is the greatest singer of all time? Why won’t grocery carts go in a straight line? Why does too much sleep make you tired? Why do women wear bras? Why do men wear really big belt buckles? Why are gay people really not gay? Why does the phrase “Oh, By the Way” is cause for a cardiac arrest? 

President Lincoln and Today

Annual Message to Congress --
Concluding Remarks

Washington, D.C.
December 1, 1862

"Will not the good people respond to a united, and earnest appeal from us? Can we, can they, by any other means, so certainly, or so speedily, assure these vital objects? We can succeed only by concert. It is not "can any of us imagine better?" but, "can we all do better?" The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."

Socialism

You load sixteen tons and what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the GOVERMENT store.

War and Peace

"Si vis pacem, para bellum."
(If you seek peace, prepare for war.)

Robots, Automation, Computers and the Working Humans

The Coming Age Of The BORG

The Ballad of John Henry, Steel Driving Man

John Henry was hammering on the right side,
The big stream drill on the left,
Before that steam drill could beat him down,
He hammered his fool self to death.

   Who among us could not feel a grudging kinship with the Steel Driving Man, you know, fighting the inevitable with spirit even though the outcome was as certain as death and taxes? Besides, who could feel the slightest affinity for that big mechanical steam drill that was taking a man’s livelihood away and all for the sake of the dollar that some faraway good-smelling Dude laid down so he could make even more dollars without breaking one iota of steel driving sweat.
We all may crack an amused smile at the thought of a real live man actually challenging a steam machine to a steel-driving contest with only his muscle, grit and determination to match the power of steam. We smile, of course, because of the foolish nature of the contest. But then again, I wonder what most contemporary people were thinking and feeling at the time when in 1997 they witnessed a more recent contest between a real live man (Garry Kasparov) challenging a thinking contest with only his brain, grit and determination matched up with the power of billions and billions of silicon switches fastened together with the lifeless software of the chess-playing computer, Deep Blue?
     Somehow I think we probably feel a little differently about the thinking contest due to the contemporary and cognitive nature of the contest. But, I don’t know why! The two contests are identical and the outcomes just as inevitable! Perhaps we don’t even think the chess match was a foolish contest because of the notion that the magnificent organic thinking machine, the human brain, is surely the ultimate cognitive device that no mere machine could ever match. The human brain will surely prevail for all times just like John Henry thought his muscles could surely prevail over the mighty mechanical steam drill even though we now concede our magnificent muscles are no match for lifeless machine power.
   Here is a thought to muss up your day when trying to decide what to do about being outsourced by the machines of automation and all because some faraway good-smelling Dudes are still trying to make more money without breaking a contemporary sweat. John Henry and Garry Kasparov are not the only contestants in a continuing struggle between man and machine that started when Gorg rubbed two sticks together to make fire. We all are front and center in the enduring contest and so will all of our progeny. Research shows that we are loosing far more contemporary jobs to automation than jobs that are lost to distant lands where labor is cheaper and more abundant. Indeed, one of the biggest loss of jobs today is due customer outsourcing.
   What that’s you say? What is customer outsourcing?
    Customer outsourcing is transferring a job that was once done by a paid employee to a paying customer instead. Here is just one minor scenario of customer outsourcing. You drive your rattletrap Chevy to the local gas station emporium where you get out of your seat, pop in and quickly remove your Master Card or Visa (a lot of lost jobs of people taking money, counting money, bookkeeping, accounting, depositing, etc.) and wait for the computer screen to instruct you to continue. After being authorized by a great big computer somewhere that is connected by satellites, relays and God only knows what, lift the pump-handle and pump your gas (more lost jobs of gas attendants). Hell, I’m even checking myself out at the local Wally World and Home Depot and buying stuff off of the Internet by clicking a mouse and causing a massive whirling of untold computers that fetch my latest Ronco gadget, package and ship it without a single paid employee in sight.
   All of this is made possible by technology and (oh no Mr. Bill!) Machines. Because this is a continuing process, it is less noticeable in our everyday, put the meat-on-the-table lives. For example, before the industrial revolution, well over 50% of all people in the country was working on farms while today we produce all of our food needs by less than 1% of the population, i.e., million and millions of jobs lost to machines and we rarely think about the farm job losses as we rant about all of our current jobs going to China, India and machines.
  And the non-physical jobs like engineering, accounting, marketing, research are also being outsourced to machines and cheaper labor, so no one is immune to job loss except the rich (that is if you believe making money off of money constitutes a job).
   I think you get the picture and if you get the picture then you know that contemporary job losses will continue on at an ever-accelerating rate and due mostly to automation (machines). What to do? Hell, I don’t know either but I do know that at some distant point in the future the Cyborgs will have all of the jobs and I really don’t know how humans will make a living. That’s right John Henry:
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE,
YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED

FASHION

I am a slave to fashion. My wardrobe adheres to the strict dictates of that Fashion Maven, Monsieur LIFO (Last In First Out).

Urban versus Country

Urban Fortification of Socialism

2000 Census Population Density USA Today 2004 Election Red/Blue Map

I invite you to look very closely at the above two maps. They are profound in their similarity. The left map is the official 2000 Census Population Density Map where the red color indicates where the highest population density is located. Of course, the concentration of red also indicates where the great cities are due to the greater population within the respective counties and so clearly indicates where the great urban centers are located. The map on the right is the USA Today 2004 election results, also down to the county level. Red represents Republican votes and in general indicates a more conservative political area. The Blue represents Democratic votes and in general indicates a more liberal political area. Now, try to overlay each map in your mind. I think you will find that the red high-density areas (urban areas) on the population density map closely correspond to the democratic, or politically liberal, areas of the 2004 red/blue map. The political importance of these maps is profound in that it clearly shows that the urbanization of America is providing an irresistible fortification of socialistic tendencies due to liberal or “progressive” thought within the body politic by virtue of the greater population and thus greater political power of the urban areas. Indeed, those who demand that the US Constitution be treated as a “living document” to support progressive or socialist dogma may well have a viable argument due to the phenomena of urbanization. Think about it. The country was mostly rural when the Constitution was ratified, and rural living peoples are very self-sufficient and fearlessly independent. The Constitution, in general, codifies self-sufficiency and independence of the individual as a way to ensure personal liberty and thus prevent tyranny from gaining a foothold in Government. When people congregate into urban areas, dependence upon one another is more important than self-sufficiency, and personal independence must be moderated in order to foster social conditions that will enhance the opportunity for all to live in peace and harmony with one another. In other words, urban living promotes a more socialistic environment by the necessity of interdependence, not independence, of city dwellers. This socialistic force due to urbanization is irresistible much like a trade wind that blows due to environmental factors, i.e., a socialistic wind is blowing due to urbanization factors, and it will continue to blow stronger and stronger unless a way is found to reverse urbanization, and that is not likely. Indeed, the census bureau reports that the 2000 census indicated that 81% of America’s population is now living within urban areas while the remaining 19% of the population is living in the rural areas of the country. But wait, there’s more. Just this week the United Nations announced that the World population is now 50% rural and 50% urban. What does it mean? Every good sailor will tell you that it is folly to try and change the wind because the wind will blow to wherever the wind will blow. Every good sailor will also tell you that you can set your sail to the wind and go to where you want to go regardless of the way the wind blows. Somehow, we must find a way to maintain personal freedom and liberty within a more and more socialistic environment that the urbanization of America is causing. It’s time for the intellectual sailors of this country to set freedom’s sail to the prevailing socialist wind so that personal liberty will still be the destination of our progeny.

From The Mouths of Babes

The teacher asked my grandson in kindergarten,
"Describe your Grandmother and Grandfather."
Grandson replied,
"Grandma makes cookies, Grandpa fixes things."
Enough said.

Cicero and Trump

From the Treatise on the Laws, by Marcus Cicero (58 BC) could well have been describing today's President Trump, to wit:
"His energy was indeed somewhat rude and rough, without polish or point, but he did what he could to recommend a manly and truthful eloquence."

Old Age

We shall fight old age in the fairways and on the greens, we shall resist failing abilities with a stiff shot of courage, we shall ignore the end of our days by loving our family and friends with vigor, and we shall give a finger to all things stupid and ugly.
I’m just saying.

Draining The Swamp

The 17th Amendment to the Constitution is the germ that has infected our Democratic Republic and created the swamp. The only way the swamp can be drained is to enact the below propose 28th Amendment. By enacting this Amendment, the drain plug can be pulled that will enable the swanp to be effectively drained.

 

AMENDMENT XXVIII

                                                            (Proposed)

Section 1. The seventeenth and twenty-seventh articles of amendment to the Constitution of the United States are hereby repealed in their entirety.

Section 2. Senators appointed by their respective State Legislature to the Congress shall be compensated exclusively by the State Legislature that appointed them for all expenses and wages associated with the execution of their appointed office. Acceptance of any compensation or gift whatsoever by the Senator from any source other than from the appointing State Legislature shall be cause for immediate removal from office.

Section 3. Representatives elected to the Congress shall be compensated exclusively by the Congressional District from which they were elected for all expenses and wages associated with the execution of their elected office.  Acceptance of any compensation or gift whatsoever by the Representative from any source other than the electing Congressional District shall be cause for immediate removal from office.  Elected Representatives may serve a maximum of three terms.

Reality

“We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”

― Winston Churchill

Wigs

Its time for the Republican Party to be retired as the Wigs were some time ago and let the Republican professional politicians (RINOs) join the Democrats where they will be welcomed.

Swamp Politics

An election was held, people voted, the Republicans won everything, promised big change, the result being the Democrats and ruling class are still in charge.

American Socialism

The slow decline of American exceptionalism into the abyss of socialism continues unabated since FDR started his Social Security program. Obamacare and the "Me Too" Republican Obamacare lite is just another step towards the abyss.

Obamacare

The plight of today’s Obamacare harkens me back to the day when there were public pay toilets. There was a pitiful refrain after one put their money into the door of the toilet and set down to get one’s money worth. Perhaps a word could be changed in the old refrain to match today’s Obamacare, but the sentiment is still spot on. That old refrain goes like this, “Here I sit all brokenhearted, paid to poop but only farted.”  

Rocks In Trees

Ronald L Clark is pleased to announce that his 5th book has been published and is available world wide in all book stores and of course from Amazon and Barns & Noble. However, for quick response, and as a favor to the author, you are encouraged to buy directly from the publisher. The link to do so is provided below:

http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-001113647/Rocks-in-Trees.aspx 

Election 2016

Perhaps, I'm just saying, Trump was not elected to unify the country. He was instead, elected to do war with the Ruling Class and give the power back to the people. If he can win the war with the Ruling Class then perhaps the country will stand a good chance of unifying once the Ruling Class will no longer be able to divide the people in order to maintain power.

2017

Its great to be alive and enjoying the magnificent show called life. Dear Readers, I hope that the new year will afford you and yours the best show ever.

Founders Wisdom

Look closely at the 2016 Presidential political map below where Red is Republican and Blue is Democratic voters. The basic reason the Electoral College is important is that history has shown that eventually a country's cities accumulate the most population, money, intellectual concentration, and power that eventually overcomes the rest of the country that supports the cities and their population. This condition always results in strife and destruction of the country as a whole. The senate and Electoral College provides balance between the the country as a whole and the urban centers, as the 2016 map clearly shows.