Good Morning:

When I first moved to Syracuse, NY in the mid-80’s (in the days of ‘A Flock of Seagulls’, and Duran-Duran), there was a ad painted on the side of a 3 story building, advertising for a local Lawyer, on the East bound side of the 481 as I would come back into town from all points west (Buffalo, etc…) the sign read:

             “ Ignorance is Bliss, but it won’t hold up in Court”

 That sign has stayed with me all of these years that despite my “preference” for things to be untrue and no matter how uncomfortable the “Truth” makes me, it is still the Truth. Wishing things to be different will not make them go away.

 During this “new era” we find ourselves in, the precepts we grew up on: self reliance, personal responsibility and faith are being challenged on all sides; this does not make them “untrue”. Please take the time to read quality books, that refresh our memories of “where we have come from”. These values are still true.

 Read: Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”, read by 2/3 of this Country and the Spark that started it all, Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, and The 5000 Year Leap by,W. Cleon Skousen

 Lewis Carroll, in Alice in Wonderland, wrote of the “Walrus and the Carpenter”:

 Now go and enjoy your coffee as you read a good book….

 Remember-

Good Early morning:

 We all can remember where we were when the former Soviet Union collapsed we cheered the end of the Cold War and the Soviet Empire. Remember that? But where did all those communists go? We remember video of tanks near the Kremlin and modest gun fire. But for the Collapse of the Soviet Empire, wasn’t this a whisper when compared to the enormity of what happened? Was it all Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachav tear down this wall!” ?

 So, where did all the Communists go? Were they exiled to Argentina? No, they stayed put. Why? They were safe where they were. Yeltsin, Putin, and the others took time to meet well in advance of the “collapse” and recognize the need to “Transition” to “remake the Soviet Union” as a more friendly nation with a new and more acceptable image. Some believe that these “Forest Conferences” manufactured a transition to a new, harder line Russia, with a new warm, fuzzy feeling transition in between. Remember how “Hopeful” we all were that “Change” had come to the Evil Empire…?

 Why mention this and bring this up? In November we were promised that the new Administration would “remake America”. And it has. We have begun a “Change” and a transition…. Into what?

 Stop to reflect who was the last prior private employee, before Richard Waggoner at GM, was fired? When did the Federal Government own 60% of all mortgages? When did the Feds Control 60% of several of our largest banks? When did an Administration refuse to make their Health Records public, including their Original Birth Certificate? The list goes on. Our leaders in this Republic are voting on bills they have openly stated they have not read, and will not read. They state “Just vote for it and move on”. Does that make sense? Why the need for speed? What are we rushing off into…..?

 I strive not to be a Conspiracy Nut, but our Leaders need to slow down, read the documents before them before voting. Like the Cash for Clunkers Program ( this eliminates affordable used cars for folks and ships the steel to China, via Pueblo, Colorado- no joke, look it up and read the short 130+ page instructions). This is just nuts and it is time we said, “Enough”.

 Let’s return to the original Founding Documents. When all else fails us folks, “Read the Directions”.

 Our Framers left us a clear set of directions that were never intended to be “a LIVING DOCUMENT”.  Change as it relates to the Constitution is not good.

 They said what they meant and they meant what they said. Read it and see.

 Don’t Tread on Me-

Good Evening:

 Tonight’s entry is longer…. Please bear with me.

 I love the story of the Battle of Troy for a couple of reasons. First it’s a story about total commitment, by the Achaeans, and second it reminds us of the cost of arrogance.

 It is arrogant of Paris to think that he can bring Helen back Troy back without consequence. That even though he defies all that is right and steals her he does not anticipate the consequence. Paris does not have “vision” for what’s ahead and around the corner, he only selfishly sees wants he wants and takes it. Paris behaves like a spoiled child.

 Menelaus, King of Sparta, sends his brother Agamemnon, to retrieve his bride Helen from Paris, of Troy, who had stolen her and taken her home as the ultimate act of betrayal. Agamemnon has the ultimate understanding of commitment. Once his huge army lands on the beach (the face that launched a1000 ships), he wants to insure the commitment of his troops and orders “the burning of their ships”, insuring his soldiers knew the only way out was to win. Total commitment, no retreat.

 These are the two sides Agamemnon’s total commitment against Paris’s arrogance. His family’s faced a 10 year siege by the Greeks.  Arrogance versus Commitment.

 In our present circumstances, we find ourselves locked in the same struggle against arrogance, but do we share Agamemnon’s commitment?  Are we is this for the long haul? Are we well aware that the restoration of our Republic and the lifting of our Constitution will not be delivered in 30 minutes or less. It will take the faithful, steady education and engagement of each of us. Stay the Course.

 Each of us need to burn our ships and be “fully committed” to return our nation to the original direction our Founding Father’s set for us. Please remember our Founding Fathers put everything on the line for this nation, they were “all in”. If they failed, they would either be shot or hung for treason. They, like Agamemnon, had burned their ships for this republic against the Arrogance of the Crown. This was not some whim.

 Start by reading. Read foundational literature like Common Sense, by Thomas Paine. Start your own e-mail list and begun to share these concepts with others as you feel led, steal my original stuff (just delete my contact info to folks I do not know) and finally pray for our nation and our leaders.

 Finally, we need to cease to be casual about our freedoms, or soon while watching Dr. Phil, they will be gone.

 Don’t tread on me-

Folks:

 My Dad used to travel this Republic always sending me the world’s most stupid postcards, these included Giant Rainbow Trout strapped to mules and Vultures eating lost Cowboys.

 My favorite, and I still own it, is of an apple over a man’s head with all kinds geometry calculations reminiscent of DaVinci drawings. The caption at the bottom reads, “Gravity, it’s not just a good idea, it’s the Law”.

 There are some laws that are immutable and can not be changed.

 Among these is “Something for Nothing”. Scientists once believed in “spontaneous generation” that a fly came out of meat without the lifecycle we know to exists today. Even a fly comes from somewhere.

 Our Political leaders have gone back to this “spontaneous generation” idea in their solution to our economy.  Where do the funds come from for these new programs? What happens to private insurance firms when they compete against their own tax revenues? The money the Government will use to provide this Insurance would come from the very Corporations they are driving into the ground. Once they close, where will more money come from?

 If I eat too much, become an alcoholic, or just have the misfortune to have bad health is this my neighbors burden? Charity is the giving by your own volition, charity can not be legislated; just as love can not be demanded at the point of a gun. If my neighbors choose, through free-will, to help me, that is charity.

 So, where do the funds come from for these enormous expenses?

 Spontaneous generation. In the form of the Treasury Department’s printing press. Just like Ol’ Mother Hubbard, our cupboards are bare so the only option is “Magic Money”.

 We are racing towards hyper inflation. Remember, just about 12 months ago there was less than 1 trillion dollars in circulation, today that number exceeds $4-5 trillion, and out National debt stands at $11 trillion. One of you sent me this link that will drive it all home, http://www.usdebtclock.org. The dollar you have today is now worth about 1/4 - 1/5 of what it was one year ago.

 Remember everything has an origin, there is no such thing as “something from nothing”. Even this great Universe has a beginning. When someone, or the Government, promises you something ask yourself, “Where did that come from?”

 Finally, remember the story of The Emperor has no Clothes, a child had to be bold enough to end the charade.

 Are you that bold? The Emperor has no Clothes!

Don’t Tread on Me,

Howdy!

 Sometimes as I daydream I make very weird associations; this time with the Three Little Pigs.

 As we all know one pig built a house straw, one of twigs, and finally one of bricks.

 Although each of the pigs labored hard, and, we assume, built the very best from each material used not all stood against the dangers outside. We can assume they selected the materials because they were: cheaper, faster, or more readily available. Whatever the reason when the test came, all of the pigs ended up in the house designed and slowly built to withstand test from the outside. The third little pig planned and worked for success. No short cuts.

 In these very uncertain times, we need to ask ourselves are we doing the very best for our families? Are we wisely using the resources we have so when tested, we will, like the brick house, stand? Are our leaders building Brick Houses, or just “looking busy”?

 I am deeply concerned that our Republic is rushing too quickly build a house of straw, or twigs, writing polices just to check it off as “Done”. Rather, if we did not rush to write legislation with long term consequences, we could provide a well thought out, reasoned response. Instead, we are acting like 8 year olds rushing through their homework so they can get onto something more fun.

 Life is hard, and sometimes not a lot of fun. “With much power comes much responsibility”, as Stan Lee had Spiderman share with us.

 A potential National policy on Health Care that would cover 16% of the US Economy is a big deal, not something to rush through, or even to consider.

 Don’t be in a hurry to do a sloppy job, my Father taught me this lesson…..over and over and over. I think, after 49 years, I have finally learned the lesson he strove to teach me.

 Don’t Tread on Me-

All:

 Here is Vice President Joe Biden Quote to the AARP:      

            “ And folks look, AARP knows and the people with me here today know, the President knows, and I know, that the status quo is simply not acceptable. It’s totally unacceptable. And it’s completely unsustainable. Even if we wanted to keep it the way we have it now. It can’t do it financially. We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation. Now, people when I say that look at me and say, What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt? The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.”

 Just like at home we you are on a track towards bankruptcy,…… SPEND MORE!

 Folks, as one who has driven their own family and business into bankruptcy and then had to claw their way out of it. Pressing harder on the gas to get there is not the answer.

 What’s the old phrase, “ I can’t be broke, I still have more checks!” In our case the Treasury just keeps printing more money….this is fiat money, there is no gold backing it, or any collateral. As Scripture teaches us, “ the borrower is the servant to the lender”.

 Whose servant are we the American People? The Chinese? The Saudi’s?

 Don’t Tread on Me-

Folks:

I hope you well remember your history and the founding of the IRS.

 At that time the Progressive tax rate topped out at 7% on the very richest, with a promise that it would never go past a 10% tax rate. Remember? If you don’t know this, read the Five Thousand year Leap.

 Four short years later after the IRS, the highest tax rate was not 10%, or even 30%! It was 67% topping out at over 90%! Did somebody forget to read their History? We’ve hiked this trail before.

 Now there is a new proposed Tax on those Evil Rich, who have not yet taken their toys and gone home, shuttered their doors, fired all the employees and gone home. This new tax is a 5.4% supplemental tax on the wealthiest Americans. This 5.4% in the Administration’s best estimate should cover about ½ of the costs, there is NO PROVISION for the other 1/2. Read here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2292676/posts

 These Evil Insurance Companies operate at an extraordinary profit rate of .6%, www.factcheck.org . Imagine if you were asked to make a living at that margin, you could not keep up with inflation, you would do better putting your money in a Savings Account.

 Will our Federal government, without all that Executive payroll, be able to run 16% of our economy more efficiently than private industry? Ever been to the DMV? The US Post Office? The very same Post Office that has removed the clocks so you don’t notice how long you have been there. How does www.stamps.com compete with the very same product as the Post Office, postage.

 Folks, the Administration’s goal to remake America is well under way. The question is, do like what is being made? If not, get out of the bleachers and contact your Representative and let them know.

 If they get both Health Care and Cap and Trade, it is lights out on the Republic we all love.

 Please be well read, start with the Constituition…

 Don’t tread on me-

Happy 4^th of July!

 On this July 4^th, I would invite each of you to think about where our Laws come from? I am not referring to laws like a 65 mph speed limit or if it is lawful to drink at 18, or 21; rather the basics the foundational laws.

 Who gives us the right as our Founders declared to “pursue life liberty and the pursuit of happiness”? Were these given by the State? Or rather, are these a recognition of the God laws gives us? Which is it?

 If our laws come from the State, then they can be taken away by the State (as our Founders were will aware, a Government that gives can just as quickly take away). One day you may have the right to worship your God in your way, the next you may not. One day may have the right to keep and bear arms, the next you may not. If the Stae provides these Laws, then they are subject to the whims, and winds, of Change.

 This is what our Founders wanted to avoid, being swept along by any whim of the day. I am so glad our Founders had the foresight to prevent these “moments of insanity”, like Disco. Our Founders also provided for the protection of these principals and that they could only be taken away by either circumventing the system ( Executive Order, or appointing Czars that operate outside this system, do you like our new Car Czar), or by the consent of the People ( “We the People, in order to form a more perfect Union….”).

 The other option is that our laws come from God, and are as our founding documents declare, “inalienable”, our rights are our rights whether Man, or our Government recognizes them. They are not of our own making and are not “evolving, or changing with the times”. Our Rights are not hip. They are absolute and can not be taken away.

 These laws are, like Gravity and Evil Kneivel,  you can argue with gravity all you want, but gravity is the law (9.8m/second squared). As the song says, Evil Kneievel, “fought the law and the law won”, on countless occasions. He may not have liked it, but that’s just the way it is.

 Imagine growing up with a set of parents who continually “changed the rules” One day staying out late was OK, the next you were “grounded for a month”. What kind of childhood would you have? Confused, you bet? That is why our laws are not fickle and subject to the whims of fashion, like bell bottoms and 8-track players, rather they transcend our “preferences” whether we like it or not; and that is how it should be. God saw it best to keep the cookies and candy (our Rights) outside of the reach of us, the kids.

 I hope on this July 4^th you will remember where your rights come from not me, or the Government, but from a God not made by human hands, but a God who existed before time began.

 Don’t Tread on Me-

Good Evening:

 A few years back teaching my boys to bass fish, I was sharing a boat with a friend of mine and my oldest was struggling getting his first bass off the line. The more he grasped at it the less he was able to control the fish and the more frustrated he got. It looked futile, but how was he to learn to stick his thumb in the fish’s mouth, pinch the lip and paralyze the fish ( this is how it’s done for the non-Bass folks)? I had no remedy.

 Finally, my friend barked at my son to, “Take Control of the Fish, don’t let it control you” This shocked my son out the endless loop; thumb in mouth he had full “control of the Fish” and had learned a valuable lesson: either you control what happens or it controls you.

 It is a lesson my family has grown from. Either you “Man Up” do the hard thing or you play in traffic. The Karate Kid’s Mr. Miaggi (sp.) said it well when he told Daniel-son to walk on right side of road “No get killed, walk on left side of road no get killed. Walk in middle of road, get SQUISHED like grape” Don’t play in traffic.

 It is time we get in the game and work to take control of out leaders. They see has impotent and more interested in Dr. Phil and the current Michael Jackson circus than the growing debt, Cap and trade, and now the potential nail in our Republic’s coffin Universal health care.

 Do not get distracted by the side shows and continue to call your Representatives, pray for them, encourage them, read the Constitution, share the message with others.

 By peaceful means, beware of those advocating violence that can’t end well, we can wake each other up from our long hibernation.

 This needs to be the end of the Nanny State, this is our country and our family’s future. Teach your kids self-reliance, know our history, who remembers the thousands imprisoned under both FDR and Woodrow Wilson as political prisoners, some under the Blue Eagle for charging market rates for their goods.

 While we sleep our rights are being stolen like a rocket sled on rails.

 I know that last line sounds crazy, but look it up. The 5000 Year Leap covers this, as does the Forgotten Man.

 Don’t Tread on Me-

All:

 Haven’t we seen this movie? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090629/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_border_troops

 Didn’t the Progressives demand the Minuteman were a militia and not “volunteers” watching the Border doing this very thing?

 What happens if one of the “volunteers gets shot, or shot at”? When my sons and I go fishing in our East County we see the “coyotes” and their crews moving through, and they do not look like “Boy Scouts”. They are armed.

 I think our leaders should take a “walk along the Border” and see what we locals see on a daily basis, this is not a romantic “Peace Corps” program, these guys are a well armed paramilitary group, sometimes back by Mexican soldiers in armored vehicles.

 Come visit, I’ll take you on a tour.

Good Afternoon;

 I know this seems radical, but hear me out.

 What if the Tobacco Industry woke up one morning and said, “We agree, smoking is bad for us and because of this, we are going to close down and quit the business”

 Would Washington Rejoice and Declare victory? Would the anti-smoking lobbyists dance in the streets?

Here’s what I think, is BIG TOBACCO too BIG TO FAIL? Like GM, AIG, and Chrysler? Yes, from the Federal Government’s point of View. Because where would the revenue come from for Government Programs, what about all the un-employed tobacco workers, the retailers no longer selling these items, the medical industry crafted to fight this evil, the shake up would extraordinary. Is this what their goal is, to eliminate a health issue, or to control how we live and our freedoms?

 What if the automobile industry said, “We agree, we need a 100 mile/gallon car, we can’t build one, and we are ruining the environment, so… WE QUIT! And we are closing our doors”

 Where would the Government get it’s tax revenues, who would pay for the newly unemployed, what we do for transportation?

 Somehow if I were in either of these businesses at the center of either of these hurricanes and Government regulators, I would take my toys and go home. I would love to see the Government invent the PC, the light bulb, a 777, or the Microwave.

 A quick example of government intervention can easily be found by researching what to do is you break one of the new curly CFL bulbs ( made in China, because the toxic Mercury prohibits them being made here). Here is the EPA link, this is not a joke: http://www.epa.gov/hg/spills/#fluorescent . These same industrialists want to make cars and continue to run AMTRAK….

 Don’t misunderstand me, I do not support or encourage smoking. However, just imagine if these two industries, and several others joined them in saying we are tired of the over regulation by the government and closed their doors.