Why Wait? Put Me in Jail Now

So, on Christmas Eve, at a time when most people were paying no attention to the shenanigans going on in Washington, DC, the Senate of the United States of America pushed forward with its health care agenda that puts the health care of America in the hands of politicians rather than physicians. No surprise there. It seems to me that most really terrible, tyrannical, intrusive big government collectivist legislation is passed in the dark of night on the sly with as little fanfare as possible, like the Federal Reserve Act in 1913. Either that, or legislative monstrosities are rushed through after a horrific event while the people are still in shock like the Patriot Act was. Either way, these bills are more and more often hundreds or thousands of pages long, intrusive, and unpopular and so the congress critters that want them passed for the benefit of their high level friends rather than for the people try to pass them with as little publicized dissent as possible.

So it is with the health care bill. Who knows what little secretive controls have been put into this tome they call a law? Do you remember the Patriot Act, how many freedom violating usurpations were written into it? Do you remember the bailouts, how much control was taken from private hands and handed to government? It’s not enough for the authoritarians at the top of the government hierarchy to control the major industries and banks in this country. It’s not enough for them to create the ability to know every little electronic communiqué the ordinary folk send to each other. They must also control the way we go about seeking health care. They must make certain that each and every one of us pays their fair share to the health insurance industry so that Caesar can more easily collect his tribute. They want to be certain that no longer can a patient pay his doctor directly without a third party connected to government getting their hands in on what should be private business. They will go so far as to make it a crime for anyone to seek health care without insurance.

I remember growing up and learning that one thing that made America such a great place as compared to other nations was its lack of political prisoners. That’s simply not true anymore. We are all political prisoners. We are prisoners of a system that doesn’t care. Certainly those who rot in prisons and jails across this nation of ours who were sent there for victimless crimes are political prisoners. Those who refused to pay the extortionists the taxes they demanded, those who decided to use a medicinal plant that was not on the AMA approved list, those who simply refused to obey a police officer’s unlawful command, these people did not harm anyone nor did they damage or steal anyone’s property. They did not violate another’s rights, and yet they have their own rights violated by the state. They are imprisoned for defending their inalienable rights and therefore they are political prisoners. The United States of America is no longer a nation of free men. The United States of America has become that which it used to fear.

As the federal government continues trouncing more and more of our natural human rights, as it hides behind the iron security curtain to excuse itself when arresting and silencing those whose only crimes were to question the legitimacy of federal law, how long before they start to arrest even the most unobtrusive blogger for having an opinion? They need not wait until 2014 when I still won’t buy their crappy health insurance to arrest me. They don’t need to wait until 2014 to start letting everyone know that they are in charge and we will do as they say, buy and sell as they want, or else. It is already happening. Instead of passing “health care reform” that puts yet another economic sector in total government control, why not just start arresting everyone who disagrees with government mandates right now and be done with it? Why not just declare unending economic and security crises and use those as excuses for complete and total government takeover of all human activity?

Of course, the corporate political elite want to do this as stealthily as possible. They want to keep people from thinking for themselves, just as they’d like to keep them from conducting their own business when it comes to health care, or anything else for that matter. They strive to create an entitlement mentality in the populace and they’ve been quite successful at promoting this mindset, at least during my lifetime. The more people who are dependent on the federal government, the more power the federal government can laud over the public, the better off the corporate political elite are. The less people think for themselves, the more they let the federal government regulate their day to day lives and businesses, the more dependent on the corporate elite they become. It’s a vicious circle and if they move too quickly the people may suddenly be forced to think for themselves and the circle will be broken. That’s why so many of the corporate political elite feed the monstrous entitlement mentality of the public.

It was Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md) who said a couple weeks back that she felt it was immoral to vote against the current health care reform we are presently being burdened with. Who is this woman to talk about morality? Indeed, on close examination it becomes obvious that it is immoral to vote for this reform, as well as for so many other bills that have been forced through congress the last few decades. It is never moral to forcefully redistribute wealth. It is never moral to force one group of people to work for another group. Free people conduct business on a voluntary basis with each other and decide for themselves where to spend their money. Free people can determine on their own what products and services are worth and how much time and effort should be put into acquiring said products and services. If one has to mandate certain aspects of a business and force people to engage in that business under the threat of imprisonment than the true value of the product or service cannot be known.

The immorality of Senator Mikulski and all who voted for this “health care reform” becomes even more obvious when one realizes there were free market reforms that could have been enacted which would have lowered the cost of health care insurance for all and helped remove the hand of government from the industry. After all, nowhere in the Constitution has the congress been granted power to regulate health care. That would be left to state governments under the tenth amendment. The simplest answer to the problem of the cost of health insurance would have been to allow the citizens of one state to buy health insurance from another state and we would have seen the cost of insurance go down and the quality go up as the insurance companies were forced to compete with each other for business and the states were forced to ease regulations to keep the insurance businesses in their jurisdiction. But these reforms wouldn’t have allowed the federal government to grow and so they weren’t considered by the control freak leaders of the corporate power elite.

The charade of government health care control becomes even more evident when we look back at even recent history. It was the free markets that gave this nation a health care system that was the envy of the world. It wasn’t until regulations were put in place that the system began to falter. It was the regulations themselves that have brought the system to its knees and created the crisis (if indeed there is a crisis) that we experience at present. More government is not the answer to our nation’s health care woes, it will be the cause of more and greater woes. The immorality of voting for such socialistic health reform becomes even more egregious when considering such trends.

This health care bill has failed to address neither the concerns of those in favor of personal liberty and free markets nor the concerns of those who wish a total collectivist scheme to ensure access to health care by those least able to afford it. Instead, politicians have tried to compromise and as such have given more power to those who caused the problems in the first place. That seems to be what government does best, cause a problem, then take freedom from those who can fix the problem and give more power to those who caused it so they can cause bigger problems. Security failed on 911 and we gave the security industrial complex more power with the Patriot Act, and they continue to fail. The Economy failed in 2008 and we gave the banks more power with the bailouts and they continue to fail. Now the claim is made that the health insurance industry is failing and the answer is to give the health insurance companies more power by legislating into a law a monopolistic health care system paid for by higher taxes and backed by the threat of fines and imprisonment? When are we going to learn?

I don’t plan on taking part in this charade anymore, so they may as well arrest me now. I know of at least one doctor who plans on leaving the country if this bill passes and moving to Poland, of all places. She has her choice of the US, Canada or Poland, she’s a citizen of all three, and for now she chooses to live and work in the US, but if this bill becomes law she will chose to move to Poland. That should make you think. I don’t know how many other doctors feel like her, but I hope that for those trapped in the US the spirit of civil disobedience and non cooperation rises. Bad law does not need to be obeyed. Perhaps when they are forced to arrest good, decent people for not buying health insurance the masses will be shaken from their slumber. If that is what it takes to restore this nation’s founding principles, then so be it, though I do hope that this drive toward socialism is reversed long before 2014. I do pray that mass civil disobedience begins soon, before the power of the central planners is consolidated.

HHO Tek, Energy Conservation Available Now

Quite often I write about my doubts about the validity of human driven climate change. Some people seem to think this means I don't care about the environment. They seem to think I believe that mankind has no impact on the natural world. This is, of course, untrue. I am, in fact, very concerned about the environment, pollution and the conservation of resources. I simply don't believe that carbon dioxide in the amounts we produce is the villain the politically driven scientists and one world government advocates have made it out to be. I simply don't believe in the “one size fits all” solutions proposed by the central planners. I believe there are much better ways to go about finding solutions to these problems, some of which are technologies that are already available. I don't believe that forcing people into a monopolistic carbon credit trading scheme will accomplish anything beyond the further enrichment and a lock on the economic power of a few already privileged elite individuals.

As I've stated in the past, the climate change fear mongers aren't worried about the climate, or even about the environment, they're worried about money. They want to keep you dependent on them so that they can continue to extract your wealth through their controlled mechanisms. The best way to fight this is to find the products and services that will help you claim your own independence by saving you money and helping you to save your real wealth for better things. The best way to fight this is to buy products from entrepreneurs who really do care about the earth. This is true with the people at HHO Tek.

HHO Tek sells a simple device called the platinum fuel saver which attaches to the engine of your car to help gasoline burn cleaner, improving your gas mileage. They’ve been selling these products to individuals and fleets for years. They also sell a hydrogen heater for your home, a solar heating device and other energy saving devices for the home. They offer many technologies of tomorrow right now. These are products and devices that are currently available, that people can use today to not only help conserve energy and save money, but to help themselves become less dependent on the big corporations that have grown due to the growth of big government. The more money one can keep in one’s pocket, the less he needs to use the energy provided by the corporations, the better off we will all be in the long run.

The folks over at HHO Tek not only offer products to save you money and help ensure a greener world, they appreciate the freedom message I often write about. They believe in a free market because they believe in their products. They are ready to take on the competition because they believe their products are the best and the free market will bear that out. They believe so much in this message and in free markets that they offered to support me and my writings. You can see all their products on their website at http://hhotek.com. If you decide to order do so through this link http://hhotek.com/Szandor.php and I will receive a commission. If the link does not work please copy and paste it to your browser’s URL window. Call the number provided to order by phone, mention the name Szandor Blestman and you will receive a special discount. I have been writing articles for nearly four years now and I have not made one dime. In this way, I have been able to provide honest, independent commentary on events and concerns that affect us all. Sponsorship is one way I can continue to provide this service. By ordering through this link http://hhotek.com/Szandor.php and mentioning Szandor Blestman when ordering, you will find that you are not only purchasing quality products that will help save you money, but you will be supporting me and an American company that cares about freedom and the environment. And remember when you mention my name, Szandor Blestman, you will also receive a special discount. Thank you.

2009 Continental Congress: The Final Document

The quest for individual liberty has not ended. For ten historic days in November, 2009, from the 11th to the 21st, delegates from forty eight of the fifty states met in St. Charles, Illinois to discuss the unconstitutional usurpations of the federal government of the United States of America and peaceful methods available to hold accountable those responsible for constitutional violations. These were ordinary people for the most part, not professional politicians, not rich elitists, not well known activists, but ordinary middle class folk from a variety of backgrounds as diverse as you could find in any community in this great melting pot we call the United States of America. They gathered together because, like most of us, they have come to the realization that something is wrong with this nation of ours. They, like many of us, wish to do something to correct the problem, something that does not involve violence. The Continental Congress 2009 looked to be a solution worth attempting. There’s nothing wrong with demanding elected officials obey the laws they swear an oath to uphold and until and unless we the people raise up and apply the pressure necessary the abuse will continue and nothing will change.

There are some in this world who claim the Constitution is irrelevant, that it is an old document meaningless in the modern world. They claim that it’s a quaint, passé relic written at a time when technology consisted of horse and buggies, sail ships, manually operated printing presses and breech loading rifles. They claim that in the modern world men have too much freedom, that individuals need to have their rights “attenuated,” that individual rights should be surrendered for national security reasons and the general welfare. They even go as far as to claim that the current financial problems we face are a result of freedom rather than government intrusion. These people wish to surrender their own power, along with everyone else’s, and entrust it to some nebulous, unaccountable bureaucracy so that they can wrap themselves in an imaginary security blanket and relinquish all personal responsibilities for their lives to the surreptitious surrogates merely claiming to know best.

To those who would argue such points I answer “Bullshit!” The nature of man has not changed despite the advancement of technology. Men and women still try to exercise power and force their will upon others, even those others they do not know and have no empathy for. Who does anyone think they are to tell me how I should run my life? Who does anyone think they are to tell me how to best conduct my business affairs? And then to have the gall to force me under threats of violence and imprisonment to pay them to manage my life, an activity I think I could have done a better job at for free? You can’t have too much freedom and no one else’s will should ever be forced upon another in such a way. Such monopolies are inherently repugnant to freedom loving people. Our forefathers who moved to this continent seeking freedom and better lives for themselves understood this, but somehow in the ethers of time we seem to have forgotten these principles which make the spirit strong and we became comfortable in our servitude.

There are others in this world who claim the Constitution is irrelevant because it either allowed the present tyranny or was powerless to stop it. I would remind those people that of course the Constitution is powerless to stop corruption, just as laws against violence are powerless to stop violent crime. The Constitution has no power, the people do. Words on paper have no power to do anything except convey ideas from one mind to another. It is up to those minds to develop methods to implement these ideas. It is up to human beings to exercise the powers inherent in their nature to take control of their lives. It was not the Constitution that allowed the present tyranny to develop, but the people who ignored it or questioned its relevancy. It was not the Constitution that was powerless to stop the present tyranny we experience today, but the people who refused to enforce the ideals it expressed and remain true to its principles.

The Constitution is but a tool to constrain those who wish to engage in government service to the people of this nation. It is a tool to be used when those serving begin to believe they are better than the rest of us and wish to laud power over the masses. The hammer will do nothing to the nail that sticks its head up from the board until someone picks it up and uses it to strike the nail. While it might be true that there have been occasions in the past where some have tried to nail down the federal government using the Constitution and failed, that doesn’t mean you throw away the hammer. The more often the hammer is swung, the more likely that the nail will be struck.

So it was when over a hundred delegates from forty eight of the fifty states gathered together in St. Charles, Illinois for ten days last November. These delegates decided to take up the hammer and use it. These were average Americans from all walks of life selected from members of the “We the People Foundation” who sacrificed their time and set aside their lives for those ten days because they felt that honoring the Constitution and trying to hold elected officials accountable to do the same was an important enough cause to commit to such a sacrifice. They are not asking anyone else to do nearly as much.

These men and women gathered together and worked their butts off to create the documentation that details the constitutional abuses and usurpations that government, and federal government in particular, has engaged in. To me it speaks volumes that so many ordinary people can see the growing police state, the encroaching socialism, the loss of individual liberty and the collapse of our constitutional form of government and wish to reverse course. Things did not run as smooth as silk at the conference and there were many boisterous and contentious moments of disagreement as to all that should and shouldn’t be addressed in the document. The document they created can now be found at http://cc2009.us as a pdf file.

It is now up to the freedom loving American people to do the rest. Please make an attempt to read the document. If you agree with it and the principles it expresses, please show support for the document and those behind it. Even if there are parts you disagree with, but agree with most of it, as is inevitable with some people, show your support for the work and provide feedback. If you believe in the concept of holding elected officials accountable for their actions, making sure they adhere to the Constitution, or would simply like to see the growth of government stopped or reversed, your support for this effort is important. If you think government is too big, too coercive, and/or too intrusive, your support for this effort is important. If you’re angry about the path this nation has taken and would like to see some real change, your support for this effort is important. This has become a game of numbers now. The more people who voice their opposition to big government solutions and support efforts to shrink government, the more pressure can be put on politicians to make these efforts into reality. We can show them that we are not a nation of collectivists like communist China, the former USSR and other socialist countries, but a nation of individualists who still honor the ideals put forth by the founding fathers.

There is much work left to be done, in my opinion, and this is only the beginning. I don’t believe this document went far enough in its demands on the federal government, but it is a good start. There are likely many who would agree with me. If you would like to get involved, then support this document and the groups that sponsored it. Provide them with feedback. Unlike the federal government, they will listen to you, show due consideration for your ideas, and appreciate your involvement.

The Young Green Fascists

Man made climate change is not a scientific debate. Al Gore declared it so. He declared that the science was in and the debate was over. Many others have followed suit. Politicians parrot his work to try to make themselves look heroic as they claim they wish to “save the planet” by taxing carbon dioxide, a natural gas produced by life. The media uses his work to try to create a fear and hysteria perhaps in hopes this will help their sagging ratings, and possibly their politically connected friends. The elite hail Mr. Gore’s work, raining upon him accolades and awards such as an Oscar, a Grammy, an Emmy, a Nobel Peace Prize and others which has made me wonder as to the significance of these awards. One can wonder as to why anyone should listen to Al Gore about such matters as global warming. He is, after all, not a career scientist, not a career documentary film maker and not even a career writer, but a career politician. You know what they say about politicians whose lips are moving. To me, the integrity of these awards are now in question.

Still, manmade climate change is not a scientific debate. It has become a political debate. It has become an issue to be used as a weapon by control freaks who want to control your life. It has become a pet issue to be used by a certain faction of elitists to move forward with a frightening agenda of centralized power and unprecedented control of activities that each and every one of us partake in on a daily basis. Do not believe for a moment that if a worldwide carbon credit system is put in place it will not affect you as an individual. You will pay, no matter how poor you are, in some form or another, and you will give your money, your labor, or something else of value to a class of wealthy elites who care nothing for humanity.

Long ago, as a Geology major at the University of Illinois, I learned about climate change and interpreting it through the geologic record. Climate change has been happening on this planet for hundreds of millions of years, long before mammals evolved, let alone man. There is much more to climate change than carbon dioxide or methane, much that is beyond man’s control. The problem with this, for politicians, is that they can’t have this kind of thinking going on. If climate change is beyond man’s control, there’s no way they can levy taxes or otherwise convince people to let them exercise control of their activities. This is completely unacceptable to the control freaks as their lives are entirely pointless unless they have total control of every little aspect of everyone’s life.

For such efforts to work, the ruling elite need to sell the general public on something that isn’t necessarily true. To do this, it becomes necessary to silence any dissenting points of view. For years they’ve managed to do this by exercising their influence over the mass media and ignoring or marginalizing legitimate scientists who disagreed with the global warming priests. Lately, however, with certain developments and facts coming to light, the anthropogenic climate change crowd is finding itself more challenged than ever, so much so that they have resorted to using strong arm tactics to silence dissent.

As the Copenhagen climate change summit ends, we can look back on it with greater clarity and analyze events that took place and what this means for humanity. Lord Christopher Monkton was accosted a couple of times during his stay in Denmark. The first time was during a private speech where a group of young people took over the event, unfurled banners, chanted mindless slogans and would not allow him to speak. He retaliated by calling them Hitler youth, which some were quite offended by. When they approached Lord Monkton asking for an apology, he refused to back down, which I was happy to see. They used the same techniques fascists have used in the past to silence dissent and Lord Monkton called them on it. Personally, I am tired of hearing people apologize, right or wrong, for expressing their opinion.

Had these young people, who claimed to be representing the majority of young people in America, had they wished to protest there are more acceptable ways of going about it. They could have listened to what Lord Monkton had to say and then challenged him in a question and answer session after his speech was finished, as those who question the science behind manmade global warming have done for years. They may have been surprised because likely Lord Monkton would have answered their questions rather than ignoring them or having them escorted out as usually happens when one of the manmade climate change propagandists is challenged or questioned.

That was just the beginning, however. Lord Monkton, despite being accredited to the conference, was not allowed into the conference during the final days and was turned away along with many others when they tried to enter, the bureaucracy having failed to inform them that they were no longer welcome. It was, of course, bad enough that their voices should be silenced so, but to add injury to insult Lord Monkton was assaulted by a Danish police officer, knocked to the ground and quite cut up according to reports. This was done despite his social standing and his involvement in government. Imagine what disregard these “keepers of the peace” would have for the rights or safety of a commoner.

Anyone who dared question the legitimacy of anthropogenic climate change while at Copenhagen was quickly silenced and ushered away or otherwise dealt with. One reporter, Phelim McAleer, was pelted with an object during a live interview on Fox, causing the interview to be cut short over concern for his safety. These people can’t stand to have their belief systems questioned. They can’t accept that there are thoughtful, reasoning people who don’t think as they do and look to alternative reasons other than mankind as to what drives climate change, such as little things like the sun. They will quickly point to their now questionable science and data sets, but don’t want to accept that there are other science data sets available that show results contrary to their claims. They remind me of a little child who puts his fingers in his ears and screams la, la, la when told something he doesn’t want to hear, only these people will resort to violent actions so they don’t have to be burdened with contrary facts and having to think.

The actions at this year’s Copenhagen conference show that scientific debate over anthropogenic climate change has indeed ended, at least in the eyes of those who believe mankind is to blame for all the world’s climate woes. The powerful ruling elite who long to establish an authoritative world government based on “carbon credits” continue to shut down as best they can any meaningful debate. They use most of the mainstream media to promote their agenda and ignore any evidence that may harm their position. They use their police forces to chill any dissent and frighten any peaceful common folk that might otherwise consider protesting. They even stoop so low as to use well meaning, impressionable young people who believe they are helping the world as the new green enforcers and encourage them to violate the principle of respecting others’ rights. One might wonder, is this the face of things to come?

As predicted by Lord Monkton days before it happened, Mr. Obama showed up in Copenhagen and at the last minute salvaged an agreement between the United States, India, China, and others. Their dream of a one world authoritarian government has not died, and it may not be long before anyone who doesn’t think world government is a good idea and voices that opinion gets the same treatment those who disagree with anthropogenic climate change got in Copenhagen. Fascism seems alive and well at the world governance level and it doesn’t seem too hard to find young ruffians to hire to keep dissenters quiet as long as the cause is wrapped in green.

Mr. Obama gave another one of his “inspiring” hypnotic speeches to sooth the masses, make the faithful swoon and instill a belief that all is well before this agreement was reached. In it, he suggested that those who didn’t agree with anthropogenic climate change were condemning the world to disaster by creating conditions that would make it impossible for mankind to ever do anything about climate change. Nature, in all her majesty, has already seen to that. Right now, it appears as if natural forces are at work to bring us a period of global cooling. We as a species would be much better off concentrating on ways to adapt rather than putting our faith in other humans who only wish to promote their own welfare, their own egos, their own agendas and to control others for their own benefit. We would be better off allowing free people to freely innovate rather than forcing all to comply with devastating taxes that only serve to enrich a few and stifle innovation.

Christmas Time and the Dream of Peace

At this time of year, as the cold wraps its fingers around the Midwest and coats it in a blanket of snow, one is inclined to reflect on past events and give thanks for past accomplishments. One can also reflect on failures he may have had and make plans for the future that will hopefully correct past mistakes and attempt to correct said failures or move in a different direction. Depending on one's present situation, this is likely not as important in modern times as it was in the past. In these days of abundance, where we live in heated buildings, have plenty of food stocked on store shelves and enjoy many modern conveniences, it is much more likely we will be able to survive and bounce back from failure then it was in the past when such things could have easily led to death. This time of year, being the coldest and darkest time, must have been a tough time for ancient man, especially if he was unprepared. If the harvest had been good, one was likely able to relax and enjoy a well earned respite, if not then there would be a struggle to survive until the spring.

Is it any wonder ancient peoples planned celebrations for this time of year? In those days the celebrations occurred after the winter solstice to welcome the sun back. They had made it through the darkest days of the year and looked forward to a time when the sun would be high enough in the sky to once again warm the earth. They likely wished to let those closest to them know how much they appreciated their company and how loved they all were. These were celebrations of life, light and love that still echo in our collective consciousness.

Winters were likely a time of peace. In keeping with the natural cycle of things, mankind would rest as much as possible at this time, perhaps reaching a state close to hibernation. Conserving energy would have been key to survival. Remaining sheltered and warm would have been of utmost concern. The things ancient man did in the spring, summer and fall would determine if he'd make it through the winter. Saving what could be stored for later consumption was important. All things considered, this would have been the best time of year to take the time to dream, and that remains in our collective psyche to this day.

Religion was another important aspect in these people's lives. One can imagine the world they lived in, a world in which so much was beyond their control. Such things could mean life or death to these people. They would, of course, do what they could to ensure their survival in the areas where they could do something, but there were many aspects to their lives they were helpless to do anything about except pray to their gods and ancestors. It may have seemed at times as if the natural world was at war with them. It may have at other times seemed as if the natural world was comforting and nurturing. Likely the dreams of these people consisted of ways to stabilize their world, to increase prosperity, and to make their lives more predictable so as to increase their chances of survival.

Despite all our modern day conveniences, the wealth we've built, and the progress we've made, many of the dreams of our ancestors have not come to pass. I still need to dream of peace because there is so much war and violence in this world. I still need to dream of freedom because my opportunities have been limited by powerful forces operating in this world to prevent potential from being realized. I still need to dream of liberty because of an oppressive system that taxes the productive common folk and gives to an unproductive elite. Yes, we live in a more prosperous society than we've ever seen in recorded history, but we can ask ourselves how much more prosperous would we be if an elite ruling class was not hording the wealth created by the common people and squandering it on wars and other programs not necessarily in the best interests of human kind?

There seems to be a magic in the air at this time of year, more so than at other times. There seems to be a door that opens up, a connection, so to speak, with the dreams we have and the reality we seek. Perhaps that is one of the reasons this time of year becomes so special to so many. It's a time of giving and a time of receiving. Its a time of generosity. Sometimes, its a time when miracles occur. It's a time when we show others how much we appreciate them. It's a time when dreams have the chance to become a reality. In my opinion, the dream of peace goes hand in hand with the dream of freedom, for a freeman is more likely to be a peaceful man.

A couple thousand years ago a man walked this earth who dreamed of bringing peace to mankind. He was a great teacher who tried to impart upon us that we should be nice to each other. He tried to tell us that we should treat other people as we would want to be treated by them. Perhaps the masses weren't very good students. He was a radical for his time, teaching the common folk that they were as important as the ruling class. It takes everyone to help create reality. It takes legions to make war. It's not just the ruling class who are at fault, but also those who mindlessly obey them. So long as we have those who wish to force their rule upon others and those who without question enforce the will of the rulers, we will not have freedom and we will not have peace.

The answer is simple. That man who walked the earth two thousand years ago was right. Peace begins in the heart. That is where the dream begins and where it flourishes. Tap that peace and bring it into the world and you become that which you dream. Treat others as you would want to be treated. Respect the choices your neighbor makes as you would want him to respect your choices. Allow others to make mistakes so that they may learn from them. And if someone tells you this isn't so, if you are ordered by someone in “authority” to steal from another, or to do harm to someone who hasn't harmed or wronged another, or to stop exercising your rights, or to harm or help keep another from exercising their rights, then just say no. Disobey. Realize the dream of peace through peaceful civil disobedience. Support others who do the same. Speak out against the wrongs perpetrated by the state and by agents of the state. Let others know how you feel. Let everyone know you're tired of being kicked around and ignored. Let all know you prefer liberty to tyranny and cast off the chains that bind you to an immoral state. The more of us who raise our voices, the more likely it is our voices will be heard. It is not enough to simply dream anymore, it is time to act upon the dreams and bring them to reality.

I wish for everyone the happiest of holidays at this time of year, no matter which holiday one celebrates. I wish upon the entire population of the earth much peace and joy. I realize that for many this may not be possible. I realize that for many powerful forces seek to disrupt their lives and refuse to just leave them be. I hope that they will take comfort in the dream. I pray they never lose the dream, for when the dream dies than darkness may settle on the soul and this is the time of year when creating light, especially spiritual light, is more important than ever.

Chartarum Movie Teaser Trailer

Back in September I was involved as an extra in a movie entitled "Chartarum." The teaser trailer is now up at Youtube. Here's a link:
Chartarum teaser trailer
I hope everyone gets a chance to see it when it comes out. I will let all know as information becomes available. Enjoy.

The Camera Really is the New Gun

Judge Andrew Napolitano likes to say that the camera is the new gun. He is more right than even he may know. Cameras in the hands of ordinary citizens are something that most bureaucrats have a deathly fear of. They are more afraid of a common man with a camera than they are of giant hairy spiders. To a bureaucrat, a common man with a camera is more frightening than a million zombies converging on them. More seriously, they are likely more afraid of one common man with a camera than they are of a man with a gun. Government types are terrified of several common folk armed with cameras, perhaps more so than they are of an entire constitutional militia. One who is inclined to thoughtful reflection might wonder why this should be.

Government, by its very nature, is a violent organization. They need to use force, intimidation and coercion in order to exist. They have, in fact, claimed a monopoly on the use of force. If you were to try to try to do the same things these people do everyday you'd be arrested in a heartbeat. For instance, if you were to go to a local business and demand money, under the threat of imprisonment, for protection against extremist terrorists, you'd be quickly arrested and charged with extortion. Even if you had hired a group of men and planned on shipping them off to a far distant land to root out the terrorist demons, you'd still be arrested and charged with criminal offenses. You can't threaten people and force them to pay you money for services they don't want, at least not with impunity, but the government can. When you do it it's called a crime, when the government does it it's called taxation.

But the government doesn't want you to think about them in this way. They want you to think of them as benevolent. They don't want you to think of them as thieves, they want you to think of them as charitable angels saving the under privileged. They don't want you to think of them in terms of generating revenue for their own self interests, they want you to think of them in terms of providing public safety. They don't want you thinking of them as cheaters who won't follow their own rules, they want you to think of them as more knowledgeable than you, superior to you, and better able to determine what is best for you. And one way or another you'll pay them to do so. They don't want you to think of them as violent thugs violating the rights of innocent humans which they supposedly took an oath to protect, they want you to think of them as super humans who never make a mistake, never arrest an innocent, and instinctively know when someone has victimized another human being. They want you to believe that their good intentions make the wrongs they do okay.

They want you to believe these things so much that they start teaching them to you at a very young age. Of course, they are a little more subtle about it. They may do it under the guise of public education, but what they are really doing is forcing the vast majority of the populace to spend a large portion of their day at federally funded government indoctrination centers. They then teach us that this is the greatest nation in the world due to government rather than due to lack of government, faith in the free markets and the ability for the people to control their own destinies. They force children to recite a pledge that was written by a socialist flag salesman, Francis Bellamy, instilling a sense of necessity to defend government even when its actions may be questionable or indefensible. They teach obedience to authority rather than the axiom to question authority and to hold them accountable for their lies, misrepresentations and lack of respect for the laws they swear an oath to uphold. We are taught to memorize the facts they want us to memorize. We are taught their version of events, their version of the facts. We are never taught to explore other versions, other points of view and to evaluate them to determine which version is the closest to actuality or how the different versions could mesh to create another version even more likely to have occurred.

This type of learning can make it difficult to point out problems the system might be suffering. It makes it difficult to convince some people of the reality of an event or situation. If it isn't seen, or isn't reported on, then it must not be true, particularly if it goes against the dogma of great governance that the populace has been brainwashed to believe in since childhood. This is when the camera can be so important. The camera's eye doesn't lie. When it records the violence that the state engages in, those who continue to sing the praises of the state and believe in an innate goodness of government that isn't there do so at their own peril. Those who wish to believe these examples don't occur that often, that they are the exception instead of the norm, will find it harder and harder to maintain that stance as more and more occurrences are videoed.

Government agents are far more frightened of video cameras than they are of guns. They know how to handle guns. Common folks threatening violence against statist criminals may find it difficult to succeed in their efforts. The only thing the state knows is violence. It only knows enforcement. It wouldn't surprise me to find many of the tax bottom feeders chomping at the bit to get a chance to exercise that which they know best. Common folk armed only with cameras, however, that's another story. The statist criminals are going to find it very difficult to beat such efforts, as all options should eventually lead to their demise.

Cameras are something these people have been using against the general public for years. We have red light cameras, speeding cameras, public security cameras, all kinds of cameras in different areas set up to make sure we don't break a myriad of victimless laws they've created for revenue generation. When anyone complains about it, about the lack of privacy or violating rights, their standard reply is “if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.” Well, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Why are they so afraid of cameras if they're doing nothing wrong? Why would they have laws against operating video in courtrooms and other venues where they supposedly work for us? If they are doing nothing wrong, what do they have to hide? Think about that the next time you hear about mindless police automatons asking legitimate protestors and political activists to put away their cameras on public property. Don't believe the security excuse. The only security they're worried about is their own. They do have secrets to keep and things to hide, and they don't want the general public to find out, mostly because they are doing something wrong, and likely they know it.

The camera can expose all this. It can provide proof of wrongdoing. It can provide a tool to help hold accountable those who break their own rules, and the rules they expect the common folk to obey. Most of all, it can help change the way people think about our government servants and how they behave. It can help create an overwhelming righteous indignation toward arrogant government agents who feel they are better than the common man and above the law. The camera may, in effect, be a weapon far superior to the gun, for it is a weapon that helps win the hearts and minds without causing significant blowback. When one is not physically harming another, revenge is less likely to be sought.

Government agents are afraid of the camera, and with good reason. After all, one of the hardest thing for a human to do is to confront the monster in the mirror. Documenting the rise of the police state on video, exposing the cheating and corruption, publicizing the violations of human rights by government agents, etc., holds a mirror to society and forces us to ask if this is the road we wish to take. It can also help the individuals involved evaluate their own behavior. The camera is the new gun not because it is a weapon that kills, but because it is an effective weapon that defends human rights and has the potential to heal. We should all be armed and ready to use it wherever we see wrongs being committed, and we should be allowed to carry one whenever we have to deal with our government servants, including and especially in courtrooms, if only for our own protection and the protection of all involved in such a situation.

Human Driven Climate Change; Greed and the Manipulation of Science

I do have a bit of a science background. Granted, it's not much, but it is enough to understand certain concepts that others might have trouble wrapping their minds around. It was at least partially due to this background, due to being trained in the scientific method, observation, and critical thinking, that I began to question this notion of man made global warming, or human driven climate change. There was just so much that didn't make sense to me. But that wasn't all I learned by attending a university. It wasn't all about science, math and liberal arts. I learned quite quickly how a bureaucracy works. I learned that a bureaucracy doesn't care about truth, about what is right or what is wrong, about principle, or about anything ethical that might be of concern to an ordinary human, a bureaucracy only cares about money and paperwork.

I was excited by the news I heard this weekend that hackers, or someone, had managed to get their hands on emails between scientists that claim climate change is mostly caused by humans, and yet in another way I was strangely saddened. I was excited because these emails show that, as I suspected all along, the impact that mankind has had on climate change has been seriously exaggerated all along. These scientists who have been promoting a vision of mankind's power to change climate and the ability to control the awesome wonders of nature by taxing human innovation and manufacturing have been manipulating data and public perception. They have been chilling dissenting views with threats and intimidation. They have been seeking, along with powerful political allies, to create a system of trade in the form of carbon credits for their own personal benefit no matter how devastating such a device would be to whole economies. This debate has never been about climate change or helping the planet to cope with mankind's industry, it has always been about power, about control, and about money. It has always been about a greedy few who want all the wealth. It has always been about creating kings and subjugating men.

I was, however, saddened by how I learned of this news and how it is yet being reported. It should be everywhere and in front of everyone, yet it is not. One has to look for it, at least a little. News stories about this affair have reported that hackers broke into a server at the University of East Anglia and stole data including emails. The corporate media may try to concentrate on this fact and not explore the information that was in the emails. They may try to spin the news to make the information revealed a non issue. They may also try to avoid the discussion as to whether it was really hackers that exposed these climate change “experts” for the hoaxers they are, or was it an insider who decided to blow the whistle on the fraud that was being perpetrated against the whole of the human race. The latter seems to me to be the more likely explanation. I will go out on a limb here and make a guess that at some point in time, maybe in a couple of weeks after they've had time to backtrack and get their stories straight, those involved will be given a chance by their media friends to explain away the condemning emails as simple misunderstanding.

There are other aspects to this story I am worried about. Some news organizations have decided to ignore this story and are not reporting on it. These would of course be the organizations most likely to be watched by the human driven climate change faithful. It was reported that the BBC had their hands on this information five weeks before it got out into the public. The BBC could have broken a major story with worldwide political and economic implications and they decided to sit on it? Sort of makes one wonder where their real interests are. It's certainly not with the people. It's certainly not in reporting the news. This gives one pause to think, what other information are these people not releasing to the public because of the impact it might have on the corporate or government friends who support them?

I worry that there are still supporters and proponents of human driven climate change that still won't get it. I worry that they will argue that these emails mean nothing, that the cause is more important than the science. I worry that they will continue to let their faith blind them regardless of the evidence set at their feet. There are those who are so wrapped up in their beliefs, they have so much of their time, thought, emotion and perhaps even finances invested, that they simply will not be able to bring themselves to accept the reality of what has occurred. As long these people exist and continue to accept the word of these scientists without question, they can be used to help enable those who wish to use the fear of global warming to tax and gain power over the common folk.

I feel there should be a complete and full investigation into this matter and arrests should be made for fraud. After all, these people stood to gain financially through future government research grants and likely in ways as yet uncovered. I doubt this will happen. Those who would be in charge of such investigations also stood to gain from this scam and it is possible many of them are involved. Though there is likely plausible deniability in place, there are likely several aspects of this affair that certain powerful people don't want exposed. If major media outlets were to raise a stink about what is going on and launch their own investigations, do some real investigative reporting for a change, then it would be possible those in power would be forced to do something if just for appearances. This doesn't seem likely either, judging from early media reaction to this news. The Fox network may be an exception, we will have to wait and see. Yet even if all the media reported fairly on this discovery I feel there would still be a few who would continue to believe and idolize Al Gore and his ilk. There are always some who will take their denial to the grave.

As I've said in two recent articles and earlier in this article, the man made climate change scare has not been about climate change or the environment at all, but about money, power and control. I've been saying this for years. I would like to be able to say I told you so to those out there who have berated me and my opinion, but I cannot. First off, it's not a nice thing to do and I hate it when it happens to me, and it has happened. But secondly, there is still an elite out there that want to carry through this agenda of theirs. They want a world socialist government, a world bureaucracy if you will, and they'll use every tactic they can think of to get it. These are intelligent, rich, greedy, powerful individuals that may still have a couple of tricks up their sleeves, or may just not care at this late date what we think and what evidence has been exposed. They may simply force this agenda through. Yet they still want something from us. They want obedience. They want us to think of ourselves as powerless. Keep this in mind as events unfold over the next couple of weeks on the road to Copenhagen. Watch what happens and how they react. Remember that sometimes the best course of action is to peacefully refuse to obey. Remember that you have the power to say “No.”

The Corporate Media's Dancing Monkeys

I remember at one point during the Bush years, when things looked particularly dark and the police state was closing in, I saw Youtube clips of a man by the name of Keith Olbermann speak poignantly to power about the evisceration of our constitution. He pointed out to President Bush that most of the first ten amendments, the portion of the Constitution known as the Bill of Rights, had been violated by the laws that at the time had recently been passed. Week after week, for a time, he admonished the administration and berated Bush for dishonoring the ideals that this nation supposedly stands for and violating the Constitution, a document they swore an oath to defend. For a moment in time, I found hope in the fact that someone in the mainstream media seemed to get it, that someone seemed to understand the concepts of freedom and liberty and was pointing out the abuser and ringing the alarm bells against the coming fascism. Then something happened.

Barack Obama was elected president. Mr. Olbermann continued to question the validity and constitutionality of Mr. Bush and his administration even after the election, and with good reason, but his tone was a little giddier. Mr. Obama had been elected and the future looked brighter. I remained more sober, however. It seemed that Mr. Olbermann couldn't see what I could, and thousands of others who had supported honest candidates, that Mr. Obama was a slick huckster like so many politicians and did not mean one word of his eloquent orations. As time went by I began to believe that perhaps Mr. Olbermann did not care one iota about the Constitution. Perhaps he simply used it as a partisan tool to help his guy get into office. Or perhaps Mr. Olbermann was just acting. He is likely a very good actor. He was just doing his job. He was just a dancing monkey on the end of a leash doing what his masters wanted him to do.

I believe this because I haven't seen any videos lately with Mr. Olbermann complaining about how much Mr. Obama disrespects the constitution. I haven't seen him complain that the unconstitutional laws passed by the Bush administration are still being used by the Obama administration. I haven't seen him complain about the unconstitutionality of the health care bill, or the continuance of the bank bailouts, or the government takeover of the auto industry, or the continuing subversion of American values through these never ending wars. It seems that to him it is unacceptable when a Republican administration violates the Constitution, but it's no big deal when a Democrat administration does the same, or maybe it's just unacceptable to his bosses.

But it's not just Keith Olbermann who behaves in such an unprincipled manner. In fact, almost all of the mainstream media political pundits will sell out American principle and condone unconstitutional actions as long as their big government party is doing it. We've come to expect people like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity to sing the praises of Republicans while insulting and degrading Democrats. Likewise we've become used to left leaning pundits encouraging support for the Democrats and their agenda while blaming Republicans and their agenda for the woes of the world. None of these people give a whit about the Constitution. None of them care about liberty, individual freedom, or any principle America was supposedly founded on. These men don't seem to want to report on the manipulation behind the political scene. They only seem interested in keeping their followers divided, likely because that is what their controllers tell them to do. They are quite willing to point out the unconstitutional nature of one agenda while ignoring the unconstitutional nature of the other. They are quite willing to use the founding document of our nation to divide its citizenry.

There is little or no investigative reporting going on anymore, at least nothing substantive. We are bombarded with political opinion and satire instead of fact that would expose the vast majority of politicians for the anti constitution shysters they really are, regardless of their party affiliation. Any real investigation, any genuine evaluation, has been left to the modern day amateur and semi professional alternative media bloggers and reporters to disseminate, with some notable exceptions. The establishment corporate media focuses mostly on non issues and distractions as important matters get glossed over and even more important actions go unreported or under reported. In this way, newsworthy events which should anger or activate the public pass under most people's radar and remain outside the public consciousness. This is one way to keep the public out of the debate.

Another way to keep the public at bay when it comes to controlling perceptions and opinions is through the use of spin. Such tactics serve only to keep the faithful in line, keep them from thinking for themselves, and give them talking points to use when arguing with the faithful of the other major party. Of course, like so many things, the use of spin is not always obvious. It can, in fact, sometimes be very subtle. This can be particularly true when it comes to freedom messages. Glenn Beck, who has been delivering quite a nice freedom message lately, is a good example of this. Though I like his tone of late, he seems to comprehend liberty and explains aspects of it to his audience in a simple and entertaining fashion, he does have a checkered history of intolerance which makes me somewhat skeptical of his agenda.

Could he be trying to gain the trust of liberty oriented folks in order to use his influence to try to convince them to ignore an important issue? It was not too long ago he was accusing certain groups of being dangerous and calling for the censorship of their message. Labeling dissidents who protest the establishment storyline or explanation as truthers, birthers, deniers, or any other er does not make them crazy, violent or wrong. It makes them people who are not satisfied with the establishment answers or the corporate media's reporting. They have valid concerns which should be addressed in a respectful manner. As long secrecy remains, veiled threats are made and honest debate is shut down out of hand, there will be questions as to the validity of official, establishment answers and as to exactly who the corporate media serves.

Freedom of speech, indeed the freedom of expression, applies to all no matter how vile, radical, offensive or otherwise disagreeable to either the majority, a specific minority, anyone in power, or indeed any particular group or individual. Anyone using their influence, especially one as influential as a television commentator, in such a manner, for the purpose of curtailing the free flow of ideas by force, should not be encouraged. Instead, an open discussion of the facts, contradictions, and relevant issues should ensue with available research, sourced, proven and disproven referenced rather than resorting to name calling and fear mongering to advance an agenda. Given Rupert Murdoch's history of supporting whatever political ideology was in power or seemed poised to take power instead of standing on principle, it seems, in my opinion, prudent to continue to question his motivations and therefore the motivations of those working for him.

I am happy to see the principles of liberty and freedom becoming an issue. It gives my heart joy to think that these issues are gaining more consideration, even and especially in the mainstream media. I'd like to think that this is because the owners of such media have become principled, but I believe it is has more to do with market pressures as more people scorn newspapers and television and turn to the Internet for their information. That's not a bad thing. That at least shows that many people, likely more than reported, are aware they've been played and are looking to other sources for truth. It shows that perhaps the message of socialism, control and world government is falling on deaf ears.

It has been said that the attention span of humans is shrinking. Perhaps that's true, or perhaps the average human just hasn't had anything that interesting to focus on for some time now. Certainly it has been shown that when an individual finds something that holds his interest his attention span greatly increases. I believe that the common man is slowly once again discovering the principles of freedom and his ears are perking up. He is showing an interest in learning that which the establishment has neglected for so long to teach and has, in fact, attempted to conceal. Perhaps cable news viewership is declining because people have seen the dancing monkeys for too long and are becoming bored with what they see. The common folk are thirsty for truth and hunger for information that makes sense, and they have come to realize they will not find it from those who have historically manipulated reality for their own corporate agenda.

2009 Continental Congress: Historical Observations and Outlook

History has a strange way of repeating itself. In the late 1700s, in America, people were experiencing the culmination of the Enlightenment. They were on the fringes of the greatest empire at the time, an empire run by the parliamentary monarchy of King George III in a land far from the colonies. As is often true with empires, England was involved in several wars. War costs money. Money can be hard to come by. Monarchs at the time used the fear of war to fleece the wealth of the populace, likely making the case that they had to take the fight to the enemy so the enemy would not come to their shores. As it so happened the English colonies located in the Americas were creating quite a bit of wealth. King George III felt it was time for the colonies to chip in and pay their fair share for the protection the empire provided.

The colonies were peopled by an adventurous lot. They had left behind their lives in hopes of finding something better in a new, supposedly free world. They found themselves in a strange, wild, sometimes harsh land which needed to be tamed. So they kept their ties with the old world. They had left behind family and friends and familiarities. They certainly did not wish to severe all ties with the familiar institutions they had left behind, yet circumstances dictated they develop many of their own. It was on the foundation of liberty and self determination that they decided to build the new institutions, for they were forced by distance, surroundings, and old world technology to be self sufficient and to often depend on their own small communities, or even individual efforts. The spirit of independence had taken root on these shores long before the Declaration of Independence was written.

During the first Continental Congress, where much passionate debate took place, many representatives wished to maintain their ties to England and its king. Many feared losing the security the empire provided. In fact, Georgia did not attend because of the threat the indigenous population presented to the people of that colony. In the end, the Continental Congress decided to send a list of grievances to the king in hopes of resolving such grievances in a fair and timely fashion. The king, unfortunately, decided to ignore this request and did not redress these grievances. Two years later the Declaration of Independence was penned and the colonies absolved their allegiance with the British crown.

There are parallels to the first Continental Congress and the 2009 Continental Congress that is taking place in St. Charles, Illinois. Perhaps the most obvious is that government, such as it exists at in this nation at the federal level, refuses to acknowledge and redress the grievances so many have put before it. Time and again the people have exercised proper decorum and used the mechanisms set up by the state to address such concerns and time and again those mechanisms have failed in their design. When institutions that were set up to ensure the security of individual rights fail to do so it is time to re-examine those institutions and make the changes necessary to reflect and support the purposes for which those institutions were established.

The system of governance that was established for this nation long ago has been usurped by other interests. It has been replaced by a system foreign to a freedom loving people that seeks to make the people dependent upon it rather than the other way around. If we are to remain independent then it may be necessary for a contingent of individuals, who are more representative of the people as a whole than professional politicians, to reassert their power and direct the attention of those serving in said institutions to the failures of the system to protect and act in accordance with the principles this nation was founded upon. Otherwise, we risk the possibility, indeed the probability, of allowing the depravities of an uncaring behemoth of a government answerable only to itself to run roughshod over the populace.

I don't know that anyone realizes just how many people have been harmed by the current system of governance the populace of this nation currently tolerates. From the federal down to the local level, self important individuals have abused the power granted to them by the people in numerous ways. They have violated individual rights by physically, mentally and financially harming individuals exercising those rights. There are those serving in the 2009 Continental Congress who have experienced such abuses first hand. They understand better than most that there are many who serve in bureaucracies across the nation that have come to feel that while the average person living in these borders must mercilessly answer to laws as written, they themselves are not held accountable for their incursions against natural law and individual rights. In many cases, the bureaucrats refuse to follow even their own laws.

Jeff Williams, one of the delegates from the state of Washington, provides an example. He is an entrepreneur who wished to establish a business. Being new to such endeavors, he was unsure as to the laws, and specifically as to tax law, and so he turned to the IRS for help in filing his taxes. The IRS proceeded to give him directions which he followed diligently. He continued on with his life thinking he had no worries and had paid his required tribute to the tax collector. Months later he was informed he had made a mistake and was summoned to their offices where he was to meet with an IRS agent.

Mr. William's wife, having a vested interest in the outcome of the meeting, escorted her husband to the IRS offices. When she pointed out to the IRS agent that the IRS's own rules state that when a mistake is made due to faulty instructions given by an IRS employee the taxpayer is not liable for accrued fines, the Williams were escorted from the building by armed guards. This is the typical government answer to grievances. This is their redress. We are answered with more harm. They refuse to follow their own laws, and no one is held accountable. This was done to a law abiding businessman, a productive member of society. One must wonder how many others are treated in such a fashion? Is it any wonder the anger is growing to such proportions? How long will we tolerate such transgressions and abuses?

Another example is that of Catherine Bleish, a delegate from Missouri. She was arrested because she was standing in line outside a courthouse and when ordered (along with everyone in the crowd) to stand against a wall made the comment “Get in line, show us your papers, give us your money, welcome to the new America” to another person waiting in the same line. The law enforcement officer overheard and didn't take kindly to the comment. He then inappropriately asked if anyone had a leash for her. He then threatened to arrest her if she didn't leave in two minutes. When she asked what she would be arrested for the officer told her, “I will make something up” in front of at least ten witnesses. He then proceeded to leave and two minutes or so later came back and arrested her for failure to comply with a lawful order.

An order is not lawful if it is unconstitutional. Ms. Bleish had done nothing wrong. She was expressing her opinion in a peaceful manner. The police officer didn't agree with her sentiment and rather than do the civil thing and engage her in a polite debate as to the merits of her statement to try to persuade her that her opinion of the new American society was incorrect, he abused the power he had been entrusted with and validated her observations. Those who are supposed to be our public servants have become the masters. Law enforcement officers used to be known as peace officers. We are taught that they are important, respected members of our community, but I have seen or heard about example after example of law enforcement officers not respecting the rights of the individual and blatantly disregarding them. Respect that is given and not reciprocated is respect undeserved. It is, in fact, quite often nothing less than fear and perhaps even terror. When such official abuse occurs it serves no one. This abuse may have been a small one, but far greater abuses have occurred, some of which have led to death. This small abuse is indicative of an attitude endemic in those who have been entrusted with even a small amount of power.

It is a sad thing to see so many harmed. It is a terrible thing to discover that what you were taught when you were younger is not true, that your country is not the haven it was meant to be and is not a bastion of freedom, liberty and justice for the world to flock to. We may not have the problems of some third world countries with their horrific abuses and genocidal tendencies, but we are heading that way. The bigger that government grows, the harder it becomes to stop the waste, corruption and abuse taking place. This is a problem that the politicians in Washington, DC refuse to acknowledge, let alone deal with.

The delegates attending the 2009 Continental Congress are dealing with problems that elected officials should be concerned with. They have made personal sacrifices to do a job our elected representatives should be doing. With extremely few exceptions, those at the federal level who claim to represent us have failed in their duties to faithfully execute their offices and protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. Perhaps the people of this nation are partially to blame for not being as vigilant as we should have been. Perhaps it is not clear to those serving at the federal level that we wish to remain a free, self determined people. The delegates at this year's Continental Congress have done a good job at hashing out the instructions they wish to give to our elected representatives for redressing the grievances of the people and restoring proper respect and dedication to individual rights those serving in government need to have. There was much passionate debate and quite a bit of controversy, but from what I have observed the final product looks to be awesome. They will include quite a few ways that ordinary, average, every day Americans can become involved, and unlike government no force will be involved and this will be an entirely voluntary opt in system. If our elected officials had worked so diligently and remained so principled our problems would be light and our prosperity great.

2009 Continental Congress: First Thoughts and Impressions

There's an anger roiling throughout American society. Perhaps it reaches overseas into all of Western society, I can't say, but it's particularly palpable here, especially among the middle classes. People know that something is wrong. They may not be able to put their finger on exactly what is wrong, but they know something's not right. And there are many, many people who aren't sure what they should do about it. Most people feel their country is slipping away. They feel that the principles upon which this nation was built no longer have meaning. When the foundation of your society crumbles, then there will obviously be nothing left for your society to stand upon. There are many scenarios that could play out should this happen, some of them very frightening. As a freedom loving people seeking liberty for all, it should become incumbent upon each of us as individuals to do what we can to promote the restoration of the respect for individual rights that has been lost to those serving in the federal government. When such tyranny rears its ugly head, it becomes necessary for concerned men and women to speak out or their silence may be construed as condoning the actions.

A group of 104 men and women from 48 states have decided to convene a Continental Congress in St. Charles, Illinois this week and next in an attempt to make their voices heard. The “We the People Foundation” has sponsored this event which began on November 11th with much pomp and ceremony. I attended the event on the 12th to try to get a feel for what was being accomplished and I plan on attending more in the coming days.

There is, I have heard, some cynicism in the movement as to exactly what will be accomplished with this event. In my estimation, such cynicism is good. There is a lot to be cynical about. Those in charge of the federal government have more than proved they have no respect for what the American people think, how they feel, or what they want. Recent events have shown they have no consideration for the wants of the majority, let alone a minority with little or no funding. Those in charge or working within the system seem to operate under two rules; “He who has the gold makes the rules” and “Might makes right.” It seems futile to go up against the leviathan the federal government has become.

In the late eighteenth century the nation's founding fathers were in much the same boat. They were ruled over by the largest, strongest bureaucracy of the time. They felt they weren't being represented in their government structure. They felt their grievances weren't being heard by their government, that they were unfairly preyed upon by those in charge of a government out of touch and far away. They gathered together a group of men and met for the purpose of trying to find a way to resolve their differences in a peaceful manner with the empire that had birthed them. War and violence was the last thing they wished for, yet providence brought these things upon them and from this conflict ideals and conventions were developed so that future generations could live without fear of government and the power that corrupts it.

So evolved the great nation which we inherit. Unfortunately, it seems that certain aspects of our governance have devolved. Once again, we are ruled over by the largest and strongest bureaucracy of our time. Once again, we are preyed upon by a government that seems out of touch and far away. Once again our grievances aren't being heard. Once again there is no representation, and the amount we are taxed has far surpassed what our forefathers wouldn't put up with. So the time has come to gather and attempt to resolve the differences between the people and those who wish to govern them.

The delegates from the states that were appointed to this new Continental Congress are doers. These are people who wish to hold accountable those who would infringe upon the rights of the people. They are those who wish to empower the common folk rather than the politicians. They are interested in taking action rather than merely spouting rhetoric. So they may get together and argue, they may disagree with each other as to an appropriate course of action, they may have to hammer out the details and come up with solutions that will anger some and concern others, but they are trying. They are not merely sitting upon their hands, hoping for change and praying for the best. They certainly are not like the robotic followers of certain established political machines spouting childish slogans such as “Yes we can” and then they don't. It is time to challenge the establishment, not placate it. It is time to demonstrate to the political establishment in Washington, DC that there are still people in this country who care about their rights and liberties and who wish them to obey the law that is the Constitution.

It is difficult to say what will come out of this Continental Congress. It is difficult to predict the significance it will have on the future. I'm sure the founding fathers were uncertain as to their future also. Indeed, had they lost their struggle, their names may very well have been erased from the annuls of history rather than revered as they are today. Those who sit in their ivory towers need to be reminded that they are not the leaders, they are the servants. There are certain laws they agreed to abide by when they took office. Indeed, they swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. It may indeed be futile to expect those who broke the system to fix it, but it is necessary to ask or they will certainly never try.

This is an event that should be news. It should be heard far and wide that such an event is taking place so that more can get involved. It's such a shame that mainstream media has been so corrupted by the same multinational corporate interests that have corrupted the federal government. As such, this event remains hidden from national consciousness. We common folk are all tired of being ignored, brow beaten and completely disrespected by those we entrust with the power to govern. We expect them to honor their oaths and they continuously refuse to do so. We need to back these people making an heroic effort to communicate with our supposed representatives that we simply wish them to adhere to the law that was laid down in the blood, sweat and tears of our forebears. We need to support these men and women who are shouting at power that it must be constrained rather than whispering in fear of it in some hole-in-the-wall neighborhood tavern but doing nothing to stop it. We must make it clear that there is nothing more important than the principles of liberty upon which our nation was built and that without these life itself becomes meaningless. Please help spread the word that this event is taking place and that there are those who still care about the principles that are what America is supposed to stand for.

The Importance of the Constitution in Reclaiming the Republic Peacefully

Nancy Pelosi was recently asked where in the Constitution she (and congress) got the power to pass laws involving health care. Her reply was “Are you serious?” That was the best answer this woman could come up with? Are you serious? Is she serious? The woman supposedly took an oath to uphold the Constitution. This woman is third in line to take the office of the presidency should some unforeseen catastrophe or political upheaval cause the president and vice president to be unable to fulfill their duties. This is supposed to be the document that enshrines American values and encodes into law the powers that those elected to federal office are able to exercise. Yes, the reporter was and should be serious when he asked that question. Nancy Pelosi should be serious about paying attention to the Constitution and following its mandates. We should all be serious about making certain the politicians obey the Constitution and prevent them from usurping the powers the founding fathers delegated to us, we the people.

So why aren't they serious? They aren't serious because so far the American people have not been serious about enforcing it. The American people seem to have forgotten that the Constitution was written to constrain the power of the government, particularly the federal government, not as a mere “guideline” for how those in power “should” act. It is the supreme law of the land and it is meant to be obeyed by the politicians in Washington, DC. It was not written as a document meant to rule over individuals or outline how they should behave on their own private property. The United States of America is a nation meant to be inhabited by people who believe they are sovereign individuals capable of creating their own destinies, as all humans across the planet should.

It's difficult for some to understand how Ms. Pelosi could get away with being so arrogant, pompous, and presumptive. It's difficult to understand why we have allowed so many politicians to stay in power when they are as full of hubris as Nancy Pelosi and so indignant when faced with constituents voicing their concerns. I don't know exactly when or how the American people became so apathetic, I don't know how or when they gave up on being involved with their neighbors, communities and safeguarding their freedoms, but then I don't believe it was something that happened at a marked point in time nor something that happened in a distinct way. Despite their violent history, I believe in an esoteric way the American people in general have always been a peaceful group. At the very least they have always been seeking peace.

The people who first settled this nation did so in an attempt to escape tyranny. They came here seeking the opportunities that freedom provided. What they may not have realized is the tyranny they carried in their hearts. What they may not have learned are lessons in freedom such as to be free you must allow others to live free also. Perhaps, since all these people were raised under the heavy boots of tyranny and control, they became the very tyrants they were trying to escape when they arrived on these shores and found themselves no longer burdened with an oppressive state. The reasons shouldn't matter so much as we have hopefully evolved since then, yet the better we understand them the easier it may be to break the cycle. The lessons of the past need to be learned so the mistakes made back then are not repeated, yet that simple sounding proposition seems difficult to execute.

Our founding fathers seemed to have understood this concept. That's why they included the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. That's why they tried their best to divide the powers and put them at odds with each other. Yet almost immediately these concepts built into the Constitution came under assault. Fortunately, for quite some time the federal government respected individual liberty for the most part and this nation of immigrants grew and prospered. Fortunately the principles of the Constitution were, for the most part, adhered to by those in power and the common man found himself attaining unprecedented prosperity through freedom. It was the promise of freedom and the opportunities it provided that attracted so many who were willing to work hard to build new lives for themselves and their families, not a government that promised to take care of them from cradle to grave.

It could be argued that the principles of freedom were first seriously compromised during and after the civil war. It was during this period when power was solidified in a centralized bureaucracy in Washington, DC instead of remaining spread out and maintained at the state capitals across the country, where the common folk could keep a closer eye on it. It was during this period where we first see the concept of sovereign individuals capable of determining their own destinies subverted into the concept of “citizens” who are bound and subordinate to the power of the state, a poorly defined entity that could at any time mutate into something terrifying. Still, even after such a power grab, this nation managed to hold dear to its founding notions and respected the principles it was built upon. As such, the newly defined citizens, war weary and eager to rebuild, set about the business of conquering a continent and creating even more wealth.

It was in 1913, in my humble opinion, when the seeds to the downfall of the American republic were truly sown. This was the year the Federal Reserve was created. This was the year that states lost their power over the senate which fell to mob rule. This was the year the internationalists got their feet in the door and began buying up the politicians. Had the people of this nation taken action back then, history may have been very different. One can only speculate on just how prosperous humanity would be had true freedom won the day, but instead this nation took a turn toward socialist, collectivist thinking and stifled the innovation, creativity and potential of humankind leading to the mess we have today.

One can hardly blame our predecessors. Its easy to fall prey to the devious nature and promises of the international scam artists. It was easy to stop thinking, to just relax and enjoy the artificial indulgences of the twenties. It was easy to accept the socialist solutions and handouts of the thirties and become dependent on government. It was easy to accept the propaganda of empire and turn a blind eye to its hypocrisy after World War II. Perhaps the prosperity of the fifties, the boom in wealth and the obsession to obtain what became known as the “American dream” helped create a blind spot in mass consciousness as to the cost of that dream. Perhaps modern marvels in technology helped numb the pain of the never ending wars and occupations that come with maintaining an empire. But mostly, perhaps the American people have ignored the transgressions of our political servants and allowed the erosion of their respect for our rights because we have enjoyed such abundance for so long. That has now changed and will continue to get worse until our freedoms are once again revered and honored by the politicians who claim to represent the people.

Those who point out that the Constitution has not protected us have a valid point, but it is one that is not completely accurate. The Constitution cannot protect us. It is just a piece of paper with words written on it. There is power to the words, but the power does not come from the document itself. The power comes from the ideas and principles such words instill in the hearts and minds of men. It is up to us to determine when and how to apply that power. Those people in congress who refuse to recognize the inherent rights of the individual need to be reminded that they are put there to serve the individual, not the special interests or the rich corporations who pay for their campaigns, and to protect the rights of the individual, not to violate those rights for some misguided philanthropic cause. Forced charity is not charitable.

I have heard some people recently make the claim that once our rights are lost they can never be regained. I don't agree with that statement because I don't believe that rights, which are part of our natural makeup, can be truly lost. They can be violated or respected by those who deign to rule over us and force us to bend to their dictates. Words on paper declaring they shall not do such things will have no power over them unless the people exercise their rights. I know its been a long time since such muscles on the body politic have been used, but it is time for the people to flex their rights and exercise their power. The congress now needs to be hounded and reminded that the people are serious about the Constitution and intend to make certain that their oaths to defend it are honored.

Over the weekend, on a Saturday night when very few were paying attention, when the news had turned to other matters, the House of Representatives approved a health care reform bill that is sure to put many out of business, put even more burden on the already overburdened taxpayers, and ensure a monopolistic privilege for the large insurance companies that the taxpayers have already bailed out. They had to do it like that because they were aware of the popular discontent that had been expressed for the bill. I saw a picture of Ms. Pelosi after the vote and she looked like the cat that ate the canary. She had a huge grin on her face as if she had won a great victory. What was a victory to her is a great blow to American ideals and the principles of liberty, individual responsibility and self determination. She and her colleagues who voted for this nineteen hundred page monstrosity of a bill are seriously not serious about honoring their oath to defend the Constitution or the principles its words ensconce in our collective psyche.

Clearly these people couldn't care less about what the people want. Clearly they couldn't care less about the individual rights they have usurped. Clearly they couldn't care less about real change. Clearly they don't even fear the specter of not getting reelected, likely because the voting system in this country with its electronic balloting has been rigged for quite some time. No, as I've said many times before, they only care about their power, their money and their privileges. It's time to do something about that. If the bill makes it through the Senate and is signed into law, which I suspect is likely to happen since no one in government seems to be listening to the people, then businesses need to say enough and to refuse to abide by these new laws. They need to refuse to pay the fines. This will require a few brave souls as the government bullies will likely extract quite a toll, perhaps even imprisonment, but then isn't this supposed to be the home of the brave? In any case, it needs to be shown that although those inhabiting the halls of congress don't care for the constitutionality of the laws they pass, we the people do.

The people of this nation have quite boisterously displayed their disgust lately for the congress critters who continue to ignore the shouting. The Constitution is a legal document that they are bound to by virtue of their oaths and the offices they hold. Perhaps the time has come to hold them personally accountable for their actions. Since we can't seem to get them to take the Constitution seriously by protest or vote, perhaps there is a way to hold them accountable for violating it in a peaceful courtroom setting. The Constitution is, after all, the law they are supposed to obey and it should be used as such.

Shame on the Big, Centralized, World Government Deniers

I had nothing better to do the other day and was browsing through some blogs and some news stories. I was surprised to see so many people still vehemently arguing about the reality of climate change and insisting that something needs to be done about it. Many pointed to this graph and that graph, this scientist and that scientist, this study and that study, this piece of propaganda and that piece of propaganda, and then cried about how arguing about climate change was going to lead us down the path to mankind's destruction. Both sides of the debate claim the other side is lying. Both sides present arguments that may be considered convincing to some. But there was something I noticed about those who argue that climate change is man made. Many of them have taken to calling those who argue against them “climate change deniers.”

Let's make this clear. I am not a “climate change denier.” I agree that climate change exists. I just disagree that mankind has a major impact on it. In fact, I will point out that climate change has existed for millennia. Looking back on the geologic record there is much evidence that climate change existed long before humans walked the earth. More recent records show climate change occurring before mankind was industrialized. I find it hard to believe that mankind has had that much of an impact on climate change and the evidence I've seen that we have has been weak at best, in my humble opinion, especially considering the multitude of climates this planet has seen for millions and even billions of years.

I would assert that a much, much greater contributor to climate change is the sun. I don't really need a scientist to tell me this. I can observe on my own that when one hemisphere is exposed to more of the sun's energy the climate is warmer and when less of the sun's energy reaches it the climate is cooler. I don't think it's that farfetched an idea that if the sun puts out more energy than the earth's climate will become more tropical and if the sun's energy output declines the earth's climate will become more arctic like. It would not cross my mind, however, to label anyone who disagrees with that assessment a solar wind denier. At least it wouldn't have if I hadn't seen the term “climate change denier” used so often.

But, to take it even further, I do agree that mankind does have an impact on the climate. It's just an infinitesimal impact. It is so small that I certainly don't believe it can create a change that can be measured. In fact, I would suggest that the impact that man has on climate is countered quite effectively by natural cycles. I remember way back in grade school reading about the impact that termites have on the climate. It seems they put out tons of methane into the atmosphere from digesting the wood they eat when they burrow into it. It occurred to me even back then that any life has an extremely small impact on climate just by engaging in the process of living, sort of like a butterfly effect. I don't think that taxing termites would be an effective way of preventing climate change, nor would exterminating them.

To further clarify my position, I would point out that I don't deny that man has an even greater impact on the environment. Indeed, man's activities produce quite a number of dangerous and deadly pollutants that can and do cause death and destruction in the natural world. This, however, is quite a bit different from climate. Lead, mercury and other heavy metals along with radioactive materials and many other byproducts of war and industry can have a devastating effect on the environment. It seems to me that carbon dioxide is one of the least of these byproducts to worry about, and we probably shouldn't worry about it at all. Without carbon dioxide, life on this planet likely wouldn't even exist, at least not as we know it. Plants need carbon dioxide to live just as we need oxygen, and we need plants to survive. It seems to me that there are far greater hazards than carbon dioxide to worry about, but if we weren't worried about it then those who wish to impose taxes on us would not be able to totally control our very basic activities down to our every breath.

So, I don't deny that problems exist. I simply disagree with the solutions put forward, especially by government and most especially by scientists on the payroll of the United Nations. Perhaps when I was younger and more naive I would have been more inclined to believe such “experts.” In fact, there was a time when I believed that perhaps mankind was having a great effect on the world's climate. Then I started listening to the solutions the politicians were suggesting. That's when I realized these people were not worried about the climate. As I grew older and observed the operations of government I began to understand its nature. Government is not for the benefit or welfare of the average man, or the world, or nature, or the climate, it is for the benefit and welfare of the few at the top of the heap. These people are as uncaring as they come. It seems to me that perhaps many of them believe they are very clever and spend their days trying to figure out the most devious ways to try to fool the general public. Sure, some may have blinded themselves with the excuse of good intentions and given up thinking beyond the dogma so that they can continue to excuse their own behavior and do their jobs, but the ones at the top, the ones giving the orders and pulling the strings, they must be aware of what this is really all about in order to maintain the illusion.

Still, there are those who are going to stick to their guns and insist that anyone who thinks as I do is a climate change denier. They are going to insist that I and anyone else with my same mindset isn't looking at any of the science or is ignoring it in favor of “crazy” conspiracy theorists, discredited junk scientists or scientists paid off and working for oil, coal, or other energy companies. Fine. No amount of arguing would convince them anyway. They are so set in their ways, so enamored with their belief that man is the all powerful evil creating devastating climate change, that if the sun were to have a sudden burst of energy output tomorrow, and we were all quick fried, the last thoughts going through their heads would be that the SUV their neighbor started that morning was to blame for putting the last bit of carbon dioxide into the environment that put the climate over the tipping point. If they want to believe I'm a climate change denier, so be it. Likely there's not a thing I could say (or write) that would change their minds. Yet this next bit is directed at them.

If I'm a climate change denier, then perhaps they are big government deniers. Perhaps we are all deniers of one sort or another and perhaps they simply refuse to believe that big government exists. Perhaps they don't think that there exists people in this world who desire greatly to laud power over every other human being on the planet. Perhaps they don't think there exists a parasitic agency that will use every excuse, every trick it can think of, to tax those of us in this world who produce so that they can live in opulence off our hard work. Perhaps they don't believe there are people who wish to siphon off and control the wealth created by others so that they can live the life of Riley without producing anything of value. Perhaps they deny the existence of documents, treaties and other framework agreements that would legally bind the future rulers of nations and the people they are supposed to represent to some worldwide taxing body. Certainly they don't seem to want to talk about such issues and get pretty darn persnickety when such issues are brought up.

It seems to me that the same people who are solar wind deniers are also big, centralized, world government deniers. They cry that such things don't exist. They cry that such things are not being planned. They may cry that anyone who believes that such a thing as world government is in the works is paranoid. They will quickly slap a crazy label on anyone who warns that a power elite is attempting to establish a worldwide structure to rule over mankind with greater legal authority than already exists. They cry that everyone who looks at or studies the actions and effects these things have or will have on the ecological and economical systems of this world are chasing phantoms. While they will shout that others refuse to examine the “real” science of a problem, they seem unable to recognize real political aspects. They quake in their boots with fear and seem to desire to have all their money and liberties taken from them just for a few soothing words and a meaningless promise that everything is going to be okay.

But, then again, I could be wrong. Perhaps those accusing the people who are pointing to the sun and factors other than mankind of being climate change deniers understand quite a bit about how big government works. Perhaps they realize that in order to get populations to submit to their terror/extortion techniques the populations need to be fearful of some great calamity or enemy. Perhaps they realize too well that it is easier to exercise control over people when those same people are asking to be controlled. Perhaps those accusing others of being climate change deniers are not themselves deniers of big, centralized, world government, but enablers of those institutions. I suppose there is the possibility that they are earning a paycheck from an institution that is supported by the ruling elite. Yet I find it hard to believe that so many could be that nefarious. Most likely there is a mix out there in the media of both big, centralized world government deniers and enablers. Still, it's sad to think about. I don't know which is sadder, those who continue to be fooled by slick propagandist control freaks and sincerely support their point of view or those who will sell out their intellectual principles and honesty to the highest bidder and make a conscious effort to fool others.