Random Thoughts

Quote of the day: A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. - Thomas Jefferson

Found this web site linked from a printing company website: The History of Taxation.


Now that the Presidential candidates are declaring years ahead of the election, the cartoon above becomes even more true. My questions are:

• If being a United States Senator is so easy that you can do it in your spare time while doing years of campaigning and fund-raising, what are the rest of the Senators doing with all that free time (idle minds are the playgound of the devil...)? ...and why are we paying them so much?
  
• Even if they are only campaigning when the Senate is not in session, how are they representing their states? How are they studying up on key issues?
  
• If being a US Senator is a full time job, how can those running effectively do the jobs that we're paying them so highly to do?

I like that commercial that says "What if firefighters ran the country..." ... if only.

Maybe I missed something, suddenly I'm seeing Ken Griffey, Jr. listed as "Griffey Jr." in the box scores on ESPN. Has Senior come back to play? That's the only reason I can think that they would need to distinguish him that way. Similarly, I noticed Patrick Ewing, Jr's jersey actually says "Ewing, Jr." on it. Now I know that both Mr. Ewings went to the same school, Georgetown, but they are not playing together so I fail to see the need.

Which leads me to another sports peeve. Why does any team feel the need to put first initials on the jerseys of players who share the same last name? There is a GIGANTIC number on the front and back of the player's shirt that distinguishes the two. Are fans so lazy that they can't figure out that #85 is Chad Johnson and #32 is Rudi Johnson? It gets even worse when teams then start to spell out the first name and or middle name in order to clearly distinguish which player is which. Perhaps we should do away with numbers all together. I kind of like the attitude of the teams that refuse to put names on home jerseys. Fans know which player is which.

'nuff said.

Deer Thoughts

I think this email has been going around a while but it's still worth a post. In a May 2006 interview conducted with British journalist Robert Chalmers for The Independent on Sunday:

"What do these deer think when they see you coming?" I ask him. "Here comes the nice guy who puts out our dinner? Or, there's the man who shot my brother?"

"I don't think they're capable of either of those thoughts, you Limey a*******. They're only interested in three things: the best place to eat, having sex and how quickly they can run away. Much like the French."

Don't mess with Ted.

Thanks, Johnny.

Snopes.com/politics/soapbox/nugent.asp

April 15th - the Real April Fools Day

Welcome to the real April Fools Day. I was thinking about the three big Presidential candidates making their empassioned pleas for donations during the Idol Gives Back event last week. I saw only glimpses of the event but I was fortunate(?) enough to catch our candidates.

How much more could people give if we didn't have this punative tax burden heaped onto our backs? After listening to all these politicians I finally get it. The whole problem with the the Government is that they don't have enough of my money. I wonder what would happen if we had a fair tax system...

By the way, what was with Bono defining the "new Americans" as the kind of people who will dig deep to give to Idol Gives Back? Seems to me that the "old" Americans have given quite a bit. Why are we even entertaining these ideas that there is something wrong with us?

Corporate Taxes

Why don't people understand this? Expenses and costs flow downhill to the customers and the employees. If you hammer the corporation (oil or otherwise), the natural process is either that the corporation must then either cut expenses (wages & wage increases) or charge more (cost of product). It hurts American families more than corporations. I like the quote that Yogi added along with this:

“Nothing is easier, or more emotionally satisfying, than blaming high prices on those who charge them, rather than on those who cause them.” –Thomas Sowell

Good job Red Planet Cartoons.

Watch Before the Election

Tony B sent this link over. You might think you want Government-run health care, but how many Government-run service programs can you say you're truly happy with? If you think dealing with an HMO is a pain now - consider how it will be when the HMO is run by Big Brother.

FreeMarketCure.com

Superdelegate Dinners and Ethics

If I remember my Ethics 101 training, if I accept a gift from someone who wants to influence my decisions at work, that is unethical. If I offer someone else a gift in order to gain an advantage in how they do their job - that's unethical.

I keep picturing a defense attorney taking the jury out to a big fancy dinner in the middle of deliberations. Would that be okay?

Maybe others are doing it too, but it just doesn't sound right to me.

Clinton Wines and Dines Superdelegates

So Long, William F. Buckley

I know it's a wee bit late, but I just had to say farewell to one of the truly unique and talented conservative minds.

Good Overview on Mr. Buckley

FISA Falls as House Vacations

If you don't think Congress dropping the ball on FISA is a big deal, you aren't paying attention.

From the New York Post:
"February 18, 2008 — The Protect America Act - a modernization of the three-decade old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which authorizes intercepts of foreign communications - has expired.

"Before departing on a 10-day recess, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats Thursday refused to vote on a reauthorization of the law - even though it passed by a huge bipartisan majority in the Senate earlier in the week.

"However, House Democrats did find time to issue contempt-of-Congress citations to White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers. The citations relate to the overblown fired-federal-prosecutors “scandal” of a year ago.

"Thus, Pelosi and Co. made their priorities abundantly clear to the country:

• Play politics.
• Go on vacation.
• To hell with national security."

Judge Orders Homeschoolers into Government Indoctrination...er... Education

It appears that in California (look for other states to follow suit) your kids are not your kids - they belong to the state. I feel like that little lady from the Wendy's commercials except that instead of saying, "Where's the beef?" We should all be saying, "Where's the Freedom?"

Hopefully efforts like RescueYourChild.org and CaliforniaExodus.org will help to bring some sanity back to the state of California.

Judge Orders homeschoolers Into Government Education

Thanks, Tony...

Voting Intelligence

Or more people interested in what the "government" will give them... Thanks, Tony...

Barack Hussein Obama

More than 80 attorneys who have been offering free-of-charge legal services to Guantánamo detainees (what are they being held for?... terrorism?) issued a statement Monday supporting Democrat Barack [Hussein] Obama’s presidential bid.

Monica Lewinsky's Ex-Boyfriend's Wife for President

No Real Choices...

This is certainly how I felt on "super" Tuesday. And, based on various conversations - there were a bunch of us. Sheesh...

Stimulus Package 4 U

It's an election year and politicians everywhere are scrambling... to buy your vote. What started as a rebate, turned into Christmas in June.. May... wait, March... with everyone getting free money gifts.

Things that Make You Go Hmmm...

2007 Today's Toons Favorites

The results are in for the favorite cartoons of 2007 from readers of the FreeRepublic.com daily cartoon thread. See all of the top 40 at the link above. Here's #10:

Obama Facade

A good overview on Barrack Hussein Obama's "fresh" ideas on RedPlanet Cartoons... and how naive they really are.

Are You An Organ Donor Without Your Consent?

The British government wants to think so. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is advocating that doctors presume consent to organ donation unless individuals have opted out or family members object. Ever since I saw "the movie, "Coma"" years ago I've been a little leary of those who might value my organs more than me. At least before, not being an organ donor provided some modicum of defense. Not now - the mad doctors are closing in... how long before they start harvesting pre-death???

Organs to be taken without consent

US Constitution: Secular or Christian?

Was the US Constitution written as a secular document or as a Christian document? What makes you think so?

Common Sense on a Flight to DC

Even though the flight to DC was reminiscent of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (it's windy up here but pilot did a great job), I spent most of the flight reading Thomas Paine's Common Sense. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. I like the comparison of society versus government.

Society: Produced by our wants; affects our happiness positively by uniting our affections; encourages intercourse, is a patron, in every state is a blessing.

Government: Produced by our wickedness; affects our happiness negatively by restraining our vices; creates distinctions; is a punisher; even in its best state is but a necessary evil and it its worst state an intolerable one.

"For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform, and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same prudence which in every other case advises him out of two evils to choose the least. Wherefore, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others."

Is it correct to say that the bigger the government the more corrupt the people? Hmmm, there's some food for thought.

Rule of nature: "the more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered, and the easier repaired when disordered." Think about that and apply it to government or anything else in your life. It fits.