Ramblings of Sarge. I ain't dead yet.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe.

So you want to do whatever you can to go green to the end, eh?  What about after the end?  Here is the answer.

Oops! Sorry, I guess it is now called climate change. How about this nugget I found in a story at climatedepot.com in which the Artic seems to be cooler than the norm.

THE ARCTIC REMAINS ICY COLDThe average arctic temperature is still not above 32F--this the latest date in fifty years of record keeping that this has happened. Usually it is beginning to level off now and if it does so, it will stay near freezing on average in the arctic leading to still less melting than last summer which saw a 9% increase in arctic ice than in 2007.

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Lest anyone misunderstand, my previous piece, State Sovereignty: The Final Hope, was not meant to be an expression of desire for secession from the union by any state.  The actual intent was to clarify that the states set up the federal government, the states set the parameters for its organization, the states granted and limited its powers, and the states have the power to reign it in.  The question is, will they?

There were a few Governors who initially resisted the stimulus funds offered by the federal government.  They stood initially on principle before succumbing to public pressure.  Some rationalized the taking of some of the money after originally telling us how it didn't come without strings attached.  I'm not sure whether or not any leaders held out completely.  It was a chance for true leadership to stand up and say, "Enough, we will not be participants." 

If the states will not stand up to the federal government, the trends will never be changed.  Both major political parties have been enlarging the size of government and increasing the debt and deficit.  We cannot expect any substantive change to come from within.  We the people are fairly powerless once the election is completed.  Party politics trumps serving the people once they get to D.C. and their collection of form letters.

The states could very well amend the Constitution should they wish to do so, whether that be to add an amendment or to repeal one.  Three-fourths of the states, thirty eight, can call the convention to deal with such issues.  The details are laid out in Article V of the Constitution.  It is apparent that the Founding Fathers planned for the possibility of the government being non-responsive to the people.

Article V - Amendment

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

The states have allowed the federal government to pass legislation and rule from the bench regarding areas that should have been state issues.  They have allowed the government to grow out of control.  The result is being seen as the government is now dictating to private industry as to how their business should be carried out from having company officers terminated to removing standing from investors.  Threats and retribution by the government toward companies and individuals is a step too far.  The states need to take back the power they have ceded to the federal government.  The Founding Fathers were rightly concerned about a centralized government becoming too powerful.  The things they warned of are coming true before our very eyes.  Our last hope is to elect state and local leaders that will stand up to the federal government or succumb to the whims of D.C.

Check at this link.
http://www.doihavetheswineflu.com/
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The common misconception is that we are a sovereign nation of fifty states.  The reality is that our nation is a republic of fifty sovereign states.  A game of semantics?  There is a difference between the two ideas.  Even if the difference seems to be subtle, the effect is great.  In his first inaugural address, President Ronald Reagan said, "We are a nation that has a government -- not the other way around."  This country is a union of sovereign states with a common federal government to provide certain services for the common good of the group as dictated by the powers enumerated in the Constitution.  It is not a national government with a territory of fifty states to serve the government.  The government has become a beast that continues to grow, demanding more of its subjects as it grows.

One change that I would support and see as a positive step, but in reality I do not expect to ever see happen, is to repeal the 17th amendment.  Article 1, section 3 of the Constitution states in part, "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote."  The Senators were appointed to serve the interests of their state, to prevent other states from passing laws that would put their state at a disadvantage.  Today's Senators have no fear of being recalled by their State Legislature if they fail to act in the best interest of their state.

Amendment 17 - Senators Elected by Popular Vote. Ratified 4/8/1913. History

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

The states in effect gave up a means of control to the federal government.  The state I live in, Minnesota, frequently has a legislative body that is far from conservative.  Even though I am at odds with their decisions on a regular basis, I would much rather have them retain control of the situation with the ability to rein in a Senator that plays party politics over the interest of the state.

Some states are actually beginning to make a stand as legislators introduce resolutions based on the Kentucky Resolutions of Thomas Jefferson.  According to Joseph Sobran, "The Resolutions were written in protest against the Alien and Sedition Acts, which Jefferson saw as unconstitutional. It’s now generally agreed that he was right. He stressed that if the Federal Government were to be the final and exclusive authority on what the Constitution meant, it would be free to define the extent of its own powers — which would defeat the whole purpose of a written constitution.  On this occasion Jefferson didn’t call for secession, but later secessionists would draw on his powerful arguments. He treasured the Union, but he abhorred the idea that the states could or should be kept in the Union by force. They were still, in principle, “Free and Independent States.” They could remain free and independent only if they remained sovereign.  In 1816 Jefferson would write that “if any state in the Union will declare that it prefers separation ... to a continuance in union ... I have no hesitation in saying, ‘Let us separate.’” He hoped it would never come to that, but he saw that the ultimate right to withdraw from the Union was essential to the Union’s free and voluntary character"

Another States issue of recent weeks is the talk of the ability to secede from the Union.  Now remember, this is a Union of States.  The preamble to the Constitution states, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."  The union is of states, multiple sovereign states.  They created the federal government and gave limited powers to it, reserving all other considerations to themselves individually.  The federal government has over stepped those bounds frequently and radically.  The states have given over their rights to the feds, or maybe better put, have sold their souls, had they had souls.  The states voluntarily joined the union, and the threat of secession is the power the states held to keep the government in check.  Secession is a tool the states have to help keep the federal government in check, to control it's actions.  While it is not a tactic to be used carelessly, it is a necessary tool to retain freedom from tyranny.

When the original thirteen states formed the union, they wrote The Declaration of Independence.  Adopted on July 4, 1776, it was sub-titled, The United Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.  The opening paragraph is:

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

They declared their separation from England and understood that it may be necessary from time to time as a government became tyrannical and oppressive.  The men who made the stand against England declared the colonies to be free and independent states.  They believed, and set up our nation based upon the belief, that "governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

The second paragraph begins:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.  That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

The closing paragraph is:

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levey war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do.  And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

They were independent states who formed the government and gave it limited powers which they controlled.  The states controlled the federal government, the federal government was not created to control the states.  The Articles of Confederation also states, “Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence."

When the USSR broke down as a union, the United States basically supported the states such as Georgia, Bosnia and Croatia in their secession.  Does the same government now declare secession to not be valid?  If a government demands that it is illegal for a state to secede from a voluntary union, isn't that justification to consider secession as an option to tyranny?  If you would like to see the secession movements around the world, check:

http://www.secessionist.us/active_autonomist_and_secessioni.htm .

Secession Quotes

"Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, a most sacred right – a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the world. Nor is this right confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing government may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such people, that can, may revolutionize, and make their own of so much of the territory as they inhabit." – Abraham Lincoln, (speech in Congress January 1848)

"A nation, therefore, has no right to say to a province: You belong to me, I want to take you. A province consists of its inhabitants. If anybody has a right to be heard in this case it is these inhabitants." - Ludwig Von Mises. Omnipotent Government, p.90

"This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector." – Plato (circa 400 B.C.)

"When all government, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the Center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated." – Thomas Jefferson

"The constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."-Patrick Henry

"Only a despotic and imperial government can coerce seceding states" - William Seward US Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln in 10 April 1861 to Charles Francis Adams, Minister to the Court of St. James (Britain)

"We do heartily accept this doctrine, believing it intrinsically sound, beneficent, and one that, universally accepted, is calculated to prevent the shedding of seas of human blood. And, if it justified the secession from the British Empire of Three Millions of colonists in 1776, we do not see why it would not justify the secession of Five Millions of Southrons from the Federal Union in 1861." - The New-York Daily Tribune, December 17, 1860

"The consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin of all that has proceeded it." - Robert E. Lee to Lord Acton December 15, 1866

"We dissent . . . because the powers vested in Congress by this constitution, must necessarily annihilate and absorb the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of he several states, and produce from their ruins one consolidated government, which from the nature of things will be an iron handed despotism, as nothing short of the supremacy of despotic sway could connect and govern these United States under one government. . . . [I]t would . . . produce a despotism, and that not by the usual gradations, but with the celerity that has hitherto only attended revolutions effected by the sword." (The Address and Reasons of Dissent of the Minority of the Convention of Pennsylvania to their Constituents, December 18, 1787), in R. Ketchum, ed., The Anti-Federalist Papers, pp. 237-256).

 

George Orwell, "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."

 

In the land of plastic and concrete, I spent the evening serving up beer and dome dogs.  The Minnesota Twins were hosting the Kansas City Royals in an eleven inning affair.  The Twins loss was fairly meaningless to my night since I could see neither the game nor the televisions in the concourse.  What I could see was a steady stream of patrons in front of the concession stand in which I was working.  We kept steady through seven innings, after which the beer sales were terminated.

The concession stands at Metrodome are staffed by volunteer groups providing fund raising opportunities.  I was working with a group from the church I attend which is endeavoring to raise funds for our youth group.  This was the first of four nights with an optional fifth game.  To some of our group it was fun, to some it was work, and I was somewhere between the two.  To me it was a cross between the Domino's I used to manage and the food booth I worked at as a teenager at the state fair.  The people watching and interaction was enjoyable but I was confined in a space with a job to do.  I was also reminiscing about my sales jobs of the past when long hours were spent standing on concrete at trade shows.  The memories were provoked by the knees and back stiffness.  One unexpected consequence was a raspy throat.  I never dreamed that I would have a sore throat from talking too much.  I didn't fully realize the diversity of the crowd before looking at ID's from Minnesota, both Dakotas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Canada and Sydney, Australia.

All in all it was a good night.  Our stand pumped out much more product than was expected of us and our combination of money and inventory was well within the one half of a percent margin of error.  It was impressive for this rookie group.  Our group worked well together as a team and we had no disorderly customer issues.  I guess I view the night as an interesting activity for a worthy cause.  It was a satisfying feeling of accomplishment after eight hours of steady production through prep work, serving and clean up.

Yes, the winds of change are blowing.  To the pleasure of many and to the dismay of some, they are predominately leftward in nature.  In the religious world, we live in a post-modern society where moral relativism is the flavor of the day.  Without moral absolutes, society is free to act in whatever manner can be rationalized as good.  In our political world, trans-nationalism is the new threat to national sovereignty for our country and every other.  As if it wasn't bad enough to have the Supreme Court justices move from determining constitutionality of laws, to interpreting the Constitution as they see fit, to legislating from the bench, we now see them considering international law in their determinations.  There is a familiar pattern that has emerged for those seeking societal change.  If legislative efforts fail, go to court to have change dictated.  If the courts offer no help, make it an international issue to pressure change.  The Constitution has been on its deathbed for quite a few decades now.  It is to be referred to by politicians when necessary for their ends and it is to be ignored when it is in their way.  This includes all three branches and all political parties.

Such it is with global this and global that, crisis this and crisis that.  Remember the bailouts that couldn't wait until Monday without catastrophic consequences?  The weekend came and went without complete collapse of society as we knew it.  The crisis to pass bailout and stimulus packages caused our legislators to vote on bills they admittedly didn't read.  Now we are trapped with burdens we didn't want.  Spending now and billing future generations is not moral, it is generational theft.  It is our version of the federal Poncy scheme known as Social Security.

• One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.”

• But probably the BIGGEST KEY benefit to developers cloaked in this "Stimulus Bill" is the ability to carry back losses for 5 years instead of 2. They tried to push this in the Housing stimulus in September but got so much blow back from citizens that they took it out. Now its back, hidden under the guise of helping ALL businesses.

  "The legislation also would allow businesses to carry back net operating losses for five years, instead of the current limit of two years. This provision would generate cash through tax refunds for companies that now are losing money but previously were profitable." (Note the use of the words "cash tax refunds". This is cold hard cash in the billions coming to these guys from us)

• Sen. Daniel Inouye says $198 million for Filipino war veterans was included in the $787 billion “stimulus” bill to preserve the “honor” of the United States. What’s the logic?

  Don’t those 18,000 Filipinos, who fought alongside America GIs in World War II, deserve a vote by U.S. Congress on their own merits? I think they do. Why hide the cash in a bill 4,000 times bigger than the $198 million?

• What else? Are there 3,999 similar items in the “stimulus” bill? Is it a stimulus bill, or is it just an excuse to pay everyone that Congress has ever dreamed of paying?

How about the international transfer of wealth known as Climate Change.  In the 1970's the news magazines had the dramatic cover stories of Global Cooling and the impending ice age.  In the 1990's the same magazines, and grant recipients that promote such issues to keep the cash flowing, were declaring Global Warming and the certainty of melted ice caps and flooded coast lines.  Waking up to the fact that it can't be both, the situation was created for both to be working together in Global Chaos for the early 2000's.  School children have now been indoctrinated from early years through "higher" education as to the "fact" that it exists and that we are indeed the guilty party.  This farce will succeed in transferring our wealth to developing countries as a guilt complex continues to be placed upon our citizenry.  When the carbon tax, or cap and trade, failed to gain traction in the Legislature, the administration simply had the EPA declare carbon dioxide a pollutant and a danger as a green house gas.  Nancy Pelosi says that the legislation will be reintroduced.  Meanwhile, the federal government has started the tax ball rolling by laying the groundwork for forcing industry to start measuring the very thing every human exhales and every plant transforms into the oxygen we breath.  Why not start with the largest green house gas element, water vapor?  The cap and trade system is an artificially created commodity market that will transfer money from industry to others.  It is taking from one and giving to another, or as President Obama said in his campaign, spreading the wealth.  Do you think you are unaffected?  Everything a producer spends, including taxes, is a cost in production and added to the price of goods and services for the consumer.  Think about this when your energy rates double and triple.

This country has never been stupid until the education system was nationalized.  We allowed the government to dictate the agenda for what was needed to be learned by our youth.  We allowed the responsibility to be moved from our households, to the states, and eventually to the federal government.  We allowed the unionization of the teachers to prevent us from making sure that the best teachers were rewarded and that the poorest were removed.  We allowed the basics to be pushed aside for social issues.  We allowed the majority to be imposed upon by many minority stakes.  We have allowed the dumbing down of America.  There is no need to wonder why our schools are failing and our kids are in trouble.  What federally run operation is ever successful?  The military could be one exception, at least until the politicians get involved and weaken it by revealing things that our enemies should not know or by slashing the budgets and pointing fingers later when a crisis arises.  It was communist revolutionary Lenin who said, Give me one generation of youth, and I will transform the entire world (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 2002).

Ronald Reagan said, "Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."  "Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives."  "Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."  "No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!"

In a quote attributed to Nikita Khrushchev, former Soviet dictator, "When you are skinning your customers, you should leave some skin on to heal, so that you can skin them again."  This is what is happening to the "middle class".  The turnip is being squeezed dry.  Class warfare has been employed as never before.  During the past election cycle I heard the terms rich and greed more than ever before.  Profitability and wealth were demonized relentlessly to garner votes from the lower income levels including those who are dependent upon the welfare state we have created.  The powers to be seem to be stopping just short of taking over industry, leaving skin to heal so they can continue to garner cash flow for social reconstruction. By completely taking over the banking, auto or energy sectors, the politicians would have no one to blame when the inevitable failures occur.  By influencing them with tax dollars and regulations, they can continue to blame others for mismanagement and corruption while appearing to be the white knight that is only seeking to protect the interests of the American public.  It is much like passing a bill with the support of only a couple members of the opposing party and then calling it a bipartisan effort.  It is merely cover for the eventual blow back from the public as they endeavor to share and even shift the blame to someone else.

"We can't expect the American people to jump from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have communism".  Nikita Khrushchev

So here we are watching liberty and sovereignty die.  Our new global society will require the death of our dollar, the death of our uniqueness, and the death of our individuality.  We are now servants to the system, the federal machine.  We are a long way from the people and the states creating the limited Federal government to serve very specific needs of the citizens.  Consider the following quotes from Joseph Stalin and see how closely they apply to our time.
"Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed"
"Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas."
"It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."
"Mankind is divided into rich and poor, into property owners and exploited; and to abstract oneself from this fundamental division; and from the antagonism between poor and rich means abstracting oneself from fundamental facts."
"When we hang the capitalists they will sell us the rope we use."
And finally, "America, is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within."
Mission accomplished, almost.