Internet and the FCC

If you are a writer or a blogger this is a message for you. If you are a person who values freedom of speech and the right to a free press then this is for you. If you are someone who simply believes that our constitution is something that is not to be tampered with , then this message is also for you.

However by writing  what I am about to write  could get me booted off the Internet and could jeopardise what freedom that you may think that you have so read at your own risk or go back to never never land as you so choose.

Today the FCC is deciding whether or not to regulate the Internet based or their opinions of what is acceptable and what is not. As always the mantra is " for our own good " and it's supposed targets are those sites that are fraudulent or that are trying to restrict what content comes over their servers or even supposed terrorists sites. On the face of it it sounds good until you start reading between the lines. In controlling or regulating what can or cannot be sent across the Internet it takes the decisions of what you do or see away from you ,and ,once again ,passes it on to a government organization.  Truly though I think it has very little to do with fraudulent websites or leaks coming from supposed government sources or foreign sources such as Wiki leaks (all things which have been suggested as reasoning for the regulations) instead I believe it is nothing more then an attempt by the federal government to control the one source of media that they haven't been able to control up to this point.

 The mainstream media has been dying, as most of you know, a slow and ugly death over the last 10 or 15 years, so the people, at least those that are technically savvy, have been getting all their information mostly from the Internet.You can find practically anything that you want to find on line. So instead of just accepting everything that has been force fed  from the MSM you can actually research what ever subject interests you and then decide for yourself. The powers that be do not like this. It's great when your on the winning side ,such as the Obama campaign of 2008, but it really sucks when your on the loosing end such as ` during the mid terms. Ask some of the members of the house and senate how much fun it was for them ,when their constituents knew more of what was in various bills then they did ,and then called them on the carpet for it. Where did these people ,  from both sides of the aisle, get their information? The Internet.

I have had both religious and political debates with friends and associates via the Internet and at times we have disagreed with one another, but because of all the information that is out on the Internet, we have been able to have intelligent and well researched debates. Do we really need the Federal government to decide what information we look at?

If I wish to watch a movie on line or play a game is it really any of their business to decide what it is that I watch or play?

If I want to go to websites dedicated to UFOs and conspiracies and research hauntings in my home town do I really need the government to babysit what I look at? So what if they don't like what I am reading, there are just as many web sites that try to debunk all of this already, I don't need the government or the FCC to make my decisions for me.

So why do we need the FCC to regulate the Internet? We don't. But the powers that be, and that's both sides of the aisle by the way, do. If we don't have all the information we need , we can't make proper decisions for ourselves and, by default, become stuck with the limited view of what the government wants you to know.That is how they do things in China.

But perhaps you are a writer or a blogger and you are, for the moment , writing and blogging that which is politically correct so your not  worried. What happens when your point of view is no longer politically correct? Are you going to be silent about it or are you going to speak up loudly? Remember this, political winds change on a dime and what may be acceptable today may not be tomorrow, so if you don't speak up today your tomorrow will already be gone.

I know that some of you are thinking that I am just an ignorant hick who doesn't have a grasp on reality but the fact is there have already been many sites shut down due to government interference and with nothing more then accusation. There has been no due process, no court orders, just shutdowns. Companies forced to give up the IP addresses and other information on their subscribers because someone might be a threat or said something in a reply that might be seen as threatening, no proof of any real threat or of any harm done needed.
Where do I get this information? The Internet.


All of this became very personal to me today, when I found out that a friend's website, where she had a blog, was forced to give up IP addresses because of someone making a threat, in response to a different blog, and then, allegedly, carrying the threat out. Her blog had nothing to do with the threat ,in fact the website missed it because of the volume of email they get,but because they missed it and something happened they were forced into complying. As a result when this information came out she was hammered by a whole lot of people and, in very understandable frustration, she has stopped writing

What I just told you did not happen in the United States, but it did happen in a Democratic society that is very similar to our own. I won't tell you where or who, simply because I don't want them ,or her, to be hassled any more. But is this what we want here? I understand that a threat was made and apparently carried out, but is it that websites fault? Someone who is deranged isn't going to need an excuse to do something deranged, but instead of just punishing the person involved for their crime, their government forces them to give up information on everybody else? Is this what you want here?

The laws that allowed that to happen in her country are the very same ones that may allow the FCC and or the government to do the same to all of us here in the United States. Is this what you really want?Just because a terrorist puts on his shoes the same way that you do , does not, by default, make you a terrorist .In other words I can't be responsible for what some  fools do or say because they read my blog and do something stupid nor should they be given the right to shut me down because some fool reads it..Today it may be me, or others like me, who are removed for speaking their minds.Tomorrow it WILL be you.

Speak now or forever be forced to hold your peace.

Ignacio

Donkeys, Elephants and Change....

So everything changes, as of today, right?  I am actually writing this on Tuesday night and I haven't a clue who has won the majority and honestly, it doesn't matter to me. Why?  Because nothing is really changing.  Yes, we have all voted (yes I did vote), we have all done our civic duty.  We have listened to all the talking heads do all their pontificating and have watched all the powers that be spend all their time blaming the other guy for all the problems.  So what has changed as of today?  Nothing!  That's right, nothing.

We have possibly exchanged a bunch of Donkeys for a bunch of Elephants but it changes nothing.  Politics of blame and doing nothing will continue unabated and no one will really tackle the serious problems that are facing this country.  They are all a bunch of cowards and want nothing more than to be left alone in their careers as politicians.  If some of them would stand up for what they claim to believe and act accordingly, I would have hope, but alas, they are politicians and will sell their own mothers if it will benefit them or their party.  They don't care about us, just their party's power and their own political influence.  Unless of course you are in the banking industry, or the automotive, or Wall Street.....

There was a time when the people we elected actually represented their home districts and states.  But now, it seems to have shifted from them representing us, to them representing Washington to us, we have given up our power to them and they have sucked us dry.  So, tomorrow nothing changes.

Our involvement in foreign wars will not end tomorrow.  Not because they couldn't and not because we have any real reasons to be there, but because war is big business and the powers that be tend to profit from that.   We are still in Iraq, still in Afghanistan and now we are deeply involved in Pakistan!  Got to love that change.  But you know what?  Come tomorrow, nothing will change, because the same people, Donkeys and Elephants, will still be there.

Our massive debt won't be gone tomorrow either.  Again, the same people are still running the show and in fact, are looking for more ways to spend our money.  Oh, I know the Elephants have said that they are going to repeal everything under the sun, but do you really think that they will?  And if they do, they will just come up with their own versions of spending your great grand children's money.  Nothing has changed.

We are taxed and regulated to death.  I saw an article yesterday that stated that we have so many laws that the average American breaks at least a few of them every day . Our legislators pass laws and bills that are thousands of pages long and they haven't even read them.  We have laws in place that essentially kill small business owners because of the expenses involved and yet huge places such as Wal-Mart are hardly phased at all because, for them, the cost is minimal . Giant agribusinesses are putting small farmers out of business and all with the governments help.  They claim that all the regulations are for the good of the people and their safety.  Yet, the very huge agribusinesses are the ones who are breaking these laws and getting away with it, meanwhile the small farms are being put out of business because of the expense of trying to implement all these regulations.This will not change tomorrow either.

Our freedoms and rights to privacy have been attacked by both beasts and they are not showing any sign of letting up soon.  Go to an airport and refuse to go through the body scanner and see just how much freedom you have.  Go through a police check point and refuse to give your ID (I am speaking just random check points which are Gestapo like ) or even have the nerve to ask what you are being stopped for.  Try doing something as simple as getting a library card and you have to produce multiple forms of ID just to prove who you are. Then you have to sign papers explaining that the government can monitor what you read . Explain to me why the government needs to know what books you are reading. Let us not even get started on the internet and wire tapping. Did I mention all the security cameras? Can we say big brother? Worse yet, go to war, and be put on a Terrorist list because someone in a militia, which is constitutionally legal, might contact you.  Own a perfectly legal gun or join the wrong political activist group and your kids could be taken from you, and yes, this has happened.  These are but a few examples, and you know what?  Tomorrow nothing changes.

Certainly those that are in power, mostly of the Donkeys, have let their opinion be known as to how they view the average American, by ridiculing their concerns, ignoring them or calling them racists. Some have openly stated that they don't care about the constitution or they have tried to interpret it in some way other then what was intended. I have little doubt that, should the Elephants prevail, nothing will change except it will be them holding everyone in contempt.  I am really not trying to be cynical, but these critters make it easy to be so. I know that some of you have voted for your party for years and have very heartfelt positions.  I applaud you.  I really do.  But you need to understand that all of your leaders are making fools out of you, yes that's both Donkeys and Elephants, they are telling you what you want to hear and then they are flipping you off after they are elected.  This has gone on for a long time, through many elections and still, we keep acting like the idiots that they believe us to be, by voting them all back into office, somehow expecting different results.  Nothing is going to change, nothing has changed.

You want real change?  Lets talk about 2012 then......

Maybe not. Think I'll wait until the day after tomorrow to start that one......

Ignacio

Politics and Fear

I am a news junky. There. I have admitted it.I have been told that admitting you have a problem is the first step in healing. So there you have it I am a news junkie. Somedays I can't get enough of it. I will turn on my computer and start scouring the various news sources that I have and check out various links to other sources so that by the time the morning is over I am either confused as to what is actually going on or I am about to wet myself with all the bad news.

In fact I would say that the whole purpose of the news is to scare you to a certain degree. It sells a lot better then trying to make you think that things are full of Roses and sunshine.
Think about it, when was the last time that you picked up a paper or turned on you internet and saw headlines that were good? All wars have ended! Everyone is gainfully employed! The market is surging and we are all becoming wealthy! Disease has been eradicated!Famine is gone from the third world....I think you get the point.

We don't see that kind of news because it's not really based on reality. Sometimes someone will put a feel good piece about someone or a group of people doing some incredible thing but mostly the news has one purpose; That is to make you fear. If they can make you afraid they can manipulate your actions.They thrive on it.

Consider last fall and winter, we had a big flu pandemic! Hundreds of thousands were threatened with death. It was raging around the world and if you didn't get the shot, you were putting yourself at great risk. Turned out to be a lot less dangerous then even the regular flu, yet everyone jumped all over it and rushed out to get shots. Fear and it made you move.

The housing market has fallen apart and people are panicking, every time you hear about housing it's all bad. I know that it's a tough market I have had my house up for sale for awhile now, but the point is , is that they put fear into you to make you act.

Worse yet is our Liberties under attack. The media as well as our government has taken advantage of the situation of "terror attacks" and has hit us with all sorts of things that would invade our privacy.They have used fear to justify everything from seeing your naked body at the airport to tapping your phone or internet. The list of the things they are doing would take too long to write about, but the point here again is that fear was used as the motivator to get people to do what they wanted.

Now we have come upon election time and all people involved, particularly the two main parties, are using the very fears that they have instilled in you to make you even more afraid. It's hypocrisy at it's finest because they are both guilty of causing the problems that we have today.

They have made us afraid. Even as I write this, if I criticize the government for it's role in the current batch of insane ideas that they have, if I name names, I could find myself being the guest of the government in some undisclosed location for as long as they feel I need to be. Worse yet I could be shot and killed, and no reason has to be given.Is this the American dream? Is this the freedom of speech, or is it intimidation and fear?

Some of you reading this will say to me, "where is your proof of these things?"My response to you is "hello, news junkie!"

None of this is new. It's just easier to do today because of all the mass media that is available out there.

So just consider,as the election draws near, that the media and all those currently in office are the ones responsible for the fear and the mess. It's your call what you do with that knowledge. You can put the same batch of people back in office or you can do the really brave thing and get some new faces in there, people who are young enough and smart enough to actually think and believe that this country could once again become a beacon of hope and light to the world rather then a place of fear.
The power is in your hands, vote wisely.

The Forgotten Casualties

Earlier this evening a good friend of mine posted a video of military personnel returning home to their families for surprise visits or coming home after their tour and I have to say that it moved me to tears and to remembering my own experience coming home from the Iraq war in 2003. We came in around 3am on a rainy morning and I will never forget the sight of my wife and my children running towards me or the sounds of my then 5 year old son yelling "daddy" at the top of his lungs and practically mowing me over as he ran up to hug me, I was hurt and I was tired but nothing could ever compare to the joy and the happiness that I felt at that time to come home to my family. My wife wasn't concerned with the injuries or with the illness that came with it, she was simply glad to have me home and I was glad to be home.

It was that night that I had my first nightmare. I won't go into gory detail about it except to say it was so real that when I awoke from the dream I had no idea where I was or how my wife had got there. I wasn't home, I was still in Iraq in my mind. I had gone from physical casualty to mental. The nightmares have eased up over time and the physical isn't so obvious anymore but still I and my family became casualties.

This video clip has reminded me of how much Afghanistan and Iraq have been in the news lately as our president decides that it's time to end things in Iraq and yet continue on in Afghanistan. It leads me to this question; have we forgotten the casualties of war?

American press ,as well as the BBC and others have made quite a big deal of the civilian casualties in both wars. They are quick to politicizes our conflicts and work very hard at painting a bad picture of our military. Every time there is a civilian injured or killed it is all over the news. Some in the press, as well as politicians, have tried to suggest that some of this has been done on purpose, painting those of us who have fought as if we relished the idea of killing simply for the sake of it, as if we purposely targeted civilians.

I am not here to defend our governments policies, I think that it is high time we called it quits and brought everyone home. Let the world sort through it's own messes, they don't want our help and I think we would be better off spending the war money on home projects and improving our economy, but I AM here to defend the troops that are quickly forgotten and their families.

As I said earlier, we focus a lot on the civilian casualties and we forget our own casualties here at home. In some ways it is understandable because unlike WW2 not everyone in this country is involved in this war,so for those who don't have a personal stake in any of it , it is easier to be critical and forget the real human cost for those that go to our wars and come home. I have heard many a speech from various politicians praising our troops over seas and the job that they are doing and yet I hear almost nothing about those of us who have come home, and those of us for whom this war has ended and yet we live with the consequences of it.

I grew up during the Vietnam war and I remember watching the news with my grandparents and I have never forgotten how those men and women were treated when they came home.Sadly we haven't learned a damn thing. If there is a photo op to be had, the so called "leaders" of our land will be there to show their support but after the cameras and the press are gone it is the veteran and his or her family that is left to pick up the pieces. I will be the first to say that these wars are wrong and should have never been fought, I will also admit that I think it's all about big business and to a certain degree empire building. Having said that though, I simply want people to remember that the average vet has done nothing more then serve their country, doing what they thought was right at the time to do. I can tell you for a fact that when the bullets are flying, you don't give a rats backside as to the politics involved. Your mind is on staying alive and keeping your buddies alive, politics and the politicians can go to hell because it has nothing to do with them when the proverbial doo-doo hits the fan.

Most of your young vets have various reasons for joining. Some have nothing else better to do, some are looking for money for college, some are simply hoping to learn a trade that can be used in the civilian world. Others like myself had a family to support. All of us were average people who simply were doing what we thought was the right thing to do,politics and big corporations never even crossed our collective minds.

I am all about freedom of speech and the press.If you are against the war or for it, have at it, speak your mind but remember the human cost. Remember that there are people out there who are now civilians that went to war for their country and did what they were asked to do. Remember that most of them have families and that those families suffer along with them as they try to go back to something of a normal life.

I am not asking you to ignore injustice. I am not asking you to ignore the truth and to do everything in your power to bring about an end to the wars. I am simply asking you to think about what you do or say and then remember that there are real people and families living in your communities that are casualties of this war and they need your support. Seek them out.Help them. Those that have sent them to war are ignoring them, and it would seem that most of America has forgotten.

End these wars, change the way the government conducts foreign affairs, but don't forget the Veterans who have fought these wars, many of them will be your best allies in preventing it from happening again.

Americans Spying on Americans

Americans spying on Americans. Who would have thought that would really happen here in the good old US of A ? I know I would never have believed it could happen here but alas that is exactly what IS happening here.

Many articles have been written, and are all over the Internet, on how various civilian,working for the government, and government agencies, are spying on what you are doing, all for our supposed security. Everywhere you go their are security cameras watching your every move, not to mention satellite capabilities. Every thing you do now is being monitored somewhere and with all the new powers that the Federal government has it will only get worse.

How many of you have seen the commercials out there encouraging young people to spy on their neighbors? How about Firemen? People you wouldn't think about, such as a cable man or you local minister is being used by the government for their agenda.
If you don't believe the minister part, I won't be able to persuade you except to say that I was once a pastor and we were supposed to tell you, in the event of a national or local crisis, to obey the government because you are told to in the scriptures.
Google it it's there.

I remember when I was a kid we used to hear about Nazi Germany and how the SS and Gestapo had spies everywhere and if you lived in one of their occupied countries they were going to be watching you.They were looking for Jews or anyone who was sympathetic to them, they even had Hitler youth, young people, boys and girls alike, that would spy on everyone including their parents, all for the glory of the fatherland and Hitler. Millions died because the German people allowed it to happen.
The former Soviet Union, China, North Korea, the list of nations that have used the people against each other is incredible and all of it has ended with the deaths of millions. Are we next?


Today I read another article that talks about government agencies using hackers to gather information on people and pass it on the the various " three letter agencies". We are talking volunteers, not people who are paid to do it, but people who are willingly selling out the privacy of friends and neighbors to the government.
What have we become or worse yet what are we becoming?

Where are all the protests? Where is the MSM? Shouldn't they be justifiably outraged at all this. Where Are all those that protested so loudly when Bush wanted the Patriot act? Why the silence all of a sudden? Am I to assume that most Americans are OK with this?

I remember going to my local library sometime after the Patriot act had taken effect and they had a petition going to try and get rid of the government knowing what books you were taking out, it was privacy, it was the government prying in on our personal lives. There were people out in front of Federal buildings protesting all aspects of the Patriot act but now it is strangely quiet.

Is it because it's a different president and congress it's now OK ? I don't get it.
Perhaps Americans general attitude on the subject can best be summed up this way; " If your not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to hide?"
I wonder how many people had thought that over the years just before the SS came and arrested them or the communists sent them to labor camps in Siberia. I wonder how many of them were turned in by people they thought were their friends but in reality were spying for their government.

Even as you are reading this, there are people out there right now that are investigating you because your reading this. I have used key words that they look for and I am already on at least one list as a potential terrorist because I am a war vet. Nervous yet? You should be.

Someone posted a comment one time that said " when you are on the Internet you have no right to privacy". Really ? Why is that? Does your right to privacy only extend to your front door? Perhaps that came from someone who has never read the constitution.

The 4Th Amendment says this;
Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

So does that mean that you have no rights beyond your home? What about papers and effects? Seems to me that the things you write and the things that are stored on your hard drive would be the modern equivalent. Certainly if you post something on the Internet such as I am doing you can't expect a whole lot of privacy, but the people that are being employed for this are hackers , which means they know how to get into your personal accounts and files on your hard drive as well.Where is the probable cause AND the warrant that would allow them to do this? I haven't seen one have you?
Did we the people give these "volunteers" the right to do this? Is our government above the law and the constitution now?

We need to wake up America. Some of this is our own fault because we stupidly put personal information out for everyone to see on our social networking sights. It is also partially our fault because we bury our heads in the sand and pretend that these things are not happening, but it is completely our fault for electing people over the last 30 years who have done nothing but slowly take away our rights and freedoms and then re electing them. We are worse then complacent and docile , we are a stupid people who just don't seem to get that fact that our Republic is being destroyed right in front of us.

Take to heart the words of Thomas Jefferson;

"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."
Thomas Jefferson

Sound familiar to anyone? Do you see the very pattern that he mentioned? It's the slow ,quiet things that they are doing under the radar that should concern you.
Americans Spying on Americans, who would have thought it.....



Ignacio

John Adams And Me.

In the past I have written some about the founders of this nation and all that they went through to bring about the birth of this nation. I have spoken of their courage and their sacrifice and their audacity at staring down the worlds most powerful empire, at the time, but something that seems to get forgotten about all these men is that many of them had doubts and great fear as well.

Friday I watched the first two parts of the mini series on the life of John Adams. I am most thankful to PBS for their honest approach to it, in that they didn't try to glorify it in any sort of Hollywood way, they just told the story as was written by the people involved.
What caught at least a part of my attention was the doubts and fear that some of these men had. We tend to forget that they were as human as the rest of us and that they feared not only for themselves but their families. Everything that they knew was at stake and many of the delegates to the Continental congress were very reluctant to declare independence.

John Adams as it turns out, is a man that I can relate to. He was what I would call a reluctant warrior.

He was a man who was deeply in love with his wife Abigail and was wise enough to listen to her council, he loved his children and was a man of God. He was a lawyer who believed deeply in the rule of law and thought that the only way to prove to England that they were worthy of respect was to uphold those laws. He was the only one in Boston who came to the defense of of the British soldiers who fired on a crowd in what became known as the "Boston massacre" and for that he earned the respect of the King of England but also the respect of Sam Adams, his cousin, who was the leader of the Sons of Liberty.

When He was approached by a delegation that included Sam Adams and Thomas Paine about being one of the delegates from Mass. to the Continental congress, he initially refused but as he watched the British impose more and more restrictions he started to give it serious thought but it wasn't until the crown abolished the court systems that he finally joined the delegation. Later he would go on to help Thomas Jefferson write the declaration of independence and was one of the first men to call this nation a republic.
He was home just outside of Boston when the battles of Lexington and Concord were fought and he was witness to the bravery of many a farmer and tradesmen who were not soldiers ,by any definition, as they took on the British and chased them all the way back to Boston. His wife and children witnessed the battle of Breeds Hill ,later called Bunker Hill, and witnessed the bravery of these same men against the British army and their Cannons. As one man was reported to have said, "they didn't beat us, we ran out of ammunition".
From that time on John Adams became a fiery supporter of the war and of independence.

Here is the point though, when the vote was over and independence was declared, it was quiet.These men understood what they had just done and they were sobered by what was to come. Their fear of the future had not gone away, but they resolved to see it through no matter the cost.

These men, along with George Washington, and the many men and, yes, women, who fought for our liberty knew what was at stake. The British had made that very clear to them during the siege of Boston, they were not blind to the truth of war they had seen it first hand, but they also understood that if they were going to have true liberty and independence they were going to have to sacrifice everything including their very lives if needed.

As I said earlier I can relate to John Adams,but I also can relate to those men who stood on that hill fighting off the British. None of them really wanted to be there, but it was their duty and they stood up to the task.

We are faced with a battle that has actually been raging for many years now, for the very liberties that our forefathers fought so hard for. Some have said; What freedoms have been taken away from you? This is my answer; Any law that restricts my freedom to choose the way that I live my life is an attack on my liberty. Any law that forces me to do something against my will is a law against my liberty. Any law that invades my privacy in any way is an attack on my liberty. Any law that attacks our freedom of speech, in any way is an attack on my liberty.Any law that is passed under the guise of " for the good of the people" that in any way affects my my constitutionally protected rights is a law against my liberty. Any law that goes against our God given rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness is an attack on my liberties and quite frankly, you should see it as an attack on yours.

Take a good hard look at what this country is becoming and then ask yourself is this what our forefathers envisioned? I doubt it.

We have been involved in constant war for the past 20 years or so. I have been a part of that war, I once supported the war. I am not for it any more. We have become a nation bent on turning it's self into a socialist country with a massive empire and we are destroying ourselves. Our forefathers envisioned a representative republic, where they served their constituents with a limited federal government and with much greater power to the states. We are now doing just the opposite. The federal government is interfering in states rights and is trying to centralize their power.

We seem to be busy empire building and yet our forefathers didn't want anything to do with foreign disputes and wars. They argued rather heatedly at times as to whether or not they should ask France for help against the British and only reluctantly asked for the help.

We can be detained and held prisoner for no other reason then we might be a threat or that we might do something in the future. Even as I have the nerve to write this there are those out there who might read this and think that I am a threat. I have all ready been labeled a potential terrorist because I am a war vet who deals with PTSD, so whats to stop them from coming after me? Am I being paranoid? Maybe but I read the news and go to a variety of sources and I can see what happening.

Am I suggesting a civil war? No. I am against war. But if "we the people" do not make a stand, if we refuse to stop the madness and continue to allow it through our silence, if we continue to put into office those who have forgotten that they work for you and me, then we deserve what ever fate comes our way.

One of the delegates from Pennsylvania was a Quaker by the name of Charles Humphreys. It is said that because of his Quaker beliefs that he wouldn't vote for the declaration of Independence, because of the possibility and likely hood that it would escalate the war and as such he couldn't advocate for trading one tyrant through bloodshed, whom he still believed could be reasoned with, with a group of what could be turned in to tyrants.

Perhaps he was more right then he knew. Perhaps what he was having was a vision of the future where he could see that the people would become complacent about who was in charge and what they were doing and in the end we would be right back to where we started.

I understand John Adams and his reluctance to get involved. But I am involved.You need to be involved, even if you disagree with me you have no excuse not to be involved.

I am speaking my mind against what I think is becoming a tyrannical government that only has it's own interest at heart or should I say special interest.

I don't give a rip as to who is president or what party they belong to. All they do is reword the same policies and pass the crown back and forth. They are consolidating their power in Washington as they have been for the last 20 years but they are now doing it openly and flipping us the bird in the process. For the record if you think that because I don't care for Obama and his policies, that this somehow makes me a racist, please feel free to call me that, though you will have to suppose that I hate everyone because I opposed Bush's policies as well, once my vision cleared anyhow.

Our elected representatives have shown a great contempt for our constitution and our bill of rights, they are going to force upon us things that our forefathers never intended and in the end , if we don't change it, our republic will be gone.
If this is your hope for the future so be it, but it sure isn't mine.

Greed , Power,and Stupidity

Anyone who knows me at all, knows that I am rather a bit of a news junkie. I focus a lot of my reading towards politics and all that it involves. I read multiple news sources from various places and sources. So I would say considering all things, that while I am not as smart as some folks are, I think I can sum up our current economic and political messes in three words; Greed , Power,and stupidity.

Greed seems to be everywhere.Everything from the car you drive to your home is costing you a small fortune,I am not against making a profit but by the time you are done paying for these items you have actually payed upwards of 2 1/2 times what you had originally borrowed and ,at least as far as the car goes, it's worth almost nothing.

Wall street investors got greedy with your money as well. I don't make claims that I understand how all this works, but the way it has been explained to me, is that they made very risky investments, knowing full well that the whole thing could collapse on top of them but apparently they didn't care because the potential to make big bucks was just to tempting.It didn't work and they crashed taking a lot of other peoples money with them.

You ever wonder why they are so slow in even attempting to fix the mess in the gulf?
Greed. There is a lot of money to be made by moving slow and letting this disaster linger on. No matter who wins this mess, whether it's the oil companies or the president pushing his green agenda, you and I will lose. We will either have higher fuel prices or we will be forced into costly green technology for our cars and homes. Neither option, at least in my household, is affordable.

But it's more then just greed it's about power as well.

Look at what has happened since the time,just before the TARP bill came into play.
Our Federal government has taken over everything from the auto industry to insurance and is poised to take over the financial markets as well. It's supposed to be for our protection and good.We have been told that these industries and institutions are to big to fail and so for the good of all, the government needs to control them. Where is that written in the constitution? You know, the freedom from failure? and the right to have the Fed. bail you out? If you find it let me know.

To me it is little more then an excuse for the government to gain control of the economy. Don't believe it? Let me use my own examples and see if that gets your attention.
My car payment used to go to Wachovia. They went belly up and was taken over by Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo is now owned by the Fed.
My car it's self is made by GM. The Fed owns them as well.
My mortgage came from the VA through 1st Arkansas then sold to Bank of America which is also owned by the fed.
My paycheck comes from the VA, Fed again, along with over 50% ( I think the actual number is something like 52%) of the American people, whether they work for the government or just get benefits such as VA or Social Security etc.
The government owns and controls a massive amount of our economy and they are trying to get more. Read the news, regulations equal more control which equals higher costs to you and me. This isn't brain surgery, it's right out in the open.

This of course leads us to stupidity. Who's? Ours.
We have spent many years now ignoring or disbelieving the simple fact that the government is stripping away our freedoms and constitutional rights all in the name of security. They claim that they are protecting us from terrorists by allowing them to tap our phones,looking at our naked bodies at airports, or giving them access to our library records. For the good of the people,we allow all aspects of our privacy to be invaded and our Constitutional rights either disregarded or completely dismissed.
We have allowed our government to take over private companies and financial institutions, all on our dime, when they should have been allowed to fail.
We have bought into their lies, over and over again, that somehow all this is good for us and the nation. Worse yet, we continue to elect people who do the same things over and over. These life long politicians laugh us to scorn when we threaten them because they know that there are not enough of us paying attention to vote them out.

So there is my rather simple analysis of the whole mess we are in. Simple but no less true. If you want real change then remember in November.

Ignacio

Independence Day

So once again we have reached the 4Th of July Holiday and just like many of you I have some wonderful plans that involve BBQ, drink and great company. I suspect that we will have everything from heartburn to sunburn but still a good time to be had by all.

So here is my thought or should I say question to you; What does the Independence day really mean to you? I am not asking that to accuse anyone of being stupid, I actually knew someone who thought that the 4Th was nothing more then a day that people got together and just had a good time. She had no clue that there was some real significance in this day. So how about it, what does it mean to you? Does it mean anything at all to you?

I believe that to most Americans , Independence day doesn't mean what it once did. How can it? We are no longer a nation of people who think and act for themselves. We are or ,I should say have become, a nation of dependent people who ,instead of enjoying their G-D given rights of freedom and liberty,have become dependent on the government for everything. We expect the government to fix all our problems and when they don't we whine and whimper, rather then doing for ourselves as our ancestors would have done.

Have you ever considered just what the founding fathers risked by signing the Declaration of Independence? They risked everything, including their lives, just to bring about this very freedom that we have casually tossed aside. They stood up to the strongest empire on the earth ,at that time ,and defeated them. Very few of those men had ever been soldiers, most were farmers or trappers or various tradesmen. They were bankers and lawyers and politicians as well. They came from all walks of life and included blacks and women, and all came because of a simple dream, freedom from tyranny and oppression. All risked their lives and their fortunes on a simple dream; Liberty and Freedom.

This country that was born from that Declaration has had it's problems and we haven't done everything perfectly, but until recently we have tried,as a people, to make right those things that we have gotten wrong, without sacrificing our G-d given rights, to life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Now that has all changed. We have given up our freedom and liberty for "security".
We have gone from a "we the people" to "they the government".
We have traded in our representative Republic for a poor excuse of so called democracy.
We demand that the government take control of everything thus giving them the powers of a tyrant. Instead of firing them, which is the Constitutional thing to do, we embrace them.
We have removed G-D from everything and yet the founders depended on G-D and I might add only G-D. They knew that this nation would not last long if the very foundations of this Republic, the Judeo-Christian laws and principals, were destroyed, and they were right. We have taken G-D out of the class rooms and the downplayed His importance in the lives of our founders and we are now morally bankrupt and we have accepted the very tyranny that our founders fought and died to get away from.

There is a lot more then I could say, but my guess is that most people will be busy eating their burgers and waiting for the fireworks to start, to pay any attention to what I am saying. I am old fashioned and out of touch with so called reality, but here is my small word of reality for you; We gave up our "Independence" a long time ago.
So in reality we are not celebrating our independence, instead we are "celebrating" that warm fuzzy feeling we get knowing that the benevolent government will be there to fix all our problems for another year.
Cynical? Perhaps, but if I am show me where I am wrong....good luck.

Ignacio

The End Part....?

If anyone who reads this has seen my face book status ,especially yesterdays, you would perhaps note a touch of cynical sadness on my part. I usually try to be upbeat about most things, even the stupid stuff that just makes no sense, but I guess I have finally just hit the totally wiped zone and it brings to mind the question, and hence my facebook status, are we finally at the end of the world as we know it? We have oil pouring into the gulf of Mexico and the rumors flying all over the Internet as to what this is going to do to America and quite possibly the world.

We have a mad man in Iran who WANTS to start a nuclear war because he believes that by doing so he will usher in the era of the 13Th Imam, and he brags about getting more material to do so.

We have China and India as being the biggest polluters,along with Russia, and they aren't going to stop just because we whine about it, poisoning the air.

We live in a nation of people who have this wonderful Utopian idea of how they would just love to see the world, totally oblivious of the harsh realities of a world that doesn't give a damn about what they think.

We have extreme heat down here in the south, nice and close to the gulf I might add, which can cause even more problems, and earthquakes in Canada and the NE. Lets not forget about the Volcanoes in Iceland or the massive earthquake in Haiti...the list of madness goes on.

I am not normally a doom and gloom kind of person, I usually just try to roll with the punches but I have to tell you that what I see happening all over the world makes me think that we are about to destroy ourselves but good. Many a Religious person has asked the question is G-D trying to tell us something. I think it could be but we aren't listening. Oh I know to some of you the thought that God, if He even enters your thoughts, would cause destruction because of our sins against Him, is just a totally foolish notion,but I would have to ask you a question; When, in your life, or in recorded history,have you seen such madness and destruction as what we are seeing today? I can show you a few from history but most people don't believe it, though I personally do.

For many years now people have been focusing on the Mayan calendar that suggests that the world starts over on Dec. 21, 2012. On that day their 26,000 year calendar cycle ends and it starts over. That's usually where everyone starts having differing opinion's as to what that actually means.You can google the various theories. Even beyond the Mayans though we have many cultures around the world that have the same kind of predictions only, with some of those, the changes that happen are almost quite literally earth shattering and dramatic.Christianity and Judaism, and I do believe the Muslims as well, have prophecies of the end and massive destruction. Though they don't give dates they sure make it clear as to the things to look for.

I don't believe that this is the first time it's happened, that the world has destroyed itself, but we may be making sure that it's the last time.Some of you may debate me on this if you wish but I think that there is ample evidence out there to suggest that societies greater then ours once existed and that for many reasons unknown they disappeared from the earth, leaving behind marvels and wonders that we either can't figure out how they did, or we simply can't reproduce because we don't have the technology available. It is however the various stories told around the world about their destruction that fascinates me and of course make we wonder if we are about to do the same.

Most of us know about the flood of the Bible. Many cultures around the world have various versions of the flood so you have to decide for yourself if all these various peoples from various cultures around the world were either telling the truth or they all just happened to have the same grand delusion. I tend to believe that they were telling the truth so it begs the questions; What about their stories of other cataclysmic events? Were those true as well? When did they happen or even how is it possible?

India and China, amongst others , have artwork that goes back thousands of years depicting aircraft battling in the skies and of massive destruction. The Aztecs and the Egyptians have hieroglyphics depicting flying objects as well, that some will tell you are birds or bugs, but bare amazing resemblance to aircraft of today.
King Solomon in all his wisdom said in Ecclesiastes 1:10-11 " Is there anything of which it may be said, See this is new? It has already been in ancient times before us.There is no remembrance of former things nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who will come after." Could it be that Solomon knew something that the rest of us just don't seem to grasp?

There is a scientist who has studied the desert for most of his life and one of the things that he discovered was this green rock like glassy substance. Besides the fact that it was found in every desert he studied, he claimed that the only way that this particular form of glassy rock could have been formed was by an extreme heat source such as that produced by a nuclear blast. Did this happen? I don't know but the evidence is compelling. Ask me and I'll send you the article.

So what am I getting at? I am suggesting to you that the way that we are going at this moment, even as I write this, that we may be on the verge of destroying our civilization if not our entire world once again.

Some of you are thinking; These are the signs that were foretold of Messiah's coming, or that it just means that Jesus is going to return again soon or the 13Th Imam. Are you so sure? Tell me this then, if any of the above is true for us at this moment, what is the time table? This year? Next? Ten, a hundred years? We simply don't know.
G-D destroyed this place, at least once, by a flood and the evidence would suggest that there has been more times, and by all scriptural accounts, it will get at least partially destroyed again if not completely, but how do we know, in the meantime, that He isn't going to destroy us and start over again with a few survivors?

We have become a world that is full of madmen who put profit and greed over the good of people. We are a world that has tossed G-D out and have replaced Him with human "gods" or government.We have enough weapons of mass destruction, and those willing to use them, to destroy our world many times over, and we as a human race just watch it happen. I grant you, not everyone does but way to many do. So you tell me am I wrong
or could it be that the fumes from all the oil in the gulf is finally getting to my brain and I have visions of rain laden with chemicals destroying everything... which brings me back to the beginning....

Ignacio

I am a Zionist

I am a Zionist. There I said it out loud, so we can now dispense with any confusion on the matter and move on to why and perhaps along the way you might take a moment to consider my reasons.

A few days ago, while I was looking at various postings on Face Book, I ran across a posting that really irritated me greatly. It was what I like to think of as the usual song and dance of people who just utterly despise Israel with no real, even remotely provable reasons. To say that I went off in my response would be a bit of an understatement. I do not understand this visceral hatred of Israel that I see in this world and I couldn't just sit back and let the comment go by without responding.
I understand the idea that people can dislike what a government does, but this tends to go way beyond that to an utter dislike if not out and out hatred of the Jewish people themselves. Their people are no different than ours and they are subject to the stupid things that their government can do just as we suffer for the stupidity of our leaders.

But to make a blanket statement about an entire group of people just based on their government seems a bit much. Of course I know that this hatred of Israel goes back thousands of years and in today's world seems to be a matter of political correctness as well, but I simply think it is stupid to hate a group of people simply because their government does something that you don't like and of all the people who should really understand this, Americans should be in the forefront of understanding, instead of leading the hatred cheering section. We are a nation that is despised almost as much as Israel and for many of the same reasons, yet instead of uniting with Israel against common enemies we are busy kissing up to those same enemies, whom, at a drop of a hat, will kill us all for no other reason then we don't believe in their version of God.
Now the responses back to me were a bit varied. Some pointed out that it was the money that was being sent to Israel that bothered them, others tried to suggest that somehow Israel was being inhumane to the people in Gaza. But the response that really got my attention "accused" me of being a "Zionist" and a supporter of people who "commit genocide", so I thought I might talk for just a moment about these accusations.

My first thought was something to the effect of whats wrong with being a Zionist? I have heard a lot about anti Zionism, those that are against Israel and the Jewish people, and I know I certainly wouldn't want to be associated with any of them. You know wonderful people such as Adolph Hitler and his crowd, or that nut ball leader of Iran who has vowed to wipe Israel off the map? Then of course there are the wonderful groups of Neo Nazi's and white supremacists groups as well as about every Arab nation on the planet. Nope got no interest in being associated with them. So whats the deal here? Are these people telling me that they are willingly a part of that same crowd of people? That they would rejoice in the destruction of a country about the size of New Jersey and all the people living there? Where is their outrage at the countries around Israel, all Muslim, that won't open their borders to Gaza or the Palestinians? Could it be that they know something about the destructive nature of Hamas and the PLO, that the western world is ignoring? Just sayin....
Any way that I look at it I can't even begin to understand why you would want to support people who's sole purpose in life seems to be the mass extinction of another and those same people want the same for us as well. "First the Saturday people then the Sunday people". Their words not mine.

As for the whole notion of Israel committing genocide; Where and what is your proof?
I have never read anywhere where Israel has said that their goal is to wipe out the Palestinians and all those in Gaza. Hitler had an entire plan all figured out to do that and he damn near succeeded. In fact I would dare say that you would find that if you take a moment to look at history, that Israel has acted with a great amount of restraint, they have been attacked over and over and where as they have the ability to wipe their attackers off the map, they haven't done so. In today's world starting with the PLO it has been thousands of terrorist attacks and missile launches. Don't you think that if Israel was intent on genocide that it would have done so along time ago? They certainly have the ability. There are many non Jews who live in Israel as Israeli citizens and Arabs in their government, where is that a sign of genocide? If the people in Gaza would take it upon themselves to stop Hamas then the problems that they are having would go away, but they can't get rid of them, why? Besides the fact they aren't terribly willing, Hamas has a nasty habit of killing those that oppose them. If you don't believe it google it, you will find multitudes of clips showing them killing their own people.
It's as simple as this to me; This is still a free country, for the time being anyhow,and you have the right to say and believe what you will and I will defend that right with my life even when we don't agree but I ask you to do something really simple.
Quit believing all the crud that the Main Stream Media is feeding you. They have a huge anti Israel agenda and so they are going to feed you with they want you to hear.
Instead take the time to go Arutz Sheva an Israeli on line newspaper or some other on line paper and look at what is happening from their point of view. Or get on Israel National Radio, which you can hear on line in English, and hear their stories. Some of them are just as unhappy with their government as you might be, but you wind up getting the human side to the story and not just the media story, and then call someone while your listening to the shows and ask questions. I did all these things and so now I have a much different view of what is going on in Israel and the middle east then I ever had before.
So my challenge to you is to do as I have done and look and listen for yourselves and then decide what you will, you might just surprise yourself.

Ignacio

Ezekiel/ Gog and Magog

Have you ever taken the time to read the book of Ezekiel? It is the longest book in the Bible and it is not the easiest of books to read. There is much in the way of prophecy against all the nations, including Judah and Israel, and a whole lot of it isn't terribly pretty to read. I ask you this because if you haven't I would highly recommend that you do in light of all the things going on in this world ,especially in Israel ,and the entire middle east.

Ezekiel is a book that is full of dark and foreboding prophecies concerning Israel and Judah along with the nations that are around them. Judah is condemned for looking the other way when Israel is put into exile. The nations around both Israel and Judah are condemned for mocking both Israel and Judah when they are taken away and doing nothing to help them and this type of condemnation goes on and on. But then you have these brief moments where G-D speaks and says ( Uncle Iggy's condensed version ) that he would remember His people in their captivity, that he would remember those that he has scattered to the 4 winds and that he would bring them back to their ancestral homes and bring unity and peace back to Judah and Israel. In one place He even says that he will bring Egypt back under His wing along with Edom. Imagine that! That would truly be real peace in the Middle East when that day comes.

The last part of Ezekiel, chapters 40 -48 is a description of the third temple that is to come, may that day be soon, that G-D showed Ezekiel, but it's primarily Chapters 38-39 that I want to point out to you in conjunction as to what is going on in today's world.

Chapters 38-39 deal with a leader that is known as Gog and his nation Magog that decides to invade that land of Israel and destroy it. It tells how G-D is very much against him and his nation and is going to lead him and his nation against Israel so that G-d can destroy him and his nation. Along the way it speaks of many nations siding with Gog and Magog and joining in the assault against Israel. It speaks of an army so massive that it's like "a cloud covering the earth" and that they will attempt to attack the areas first that have been newly resettled by the returned people of Israel (see chapters 36-37)places that have no walls protecting them. But all of this is a part of G-D's plan. He is essentially going to lead Magog into it's own destruction as they try to destroy Israel. His purpose is two fold, first it is to punish Gog and Magog, along with the rest of the nations that join them, for their sins against G-D and the people of Israel, but it's main purpose is so that G-D's name will be honored and worshiped on the earth because all will see that G-D has done this and their will be no doubt that He has, and His eternal Kingdom will be established on the earth at that time.

This is what I like to refer to as Uncle Iggy's short condensed version because there is so much more there to read but I wanted to make it short and to the point, so please read all of it and decide for yourself.

The reason that I bring this up is it has been suggested by some religious leaders in both the Jewish world and the Evangelical world, that what we are seeing , with this flotilla is but the beginning of what is to come and is perhaps the start of Gog and Magog. Nations, Iran and Turkey, that have been identified as possible locations of Magog, and there are several others depending on who you ask, have offered to have military escorts for ships that are bringing "Aid" to Gaza. That would put Israel in a position that they would have to defend their borders against those that have vowed to wipe them off the map, Iran for instance,and further isolate them from the rest of the world. They are in a no win situation.

Israel is already surrounded by many nations that want to destroy her and, I might add, they have tried over and over, and now it would seem that all of the world, including the United States is going to take a stand against Israel this next week at the UN over the issue of the flotilla. Whats next? UN troops trying to invade Israel and keeping her from defending her borders?

The biggest battle and world event is quite possibly playing out, right in front of us,and the vast majority of the world is ignorant of it, why? Because many have taken the "Old Testament" scriptures and have either relegated them as to being irrelevant or to being nothing but a bunch of stories and fables. Or they live in a nation that doesn't allow the scriptures thus leaving the people ignorant of whats happening.

Christians see the end as being a battle over what they believe, never quite understanding that this has never been about them, but has always been about Israel and G-D's promises to both Judah and Israel. Does Christianity have a role to play in all this? Yes. You at least believe in the G-D of Israel and it may very well come down to you having to decide if you are going to stand with G-D's chosen people, Israel,and the G-D of Israel or if you are going to stand with the world in it's attempt to destroy Israel.
Some of you reading this, may discover that the prophecies that concern the return of Israel to it's land, concerns you because your ancestry is of the house of Israel, I didn't say of the house of Judah, though that is possible as well, but of the house of Israel which consisted of all the 10 tribes that were dispersed by G-D. With that thought in mind the battle lines become more clear and it becomes very personal for all of us.

Before you just disregard this as the ravings of a mad man or someone whom you consider to be "lost" go and read those chapters, in fact read from chapter 36 on , with an open heart and mind and come to your own conclusions.
I don't know for sure whether we are seeing the beginning of the end events or not, I can only live the life that G-D has given me and write that which He has put in my heart, but I do believe that we are seeing what I would believe is the set up for it, if not the main event itself.

Pray for Israel,pray that our nation will wake up to the danger before we become numbered amongst the nations with Gog and Magog.

Shalom,
Ignacio

Remember Memorial Day

The first weekend of summer is finally here. This long holiday weekend, you will probably attend a BBQ somewhere with friends and family, maybe you will hit the beach or attend a summer concert somewhere. Perhaps you will attend a parade and or a memorial service for the fallen. Then there are the sales. I can guarantee that there will be sales everywhere from car dealers to Wal-Mart. People will be having yard sales and all the tourist areas will become very busy. The roads, especially main interstates and highways will become packed with people intent on getting to their weekend and practically killing anyone who is in their way just to get there!

So is this what Memorial day weekend is really supposed to be about? Sales,BBQ, and surf or is there more to it then that?

The next couple of days will have various talking heads and insincere politicians lauding the sacrifices of our troops both past and present, while the President goes to Arlington to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.......
I am sorry, that last part isn't correct, he won't be going to Arlington after all. But before you get too ticked off at him for breaking such a long standing tradition, consider a few things with me.

First of all this should surprise no one, he has displayed his contempt for America and our laws and traditions since the beginning but that's not the real problem. He is simply following what I would call a trend that has taken place over the years and he ,as our "leader", is simply showing us that trend. Let me explain.

When I was a kid,Memorial day was something to be looked forward to. My home town was small but we had lot's of Veterans and so we always had a parade and a memorial service right there in the center of town. Rain or shine they had it. For me it was great because they had the parade go by the corner of our road and then the memorial service with the gun salute was there as well. The thing I remember the most about it though was the sound of taps.With the sounds of the guns echoing they would begin playing taps and for some reason, reasons that I really didn't understand at the time, it made me sad. We still had WW1 and WW2 vets. Korean war vets and at that time Vietnam was still going on so it would be awhile before they were included but they were there as well. Memorial day meant something to all of us. My uncles had fought in WW2 and Korea I had a cousin who was in Vietnam. When they spoke of their experiences you saw men who really understood what it was to sacrifice, but it included their families as well.

What I think is happening is simply this, we have truly forgotten what sacrifice is, we have forgotten about men and women and their families who gave up everything including thier lives for the freedom we so enjoy. Today just trying to find a Memorial day parade or even just a Memorial service has become difficult. I am not saying that this is true of everyone or of everyplace. To days military is sacrificing as other generations before them have done, but what is missing is the whole community commitment.We don't feel like a nation that is at war. Most of us get to go on with our day to day lives and unless we know of someone who is in harms way at the moment we forget. Though the calendar says Memorial Day, it seems that unless it has personally effected you then the only thing of interest is a good sale and a BBQ.

So the President in reality is simply reflecting the fact that for the most part, Americans have forgotten. Don't take me wrong; He is supposed to be the commander and chief of the armed forces and as such he should consider it his duty ,if not honor, to be there, but he is just reflecting what seems to be a growing trend of not caring by those who do not understand what sacrifice truly is.

So my request to you is simple, enjoy your weekend, eat drink and be merry, but please take time out this weekend to remember why we call it Memorial day in the first place.
Go visit a Veteran, walk through the cemetery and look and the graves with the flags on them,go to your local war memorial and study the names that are engraved there and then research them and discover that these were real people who gave up their lives and or health so you could enjoy your freedom. Simply put; Remember Memorial day.

Semper Fidelis,
Ignacio

So why the remorse?

Have you ever experienced buyers remorse? I have. You know that sinking feeling after you have made a big purchase and suddenly an unexpected bill shows up and suddenly you find your self scrambling around just trying to figure out how get everything paid.
My worse experience came from a car years ago. We had just bought a brand new car, we were living the dream ,as it were, and we suddenly found ourselves expecting a child.
Just like that we we went from being excited about having this car to, now how do we get rid of it! We knew that we were going to need that money for things for our coming baby, O why did we buy that car and what do we do now?!
Well the short end of it is through a small series of disasters, including the car being stolen, we did loose the car. The good news of course is that our daughter was born.

I think that in this country right now that there is a lot of buyers remorse going on.Everyday there are new headlines of the various things that the government is doing to get involved in our privacy, all in the name of the public good of course and"Social Justice" , and many are starting to show just how unhappy they are with all of it by joining the various groups that are protesting these changes. The governments response to all this has been everything from ridicule and disdain to accusations of sedition, and why not, after all they have the majority in the house and senate and therefore they can say or do what they like and we are led to believe that we can do nothing about it.

To my liberal friends and others who studied the issues and determined that this is the man you want leading you, you have my highest respect, at least you did your homework before you came to your conclusions. I know this to be true because of many nights of camp fire discussions on the issues. We could probably teach people what real civility is about.

So let me ask you a question, those of you with the remorse, why are you so sorry? I admittedly did not vote for President Obama so I am not experiencing that remorse, so I have to ask the question of those of you who did; Why the remorse?
Did you not pay attention to the campaign? Did you not listen to the Debates? Did you not pay attention when people pointed out that then candidate Obama, was raised by Marxists and believed in the Communist/Socialist ideas of "Social Justice" or of the re-distribution of wealth? It was right out there in the open for all to see, so why are you so surprised? When he said that they were going to "fundamentally change America" did you think that he was kidding?
When he spends his time America bashing, why are you surprised? O that's right you didn't pay attention to him not respecting our flag during the campaign, because you apparently weren't watching! America isn't perfect and we have done some amazingly stupid things in the past but that is no reason to disrespect the nation that you are supposed to be leading.

In my humble opinion the last election was little more then a sham anyhow. You didn't have any real choices and after listening to the debates I came to realize that they all are out for the same thing, it was just a matter of how they would do it. And yes I also believe that there is a much larger global agenda going on here, that would be going on no matter who was in charge, that's a subject for another day though.

How about you in the press. What are you complaining about? You being left out of the loop all of a sudden? He has no respect for the constitution or America in general, he won't uphold our own laws of checks and balances in the government, and somehow you think that he is going to respect "freedom of the press? " You are more to be despised then he is because you could have honestly reported the truth about him but you did nothing but lick the dirt off of his shoes. I realize that Bush had issues as well, but is that any reason to glorify this man almost to deity status? So I do not feel sorry that the press is being screwed royal, if you had been honest in your journalism in the first place you'd still be in the loop.

So there you have it, with last nights vote, the government has control of the financial sector. So as soon as they can get cap and trade passed, or whatever they are calling it now, they will have control of most aspects of our lives. The Fed. now controls the banks and the financial institutions, they have now put a strangle hold on Wall Street, they own the Auto industry. They have control of Medical. They are considering adding a "Value Tax" to everything that you buy. They are fighting in court to control what food you eat and what natural herbal supplements that you use. You are taxed on everything from food to a fishing license and every year the fees go up.And just in case you haven't figured this out yet, with the government now owning the banks and financial institutions, they own your house as well. This is what you voted for; So why the remorse?

It still not to late to change things, but I am afraid that the death knell has been sounded, we were too busy to pay attention to the issues, the press did nothing to inform people of the truth and those of us who spoke loudly were ignored or were accused of bigotry and hatred.

If someone had told me before I signed for the car that there were going to be much more important issues coming my way, such as a baby, I wouldn't have bought the car. Unlike todays political issues, there was no way I could have known so I bought it and I paid badly for that decision. So whats your excuse?

Semper Fidelis,
Ignacio

Integrity

I tend to think of myself as a fairly open minded person,I like new thoughts and ideas and am constantly looking to see whats coming around the corner of time.Even on my worst days when my body and mind are taking a beating from illness's that I can't control, I still try to look on the bright side of things and try to conceive of what the future is going to be like. Well today is not going to be one of those days. To elaborate a bit; I am going to speak on what I believe is happening, not only in our nation but in the entire world and you are going to find that it's fairly simple.

We have become a people that are liars and thieves. We have become a nation of people that would literally sell our grandmothers as slaves if it would help us achieve our goals in our lives, and , even worse, is what we do to total strangers thinking that the end justifies the means that we use. We have become thoroughly corrupt in our thinking and our choices in leadership and what they are doing to us reflect this.

It used to be that honesty and integrity defined a person. People used to keep their word and it was all you needed to sign a deal. Now it's simply to hell with everyone else I am going to get my own by whatever means necessary.

I used to teach a class to younger Marines on honesty and integrity. They had cards that they received in boot camp that they were supposed to carry with them, that gave the "Core Values " of the Marine Corp. I told them point blankly that if honesty and integrity were not all ready in their souls then no stupid card was going to help them remember. It proved out to be true, their were Marines that I could count on always, men and women that I could tell what needed to be done and I knew that it would be done and properly, then there were the ones that would do as little as possible and try to get away with every thing, their time was tough while they worked for me.

But now we have become a people who would rather lie and cheat rather then do the right thing, simply because it is right.

Let me start with a personal story and you will begin to see what I mean.
This house that we are currently living in has issues. We have started the process of removing wall paper and painting, fun things like that and we have started to find a myriad of problems that we never knew existed. The previous owner , who sold the house to us, certainly did, because he is the one who covered them up!He waxed eloquent on the money that he had spent on the roof and furnace and of course the cabinets but used that as a distraction from the real problems. We were all ready troubled with some of the plumbing issues that we discovered after moving in, which we have repaired,but now we have now found everything from holes in the walls to some water damage that was hidden and are discovering that it's going to cost us more then we had planned to fix these things properly, had I seen these hidden problems, I would not have bought the house. But I guess that's the point, the former owner wanted to sell the house but didn't want to do the work that needed to be done. It did not matter to him that this would be passed on to me, he had his goal and he achieved it and now it's going to cost my family and I more to fix these problems properly.
Some of you might be thinking that you should have checked closer, perhaps so, but if the problem is covered up your not going to see it and if the person in question had and ounce of integrity these things would have been pointed out.

So lest any of you think that I am suggesting that I am perfect in this regard, I will state unequivocally that I am not. I can think of times in my life that I was less then honest and my integrity went out the window for self preservation and perhaps even in the future I may stumble and fall into that trap again, but then again I was younger and I would like to think that as we get older in life that we learn and grow up.

But you see the above mentioned problem is symptomatic of a greater problem in our society. We have become a people who lie and cheat to accomplish our goals and this is shown in Hollywood and in Washington.

Hollywood is always showing us movies where the distinction of the bad guys and the good are sometimes a matter of perspective. Both lie and cheat and steal to accomplish their goal, but because one character is considered the good guy we cheer them on no matter what it is that they do.
The Harry Potter series, I have read the books and have seen the movies and I like them, but lets face it ,the kids in those movies go to great lengths to get away with whatever their goal is, and I will grant you that theirs is a battle with the greatest evil known to their world, but still some of what they do I would punish my kids for doing, but again because they are the good guys we over look it and cheer them on.

I also understand that their are times that honesty might get someone killed, as in hiding Jews in Nazi Germany. If you told the truth not only would you die but people who had come to you for shelter would die as well, that , at least in my mind, would be a much greater evil.

Washington D.C. has become so filled with corruption and greed that I find it impossible to believe anything that they say anymore. The only "truth" that they want you to hear and believe is that "truth" that comes from them.
These are people that get away with everything from Perjury to Tax evasion , both of which should land you in jail, and nothing happens to them. Occasionally the will have a committee to review the charges but most of the time it gets swept under the rug and given enough time it is forgotten. If you are in the wrong ( at the moment) political party the press might hound you out of office, but really it rarely happens.

The press that is supposed to be part of the watch dogs of our liberties and freedoms have lost all integrity and honesty and put a spin on everything so that they can influence you to believe what ever it is that has been determined by others that you should believe.

Now I am pointing a finger at a lot of people but I would remind you that I have identified myself as having been a part of the problem at times as well. So how about you? Are you one of those types of people who would lie with a straight face to accomplish your goals? I know "Lie" is such a harsh word, but would you do it? Call it what you will but do you have the integrity and the honesty to state the truth even if that means your goal is not accomplished? Would you do something as simple as returning too much change handed to you at a store , after a purchase? How about lying about your wages on a form knowing that if you don't put down enough or little that you might not get what you want? How about spending money that you really should be using on bills on things that you really don't need? The list could go on. All of it shows a lack of honesty and integrity.

We have thrown out God as a nation and look where it has brought us.Nature abhors a vacuum, so it becomes natural that when G-D and the things of G-D are thrown out of a society, that the things which are against G-D will fill the void. Some want to see a "Progressive" society. Congratulations. What you see is exactly what "Progressive" looks like.

You want to see things change? We as individuals need to become re acquainted with honesty and integrity and the G-D who makes that possible, and then perhaps we will be in a much better position to demand it from our leaders.

As our nation has gone so have the leaders and as the leaders have gone so has the nation.

Semper FI
Ignacio

Random Thoughts and Why's....

Just some random thoughts on some various random issues.

Today we have Oil executives saying that the mess that they created is somehow not their fault, or should I say that they are spending their time blaming each other rather then being adults and owning up to their collective mistakes....of course when you consider who it is that's grilling them in the first place they have learned how to blame from the pros.

I am still at a loss to understand how it is that you SAVE money by putting yourself so deep in debt that the next ice age will come before we even begin to touch the interest....I think 10,000 years from now when they rediscover the lost nation of the United States that they will discover that just like the Mayans we disappeared with out a trace, years later they will discover that we all migrated to 3rd world countries to avoid all the taxes.....

What part of illegal is miss-understood? How can it be that average legal citizens can't get a hand up in these troubling times, but if you cross the border illegally, you can have everything handed to you? Sorry I don't get it. I am not prejudice, look at my name for goodness sakes, but why is it if I ask these very basic questions, instead of answering the question I am labeled....or how can it be that in the United States kids in school get in trouble for wearing American flags on their shirts? Do the British get upset if we wear our shirts on their independence day? How about the Irish on St. Patric's day? Just saying...

Why is it that everyone insists on being hyphenated Americans? What happened to just being plain good old fashioned American? Used to be that when people came here from other countries they learned the language and the culture and they expected their kids to do the same thing......doesn't mean you give up the traditions or customs of your former country but it does mean that you give up that national id and become American citizens with out the hyphen.

Why is everyone suddenly afraid of free speech? By everyone I mean the politicians and the main stream media. Why is it that everyone who even thinks about disagreeing with whatever is politically correct at the moment is demonised? What is it that they are afraid of? That you might learn the real truth about things? You might adapt a differing opinion? President Bush made me nervous with all his changes and I spoke up against that which I thought he was doing wrong and it was suggested that we were not being patriotic. President Obama and his cronies have actually accused people of sedition because they have disagreed with them and they have made a concerted attempt to paint those of us who disagree with them as anything from lunatics to terrorists.
Why? Again, are you afraid that people may come to really see what it is that you and past administrations are truly up to?

How can it be that a man who is supposed to defend the Constitution and uphold the laws of this land , won't do it? Of course in all fairness to him, the same can be asked of all of our politicians...

Why is it that we trust these people with our wallets, when they can't keep track of their own? They give us more and more taxes on more and more things and yet many of them don't pay their own taxes, if we avoided them we would go to jail they somehow get a pass. It's sort of like asking Jack the Ripper to babysit your teenage daughter...you wouldn't do that so why are we doing this?

One last "why".

Why is it that we are allowing this government to keep us in a constant state of war? I fought in this war,when we left we had beat them, and it was over.Yet here we sit still involved in Iraq and Afghanistan, years later with no end in sight and rumors of Pakistan now floating around. Why do we waste our time on places that hate us no matter what we do? Why do we spend lots of money on all these foreign bases and wars while in our own land we have much work that could be done with that same money?
Why, after sending them into harms way, would you cut the pay and benefits of the troops, when there are people on the welfare roles who are capable of work but just refuse to do so? Cut their pay instead and see how long they stay. Why would you even begin to hint that Veterans may not deserve their pay and benefits when it is the government who made them disabled in the first place?!

That last why is extremely personal to me....just saying.

OK I have rambled on enough. If I have pissed you off in some way by my questions ask yourself why? Is it because I am asking the questions that you are to afraid to ask or is it because you think that I'M an Idiot?

Either way you have a right to say so and express yourself and that is the point of all this. Think what you think and speak your mind that's part of the America I remember.

Semper FI.
Ignacio

Grandparents Common Sense

OK here we go, I am going to ask one of the most profound questions that I can think of at the moment. This question just really sums up my thoughts and attitudes about a great number of things from both a political and religious point of view and truly this is purely rhetorical but I must ask it anyhow.

Have we all lost our minds? Or should I say common sense?

I ask this question because I am getting to a point where I really don't get it anymore. Perhaps it's my age. I am , after all, middle aged and past the most productive stage in life. I am dumber then almost everyone under the age of 25,just ask them and they will tell you that, and I am a great deal heavier...I have always leaned more towards the conservative side in politics and religion, though in recent years I have embraced more of a libertarian mind set, but over all I am old fashioned conservative.

So what is it I don't get? Well...all of it.

Let me explain; My grandparents never had much, they at one time had owned a farm that got burned down and from there took shoe factory jobs in Maine so that there kids could get a Christian education. They owned a house,in which me and my brother were also raised in, and they had a car. They had enough property so that they could grow a garden and can veggies for the winter. These were not rich people but they worked within their means to put food on the table and to keep the bills paid. I don't remember them having a credit card, nor any outstanding bills with the exception of the house. They were however some of the most generous of people that I have ever known. My grandfather used to make bread and doughnuts and he either gave it away or sold it for very little. My grandmother was always knitting something for people or both of them were making stuff for local community events. They opened their house to us when my mother got divorced and over the years had any number of students who went to the local Christian school, stay in their house as well. Generous loving people, though in a very typical New England sort of way. At their funerals I can tell you that the church was packed to the point of people listening from outside. Truly amazing people.

So why do I mention them? They had good old fashion common sense. They knew that they had to live within their means. They didn't go out seeking government help to take care of us or to pay the mortgage. They even went so far as to take what little they had and either shared it with their neighbors or used it in such a way as to help their neighbors. My grandmother was known for buying a bag of groceries for people and leaving it on their door steps.Their way of thinking was not uncommon. Everybody there was poor and so people helped out each other and it all sort of worked out in the end.
We took care of each other and the government stayed out of our business and we were all better off for it.

So this where I kind of get lost. What has happened to us that we just want to go along for the ride and let "Uncle Sam " take care of us? Why is it that we stand by and let them get bigger and bigger? How can it be that after all their lies and BS that we still believe them? My grandparents knew that if the money isn't there then you can't spend it, so if they knew it and it worked , how can it be that a bunch of highly educated people can't figure it out. They can't balance their own check books and yet we want to turn the entire economy over to them? Sorry I don't get it.

Now of course we must add labels to all of this. If you disagree with the way that our government is going then you are a racist or you are stupid.
If you belong to any of the non mainstream groups, because you are against a bigger government, then not only are you a racist but likely you are a terrorist as well.
Heaven help you if you are a returning war vet and you fit any of those categories because they consider you to be a terrorist or should I say "potential terrorist".

It's not politically correct to speak out against illegal immigration or to have the nerve to speak out and say that Islamic terrorists are targeting the United States but it's OK to label every militia group as racist and a threat. It's OK to suggest that some grandmother in the Tea Party waving a flag and singing patriotic songs is some how a likely insurgent, while Muslims can march in our streets calling for Jihad and the overthrow of the western world and that's free speech.

So simply put; If you are against anything that the government is for you are a stupid racist and likely some type of domestic terrorist.You should be quieted and threatened and just go along with everything like domestic sheep but if you are for everything that the government is for then you are enlightened and should be given free reign to speak your mind, because , after all, it agrees with whats being spouted from the MSM and DC.

My grandparents always voted Democrat but beyond that they never said much about politics, but I think that there brand of common sense and the way that they treated people speaks volumes as to what their thoughts were.I can tell you they wouldn't have cared much for what is going on today.

I am a disabled vet. I know what government run anything is like. I know what it is to have a government check every month and to wonder if it's going to be taken away or decreased or wonder if they are going to attach any strings to it. Make no mistake about this, once you are in the government system, they have you. Doesn't matter if it's an earned check, such as in the case of Disabled vets, once they have you they can control what you do. Is this really what you want America?

My grandparents didn't take handouts from the government and while things may have been tough,especially with 2 kids in the house,they were retirement age, they hung in there and made due with what they had. America and our government needs to do the same.

Here is the kicker though, it's the way that they have successfully labeled all of us and divided us that truly makes all of this remarkable. I have pointed out a few things and most of us could come up with more, but they have divided us along party lines, though there isn't any real difference any more, they have divided us by race and color and religion.By doing this we spend our time looking at our differences rather then what we have in common and we remain divided. It's an old military tactic; divide and conquer and is as old as the garden of Eden. It has worked in the past and until we can stop fighting with each other, the powers that be win.

Semper FI,
Ignacio

Illegal aliens....

This last week or so has once again reintroduced us to the concept of illegal aliens. If you prefer to call the undocumented workers be my guest , but no matter how you express it that facts remain that they are here illegally.

Now before you tune me out or decide which way I am leaning before reading this whole thing, let me give you some background.

I am the son of what would be by definition an illegal alien. He came here when Cuba was taken over by Castro and his choices were boiled down to two, leave or be killed.
In those days any Cuban who came ,legally or not, were allowed to stay in this country because sending them back was a death sentence. Soon he met my mother and I was born.
Here is the catch though. My father never became a legal citizen of this country until about 15 years ago. He thought that because he had a ssn and drivers license and because no one came after him that he was OK just as things were. Well he was wrong.
Immigration came after him in the 90's because President Clinton had decided that Cubans were not going to get a free pass anymore. My father had spent time in prison, so they decided that he would either have to prove that he had been in this country for all the years that he he claimed or he was going to get deported back to Cuba, which still would have been a death sentence for him. My brother and I had to show birth certificates and our mother had to show both her marriage and divorce papers to prove that he had been here but even after all that proof was in he still had to wait in house arrest for a couple of years before his case was settled and he was allowed to stay. I was in no danger nor was my brother because we were born here, but can you imagine what that would have done to my father had they sent him back to Cuba.

So fast forward to today or at least in the last few years. Since 9/11 I have had to prove that I was born here more often then I can shake a stick at. I don't look Hispanic or at least not completely and ,as anyone who knows me can attest, I really don't know that much about the culture either, but none the less this is who I am.
For my friends in the North East and particularly Vermont I have had to prove my status as an American citizen more often there, than I ever have down here in the South West where they are dealing with the illegal issues. Maybe somethings have changed and their are thousands of Canadians crossing the border....

People here have taken one look at me and decided that I didn't look illegal, so they would just look at my drivers license and call it good. Even getting my Iraq Vet plates I didn't have to prove anything. In New England I had to make several trips back and forth to get my birth certificate and my discharge papers and my SSN card. This is what my reality was like in New England. I sort of expected it here but it hasn't happened so who is it that is really harder on Illegals? Just saying...

So what does this have to do with Arizona or illegals? I am tired of everyone bellyaching about people who are here illegally having to prove that they belong here. My father had to do it, and I have had to do it more times then I can count and yet there are many who feel that these people are above our laws and don't need to obey them? Why is that? Is there more going on then meets the eye?

After 9/11 we heard a lot about securing the borders and everyone was united that we had to do "Something" about the borders and yet nothing has been done about it.And when a State finally decides to do something about it people have a cow. Whats wrong with this picture? Maybe there was something bogus about 9/11? Again just sayin...

First of all I understand why people would want to come here any way they can, there are jobs that Americans won't do that are available and living here in even the worst of conditions tends to be a lot better then in the countries that they have came from. I have been to some of them , so I know. So my issue is not with those that want to be here and work.My issue is with those who in one breath will say we need to do "Something" about the border but then sit back on there hands and do nothing.

Could it be that the real issue isn't border security, but the votes that the politicians can gain by prolonging this argument? Republicans can count on the big agri - farms for support as long as there is an ample supply of cheap labor and the democrats, if they can get them all amnesty, will have that many more votes to keep them in power. This has nothing to do with the the illegals who are being exploited by both parties, it is about who is going to control the government for the foreseeable future. DC does not care about the people in Arizona or Texas or where ever. They don't care about the illegals either, they only "care" when it will get them an extra vote or two.

So what would I suggest then? Simple; Take those that are here working and help them become legal, these are the kinds of people that we want in this country. Take all the criminals and send them back to where they came from and then secure our borders properly. If we can keep track of cows, we can certainly figure out who's who.
Then we need to re do an Ellis Island kind of thing in the south and perhaps make it easier for those who want to come here, those that have jobs or family here to come legally. If they refuse to work deport them. If they commit crimes deport them. But if they are here and they are working and paying taxes and being good members of society then let them stay, these are the kinds of people that America needs. All of us,with the exception of the Native Americans, are descendants of both legal and illegal aliens. If you ask the a fore mentioned American natives, all of us would be illegal, so consider wisely.
Maybe my views are too simple, but that why I call this Simple minded sense.
Semper Fi
Ignacio