About a year ago, certain family members criticized me for being a little extreme when I said I was terrified of what Obama was going to do while in office. I defended myself by saying that the president firing the CEO of one of the largest corporations is terrifying in itself. The free market - though not truly free since government regulations first began in the beginning - truly began being in dire straits when a overstuffed lawyer with a title can start firing powerful businesspeople at will.
Since that time, the fear has increased for me. I have been watching Glenn Beck lately, though I used to decry him as an extremist naysayer and prophet of doom (like many people still do who have never actually watched him in action). He has been discussing a lot of disturbing things about all the Marxists - by their own admissions - in Obama's inner circle of advisors and friends. But I am not going to talk about the allegations - I am going to discuss actual happenings with news coverage and video.
Sunday, a protesting group of 500 members of SEIU - one of the largest unions in the country - gathered on the front porch and lawn of a Bank of America ATTORNEY. This was not some exec dealing in dirty loans - he was a lawyer handling some corporate law.
This mob convened illegally in the man's front yard yelling and chanting. Who was home? The man's 14 year old son. That's it. The man came home from a little league baseball game with his 12 year old son to find the scene. He parked down the street and had to go through the angry crowd to get to his son in the house.
I would imagine that if they tried that at the wrong house in Texas there would have been bloodshed - and I can only hope it wouldn't be the homeowner's family. It is trespassing! It is unconstitutional! That was not peaceable assembly on public land! That is a direct threat! What if someone turned violent. Mob mentality is real - that could have turned real ugly. The police were contacted, but they were afraid to push the crowd - they were afraid of the mob breaking the law and dangerously threatening a private citizen at his place of residence! That is not OK.
Further fun: The head of the SEIU is Andy Stern. Stern likes to talk about global governance and quote Marx ("Workers of the world: UNITE!"). Stern - leader of the group that committed this crime - is the most frequent visitor to the Obama White house.
Obama used to love campaigning on this premise of transparency. He said that when he enacted his healthcare, he would broadcast every second of the talks on CSPAN. I think most people know how that turned out. There were lots of back room dealings and closed door meetings. Every Republican in the House voted against it. Several Dems voted against it. Some planned to, then inexplicably changed their stance around the same time their states were guaranteed disproportionate amounts of money (I'm looking at you Nebraska). Obama started his presidency going on every talk show and news show to talk about how awesome his presidency was going to be. Then the random interviews on the White house premises stopped. Then Obama stopped doing his own press conferences. Then the administration started openly mocking Fox News and threatening to not allow them into press conferences. Now the White house has their own in-house news network. They have their own interview of the Supreme Court Justice nominee posted on the White house website, but no news agency is able to interview her. WTF?!?
And Healthcare! Sure, it WOULD be great if everyone had access to healthcare that was affordable and good. But why all the under-handed dealings. Why does the bill include the provision that all Federally guaranteed student loans would now be handled federally - no more states and private institutions making profits on a lucrative industry. Nope. The federal government, which has proven itself so able with money matters, figures it can outperform the private sector.
A certain uncle of mine thinks I am silly for thinking that the polls just before and after the passing of the bill in Congress should hold any sway with the federal politicians. Some polls were saying that as many as 75%+ of Americans OPPOSED the bill. Supporters barely outnumbered the confused.
I saw a video clip recently of Obama speaking when someone in the audience shouted something out. Obama responded by saying, "Who was that? You wanna come down here and say something?" I have decided that if I ever get a chance to shout something in a public forum like that and get called out, I know what I would say. I would say, "Mr. President - you believe in Democracy, yes? Humor me - these sound like rhetorical questions, but let's go ahead and answer them anyway, shall we? If you like democracy, and remember our country is a republic, why don't we make our legislative process a touch more democratic. How about you don't even let Congress vote on a bill unless a nationwide referendum shows 50%+ public opinion for the bill. Or is it worth asking if you have faith in the American people enough for that?"
Oh and the latest. The media is showing their true colors through their omissions now. Bush started some "faith-based initiatives" and the media went ballistic with regards to how unconstitutional it is. Separation of Church and State! The Founders were atheists and Deists! Christianity kills! Now what has Obama done? He has opened an EPA Faith office to provide funding for faith-based groups (churches) to go green. Caveats? Nothing major - they have to play by some rules the White House has laid out. The can't discriminate in their proselytizing. They can't discriminate in the hiring - in the eyes of the government, that is. The Federal government has already said that churches that get "too political" can lose their tax-exempt status. You can bet that does not apply to them preaching the party line, though. In fact, now that I think about it, Nancy Pelosi was shown - in a speech on video - bragging about religious leaders including archbishops and such pleading for her to push immigration reform. What did she tell them? "You need to preach it from your pulpits first." What? So...churches can be political all they want if it is in line with the party line. And Separation of Church and State is important - if we can keep that Christianity malignant fungus from infected the minds of our poor impressionable kids.
Incidentally, our Founders wanted the opposite. The Constitution with the Bill of Rights does not mention the Separation business. The only mention of it written anywhere from the Founders comes from Jefferson talking about the Anglican Church - which had a secular leader controlling the churches for political gain. The point of it was to protect religion from the State - not the other way around. The nefarious unfoldings of late are scary. And where is the media in talking about so many things so close to the White House being involved with such insidious events? Well, they do talk about Glenn Beck's delivery of his side of things. Did you know he gets riled up?!? I know what you're thinking. He is crazy, right?
Why are there so many Marxists so close to the President? Why does the administration deny allegations of socialism while its supporters (I'm looking at you Al Sharpton, and "Certain Uncle") say, "America voted for socialism when they voted for Obama," or "What is so wrong with 'socialism?'" Hmmmm...what is wrong indeed. Let's look at just a few examples of the redistribution of wealth and/or overblown entitlement and/or government takeovers of private industries. Well, we had the Bolshevik/Menshevik mess starting in 1917 - I always forget which was red and which was white and which one. We had Mussolini. Franco. Chavez. Guevarra. Hitler. Mao. Il-Song. Castro. Pol Pot. Whoever it was in Laos and Vietnam. Wait a minute - that seems like a lot of Government tskeover experiments. Shall we look at them? Are there any there you are not familiar with? Pol Pot ruled a fairly small country. How many deaths do they attribute him with, exactly? If I understand right, it is over a MILLION.
Social Justice is a farce. Justice is great - but the social part is the hangup. When do we start penalizing people for not "including" the unpopular kids? Why does everyone deserve a toilet? Do they? Don't they? Is that an inalienable right that we should march to protect? Call me crazy, but inalienable rights seem like they may be independent of time and technology. Do I think it would be great to have the whole world have indoor plumbing? Yes. Do I think we have a responsibility to help feed the poor? That depends. Who is we? Is it the government? No. They should keep us safe and do as little as possible to set up a safe free market. Do communities and churches and individuals? Maybe. But there is no help having a bunch of bureaucracy to filter the money and resources.
Has anyone else noticed the government has sucked at everything it has decided to run except the military. The military has a great track record when we don't hold them back. I happen to know that we have superiority like hasn't been seen since Genghis Khan. But when has the government actually done anything positive - unequivocally positive - with money? EVER?
The Constitution is under attack. Our own president has talked about how lacking it is. I can only hope that November brings some people to protect the Constitution.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Updates on mundane crap
I haven't blogged in a while - I didn't check what the last thing I wrote was. Well, I am working and chilling at home without any drama happening at all. So I will update the two people who read my blog as a replacement for sheep-counting on recent details.
I started the Chocolate Society last month, so people like me can meet together to talk about chocolate. I have gotten a lot of people into chocolate over the last year and a half. I am frankly a little tired of introducing people to the good stuff and answering the same questions and half-heartedly grinning at little jokes about Hershey's. I want to supplement that with some snobbily in-depth conversation about the finer nuances of chocolate. So I started a society for people like me to do exactly that.
Also, I have been growing my beard for about 2 months - maybe 2 1/2, and it is getting pretty grizzly. I have trimmed it, but it is still pretty scraggly. It is funny because I can see people looking at me like I might be crazy, so strangers often act carefully. People I barely know complement my beard all the time. I have gotten the strongest compliments from co-workers including my boss's boss's boss. And now I plan to shave it. Carrie hates it with some burning kind of passion. But I want to keep growing my hair out.
I have gotten a couple new guitar amps this year. I got a cute little Vox 4 Watt tube amp that sounds really good, but is feature-lite. It has a volume knob, and "tone" knob (that doesn't have all that much effect considering it is the only tone control I have) and a 3-position rotary selection switch to allow full power, 1 Watt, or 1/10 Watt so I can get full tubey sound at a volume suitable for sleeping children. It is very cool.
Shortly after getting that amp, I got an Epiphone Blues Custom 30 that can switch between 30W Class A/B or 15W Class A. I did a lot of reading to find out the difference between Class A and Class A/B, and the difference in sound is subtle. The lower power setting mostly is just quieter - but not by as much as you'd think. Both of the amps look really retro which is in keeping with their rather old-school design and sound. The Epi is crazy loud, and I got to jam with it the day after I got it. I look forward to getting to jam with some guys at work soon. Our musical styles are disparate in a lot of ways, but we have a lot in common as well. I just really don't want to sound like another indie extension of the late 60's. When I play electric, I tend to have a funky and/or heavy style. I like weird rhythms that are somewhat difficult to bob your head to, though they do feel very groovy. We'll see how that goes. I would like to record some just for kicks.
I have been getting into vinyl lately - that's right - records. I got a bunch of "classical" records for free last year when BYU's library was just giving it away. I got some Baroque, but mostly Romantic and Modern stuff from several of my favorite composers including Rachmaninoff and Saint-Saens. But the turning point for actually buying a record player was when I went to a local music store and saw a copy of The Company Band's first full-length. TCB has the singer from Clutch (my favorite band), the drummer from CKY, and others. I bought the record without either a record player or having heard the songs at all. It felt so old-school. I later got a cheap little record player, and I have been plugging it into my Epi guitar amp (and only getting the left channel). Between the analog record and tube amplifier and decent (though not properly-voiced for the application) speakers, it sounds awesome. I have had two friends who both said they don't hear the difference between different quality soundsystems or different guitars or amps and the like say that it sounds amazing. It has so much more detail and dimension - it is incredible. I plan on buying a kit to make an actual stereo tube amp for audio, and then I may make my own speaker boxes, too. I have bought a few records since then, and I hope to have a decent record collection before too long. But I have a lot of important and more useful things to pay for in the meantime.
I decided recently that I am an adrenaline enthusiast. I would say that I am an adrenaline junkie - but that is far more extreme than where I actually am. I have also figured that I have been having an insane lack of adrenaline in my life lately, and it is wearying me. It seems a little backwards that a lack of excitement would tire me out, but I need a balance. And without a fast car or bike or other forms of adrenalizing, I feel the lack. I don't know what to do about it. I am hoping that jamming with people and making a lot of noise will help.
Oddly, we are planning to get a minivan soon, and I am excited about that. I like getting a new vehicle, and I think minivans are the pinnacle of practicality. With baby number 3 on the way, we will need to have a place to put the child during transport. I would much rather have a minivan than some big, stupid SUV we won't use for anything beyond minivan use. That said, part of me would like an off-road vehicle of some sort. Like a rock-crawler. Or a pre-runner truck. Or a mildly-rally-prepped car. Or a dual-sport adventure bike.
Yesterday, I test-rode a Triumph Speed Triple, and it was a lot of fun. I expected it to scare me, but I think my size reigns in the acceleration a little too much for real drama. I was kind of expecting it to take my breath away upon accelerating. It didn't. But it was still really fast, comfortable, and sporty. It was easy to ride, though I haven't really ridden in a year. It was really comfortable below about 80 mph, and then it just got loud and windy above that which is no surprise as it has no wind protection at all. Last May, after riding my friends Ninja for a month, I think my perspective has changed dramatically about speed. The bike I rode yesterday had similar power, and I am actually sorta used to acceleration like that. But it was still exhilarating, and I felt really cheerful and content for several hours afterward. Though I was painfully aware later of really slow people blocking my progress.
Naomi was punched in the mouth by a doll she was holding recently, and it knocked her tooth loose. She is 5 1/2 and she got her teeth really early, so it may just be time to start losing teeth. We were worried, and the dentist took an X-ray and said that there is still a root holding on, but don't be alarmed if it falls out or not. She got beat up by a doll she was holding! It would have been funny if her mouth hadn't been bleeding.
Well, that is some of the most pointless mindless drivel I have written in recent memory, so enjoy that. Anyway, that's it.
I started the Chocolate Society last month, so people like me can meet together to talk about chocolate. I have gotten a lot of people into chocolate over the last year and a half. I am frankly a little tired of introducing people to the good stuff and answering the same questions and half-heartedly grinning at little jokes about Hershey's. I want to supplement that with some snobbily in-depth conversation about the finer nuances of chocolate. So I started a society for people like me to do exactly that.
Also, I have been growing my beard for about 2 months - maybe 2 1/2, and it is getting pretty grizzly. I have trimmed it, but it is still pretty scraggly. It is funny because I can see people looking at me like I might be crazy, so strangers often act carefully. People I barely know complement my beard all the time. I have gotten the strongest compliments from co-workers including my boss's boss's boss. And now I plan to shave it. Carrie hates it with some burning kind of passion. But I want to keep growing my hair out.
I have gotten a couple new guitar amps this year. I got a cute little Vox 4 Watt tube amp that sounds really good, but is feature-lite. It has a volume knob, and "tone" knob (that doesn't have all that much effect considering it is the only tone control I have) and a 3-position rotary selection switch to allow full power, 1 Watt, or 1/10 Watt so I can get full tubey sound at a volume suitable for sleeping children. It is very cool.
Shortly after getting that amp, I got an Epiphone Blues Custom 30 that can switch between 30W Class A/B or 15W Class A. I did a lot of reading to find out the difference between Class A and Class A/B, and the difference in sound is subtle. The lower power setting mostly is just quieter - but not by as much as you'd think. Both of the amps look really retro which is in keeping with their rather old-school design and sound. The Epi is crazy loud, and I got to jam with it the day after I got it. I look forward to getting to jam with some guys at work soon. Our musical styles are disparate in a lot of ways, but we have a lot in common as well. I just really don't want to sound like another indie extension of the late 60's. When I play electric, I tend to have a funky and/or heavy style. I like weird rhythms that are somewhat difficult to bob your head to, though they do feel very groovy. We'll see how that goes. I would like to record some just for kicks.
I have been getting into vinyl lately - that's right - records. I got a bunch of "classical" records for free last year when BYU's library was just giving it away. I got some Baroque, but mostly Romantic and Modern stuff from several of my favorite composers including Rachmaninoff and Saint-Saens. But the turning point for actually buying a record player was when I went to a local music store and saw a copy of The Company Band's first full-length. TCB has the singer from Clutch (my favorite band), the drummer from CKY, and others. I bought the record without either a record player or having heard the songs at all. It felt so old-school. I later got a cheap little record player, and I have been plugging it into my Epi guitar amp (and only getting the left channel). Between the analog record and tube amplifier and decent (though not properly-voiced for the application) speakers, it sounds awesome. I have had two friends who both said they don't hear the difference between different quality soundsystems or different guitars or amps and the like say that it sounds amazing. It has so much more detail and dimension - it is incredible. I plan on buying a kit to make an actual stereo tube amp for audio, and then I may make my own speaker boxes, too. I have bought a few records since then, and I hope to have a decent record collection before too long. But I have a lot of important and more useful things to pay for in the meantime.
I decided recently that I am an adrenaline enthusiast. I would say that I am an adrenaline junkie - but that is far more extreme than where I actually am. I have also figured that I have been having an insane lack of adrenaline in my life lately, and it is wearying me. It seems a little backwards that a lack of excitement would tire me out, but I need a balance. And without a fast car or bike or other forms of adrenalizing, I feel the lack. I don't know what to do about it. I am hoping that jamming with people and making a lot of noise will help.
Oddly, we are planning to get a minivan soon, and I am excited about that. I like getting a new vehicle, and I think minivans are the pinnacle of practicality. With baby number 3 on the way, we will need to have a place to put the child during transport. I would much rather have a minivan than some big, stupid SUV we won't use for anything beyond minivan use. That said, part of me would like an off-road vehicle of some sort. Like a rock-crawler. Or a pre-runner truck. Or a mildly-rally-prepped car. Or a dual-sport adventure bike.
Yesterday, I test-rode a Triumph Speed Triple, and it was a lot of fun. I expected it to scare me, but I think my size reigns in the acceleration a little too much for real drama. I was kind of expecting it to take my breath away upon accelerating. It didn't. But it was still really fast, comfortable, and sporty. It was easy to ride, though I haven't really ridden in a year. It was really comfortable below about 80 mph, and then it just got loud and windy above that which is no surprise as it has no wind protection at all. Last May, after riding my friends Ninja for a month, I think my perspective has changed dramatically about speed. The bike I rode yesterday had similar power, and I am actually sorta used to acceleration like that. But it was still exhilarating, and I felt really cheerful and content for several hours afterward. Though I was painfully aware later of really slow people blocking my progress.
Naomi was punched in the mouth by a doll she was holding recently, and it knocked her tooth loose. She is 5 1/2 and she got her teeth really early, so it may just be time to start losing teeth. We were worried, and the dentist took an X-ray and said that there is still a root holding on, but don't be alarmed if it falls out or not. She got beat up by a doll she was holding! It would have been funny if her mouth hadn't been bleeding.
Well, that is some of the most pointless mindless drivel I have written in recent memory, so enjoy that. Anyway, that's it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
