A spark, weak, but a spark none the less.

Was out and about today pretending to be a professional delivery driver for work. Upon returning to the Shop to call it a day, I was confronted by something, well, odd is the best word to say at this time in our world.

There was a young man, twenty somethingish, standing out front, with a sandwich board stating, "I was convicted of shoplifting".

From my understanding, this guy was caught lifting something that valued only $2.50 and had his kid with him when he did it. When confronted, he took off running, leaving the kid behind. NOW, the fact that he is getting off this lightly, says something about the compassion of the judge/magistrate in the area. (yes, we have magistrates here, not a bad deal if they are decent people) His sentence, 7 full 8hour days, standing if front of the place of error, no jail time.(unless he defaults)

I can see two extremely positive points here. 1) He isn't going to do it again. Far too much humiliation. Especially when you consider how small this town really is. and 2) A lot less likely that others will attempt it at that location either(or other location in the immediate area)

Some liberals would call this cruel and unusual punishment. I see a compassionate person behind the sentence. This man could have been removed from his family and kids to serve a term in jail.(and some would say should have been since there was a kid involved and he left them behind to save his own skin.) In some ways, the sentence fits the crime perfectly. This goes back to one of my points I sometimes make about better ways of dealing with crime. That whole "cruel and unusual punishment" clause has been taken way out of context.

Talking to some of the employees in the shop, they agree that they would rather do the the jail time. Hence, reinforcing why I think locking people up does not one ounce of good. In many cases only exacerbates the issue. And takes money from the law abiding that could be used in much better ways.

It's a spark of hope to me that there are like minded individuals around here with enough clout to make positive changes. Maybe like minded people are more common than I originally thought.

the hype, the crap, the gall

I have been watching the news of late and the last couple of days has reinforced what I already knew. That the Media is the Fourth Estate of the American Government. The reason I say this now comes from Excited and flourished reports of "shrinking unemployment", "rising wages and salaries" (dunno where they came up with that one but,,,,) and an increase in positive activity in the stock markets.


Yup, things are improving.


Maybe if you don't pull your head out of the sand and the headphones out of your ears and open your eyes to reality.

I had to question EVERY STINKING THING THEY SAID!

One place I go, especially for economic stuff, is John Galts site. I went there yesterday after hearing the pile of fecal matter on unemployment. Of course, his charts were a bit more illuminating than just some words out of a pretty face on the tube.

They were pretty honest about the lack of growth in the housing market. Hard to lie about it when everywhere you go, you see for sale signs that are quite covered in algae and vines, due to the fact that many have been there for a year or more. Hard to hide the Cookie cutter communities that lie empty and half built, and have for a year or more.

All of the Hype, and it really smells bad. Yet it seems that people eat it up and call it good. I still don't get that.


But why? They were doing a turn around, albeit slowly, over the last couple of months. Slow like glacier activity, but it was at least progress over the Complete liberal hashish flavored crap that they had been shoving down the tubes the last 3 years.


Black Friday.

Thats the only answer that I can come up with. They wanted to inject a feel good attitude into the gullible masses, to help shore up an increasingly unstable economy.


Alright, I can see it but it still makes me feel like this is going to go down much much sooner than any of us will be comfortable with. I may gripe that it can't fail fast enough, and many days I wish it would. Truth be told, It scares the literal hell out of me, even knowing its coming. I think the 'not knowing' when is the worst part of it. That and knowing that 99.9% of the population has not one clue. (the fact that Wal-marts Lot was so full it was backed up three lights AT 3AM IN THE MORNING! says a lot. Yes, I go to work at that time, I saw it with my own shocked eyes.)

Wednesday, China and Russia entered into a trade agreement that does not include using the dollar as a base. China has the will and the workforce, Russia has mass resources. Both have rather cumbersome military. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't bode well for the U.S. Especially when you realize that this agreement just gave our dollar an nice little Dump in the creek. IF, and its a big if, we get out of this without losing half of the country to those two giants, we will have done damned good. I just don't see our Teleprompter in Chief being able to do it. He spent every ounce of political clout in the first two years. He is really just an empty shirt now.(not that he ever wasn't)

I am keeping an eye on developments from that(chicom/ruskie treaty) N. Korea and of course what the Federal Reserve plans on doing next. I will guarantee you this, another QE from the Bernak and we will be literally flushed out of the world economy and on our own. There are far too few people that have the skills needed to bring our manufacturing and agriculture back up to pre 1950 level to keep 50% of this country alive. We don't have enough oil wells on our own soil to keep the pace of our current infrastructure alive. And there is NO WAY, the gooberment can get it on track fast enough EVEN IF they pull ALL of our troops back and instill martial law in every major city, town, village and eyeblink intersection in this country to keep the peace.

But you all know this already.

It's a coming, just a matter of time.

Happy Turkeyday

Normally I don't have much to say on T-day, especially over the last few years.

I do want to pass along a well wishing to all on this day though. We all have something in our lives to be Thankful for, even if it is aetheric and elusive.

Somedays, just the fact that we are still upright and breathing is enough.

I hope you all have a good time getting fat and happy with family, I know I will be filling my gullet soon enough. I am going to try and keep current events out of the conversational mix this year. Time enough for that tomorrow.


Back on tomorrow,

Ol Remus, yet again, nails it.

No, what you should really fear is scarcity. It's how we lived until about 1950. It's unAmerican to say this, but what you have is all you're likely to have and chances are you won't keep all of that. So, are you planning a mountain retreat, with a well and a hand pump, more than a tank of gas from any urban center, away from lines of drift, solar powered hot tub, blah blah? If you're not there now, or nearly so, you're not going to get there. In other words, time's up. Get your affairs in order where you are because where you are is where you're going to be. And what you have is what you're going to have.

Read the whole thing here.


I really have nothing to add to this. I only hope he is right about the "Uncle being shuffled off to the attic, quietly, with a pack of adult diapers under his arm." Sadly, I just don't see it. I do see this Government being the spoiled brat of a child throwing tantrums, in the process, taking out a lot of really good people that we will need after the fact.

Guess only time will tell the true tale.

watching, waiting, wondering.

Obviously my last few posts have been a bit on the odd side. Lots going on in the world and I am re-assessing certain points to accommodate the events.

Watching things, The events in Korea specifically, I am watching things unfold almost exactly as I thought they would a year ago. I wasn't sure what country was going to give O'boy his crisis but I thought Korea was going to be it. Is there a way to work this out to keep that truce in place? Oh yes, there is. The real question is: Can or Will O'boy be able to pull it off AND do they even want to try to keep peace there? This works perfectly into that scenario of "any crisis". Granted, this is just more smoke and mirrors to detract the attention away from the economy and what The Bernak and his ghouls are doing. Every little thing going on is nothing more than distraction away from what is really going to keep 'mom and dad America' from going ape shit. I guess we really have to wait for the hyper-inflation to kick in before that happens.
What does have me flummoxed is the TSA backlash. I am seeing a lot of good (IMO) reaction to incremental growth of tyranny with one problem. The media is in downplay mode. They are making every effort to make this situation 'acceptable' to the general public. I didn't realize how effective this was until I overheard my dad make a comment. I won't illiterate on the comment: least to say, I shut my mouth and walked away though. Far too easy to cause tension in a household when Points of view are conflicting. I won't try to sway his opinion on this or other matters, he is far too set in his ways. Best to let it lie.
But I won't be shut up about how far down the tubes this country has been flushed. I may not bring it up with him, but I won't be silenced in other venues.(here specifically, among other outside of my current four walls generally) Once I am out of here in my own place, I may open up more. I just don't want to add to any tensions that are already in place just by my being here.

Actually, the rift in thinking between myself and my dad is very like that of the growing rift of thought-lines in the general populace. There are many that will subject themselves to this crap "in the good of safety" without thought as to how it is a major Violation of liberty. The arguments of "it would have stopped the underwear bomber" are complete BS but the general populace sucks it up as Gospel. Sorry to say, if you need someone else to take care of your safety, you do not need to be wandering the streets alone; let alone trying to act like an adult. I know deep down my dad understands that concept. Its just corrupted by the statist crap he has been fed by the media over the years.(and that is the reason I refuse to own a TV now.)

So what do we see in the face of the General Populace.(ask a prison guard what that term means)
-N. Korea flexing muscles.
-TSA and the PTB flexing muscles and backpedaling
-Royal Wedding crap that has little to NO bearing upon anything. (figureheads at best, clinging to tradition by a country with little else to claim in all actuality.)
-and a blatant skirting and avoidance of the economy by the media at large.

With the holiday season on top of us, of course those that have any say in the economy want to keep the wheels churning. The only way a Fiat currency stays alive is if numbers continue to move around. If people are spending, the dollar may hold some value. If people are saving it 'for a rainy day' its value is non-existent.(another reason I refuse to have a 401k or a retirement account set up. My retirement plan is my home/workshop/garden set up.) If people are nervous about the economy, they won't spend as much and the values decline. Can't have that when every country in the world is starting to look at a different currency as a base of trade. We are on the verge of becoming a third world country simply due to the debasement of the dollar by the Federal reserve and the Federal Government.

I think the tipping point is on us. Some may say that the TSA thing is it, I say its only part of the bigger picture of that tip. We are getting ready for the downhill slide, and once it starts, there will be NO turning back. We will start to see the real economic issues rear the ugly heads in February or March. (especially about the time that the CC bills come in.) Look for more big bailouts to be tossed around(though there is going to be a harder fight for them; with the new congress taking seat in January. I could be wrong on that one though.) Watch for feelers in D.C. for a new draft. They will need fresh meat for the grinder that is coming at us. N.Korea is only a spasm of what is to come.

Things are going to start getting really heavy soon.

So what do we do?

This is an extension of the last post. These things continue to fly around my head long after the fact of transmission, this one continues to bring out thoughts.

What do we do to fix the problem?

Some would say patience and voting out the bad and voting in the good. IF you can't find good, run yourself.

I find the very thought of that rather like a pipe dream. If, and I state this in firm confidence, the PTB thought voting were a threat, they would outlaw it. It may be the only peaceful solution but it really isn't one at all. The time lines are far too drawn out, the damage is quite extensive, its time to clean the slate and start over.

BUT, how to clean that slate. I just don't see a solution to that question. There are far too many that are content in slavery to want the changes I(and others) see needed. With that in mind, I really don't see a peaceful solution. Not one bit peaceful. I do see a growing rift amongst us. There are those that wish full individual liberty(truly the only real freedom) to those that would wish full intentioned slavery among those not in the 'elite'. Many in the middle of that and more than few fence sitters, undecided. Some may even consider me a fence sitter as I don't 'actively' pursue a solution. I voice my concerns, yell out opinions, but I don't bother going to rally's or protests any longer. (two reasons: 1- It doesn't really seem to be gaining steam and 2- I live quite a ways away from any real rally points and I can't afford to make treks like that when I am trying to get a house built using nothing more than a paycheck to paycheck system.)
I am not on a fence. I work very hard to gather that which my family and I will need in the coming mess. I strive to gather information about so many different topics, again, for the upcoming mess and the aftermath. There are going to be disruptions to EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of our modern world: you can't escape that fact. Whether its from societal collapse, economic meltdown, or a harder version of the soft tyranny we are watching grow; shit is gonna hit the fan. I am finding little niches of like minded individuals locally and abroad on the nets. I would like to find someway of creating a network that doesn't rely upon the net or telecommunications system we have now. I can see a time when we will need each other and not be able to rely upon or even access the above systems, for whatever reasons.

That is where I run into another brick wall.

So, here are my questions to the handful of readers I have.

1: Have you a way of fixing the system, without violence, thought out?
2: Have you thought of an alternate communications system that doesn't rely upon current infrastructures?

Question 1 is only if you have thought of it. I really don't expect things to be "nice". As much as I hope for peace, I know better. People aren't wired like that no matter how we try to lie about it.

Roadsign: Wordspill ahead, procede with caution.

This whole TSA thing is really bringing a lot of things to light. Bring it up in discussion with others and you will start to get a real feel for what side of the fence they belong. And quickly I might add. Many are horrified by it, others, not so much. Its the 'not so much' group that bothers me. So many of them will drop it into the "doesn't effect me" file since they don't fly, for whatever reasons. But the fact is, it does effect them, if not directly, now, certainly in the near future: and that future is coming like an out of control locomotive with a psycho at the throttle.

The question I posed to myself last night, after making that quick little post directing you to other locals and links, was this: HOW, did we come so far down the road to complete loss of freedom and liberty?
We all know the answer, some are more in-tune to it than others. I have been skirting it for about 2 years now(and I freely admit it) If it weren't for a comment in a past post from Mountain Rifleman, I may not have put it all together.(well, I am not stupid, I just do stupid things sometimes. I would have eventually put it all together.)

Personal Responsibility. It all boils down to that. For so long, Far too many in this country have had the "Its not my responsibility" attitude. In this they have allowed someone else to take that role. That someone else is our government. Once Governments gain control of ANYTHING, they are quite unwilling to let go of it. Its like feeding a stray dog. The more you give, they more they take; until all they want is to take it all. Our country was founded by Self reliant people, that had well founded sense of Responsibility. They didn't need some cop to make sure that they were covered in case of accident/fire/theft/indian uprising/ etc etc. They took it into their own hands to make sure that things 'were taken care of'.

Todays world, not so much. How many people do you know that haven't the foggiest idea of how a car functions? I am not talking about the finer points of the Internal combustion engine, I am talking about simple mechanical points. Far too many know how to put gas in, turn the key to start and run, and if things don't work, call a tow truck and get ready to shell out a lot of money. Nothing more. Most haven't a clue how to figure out if a battery is dead, or what not. They would rather 'let someone else take car of it'. Granted, with the growth in technology, there are many many things that you have to rely upon others to keep in tune. Cars are no exception in this. Yet the basics are still there. Check your tires, check your oil, and yet there are many that don't even know how to open the hood, let alone how to check the basics. They have allowed themselves to fall below the level of personal responsibility.(can also be read as self reliance)

The TSA is just a symptom of a much bigger problem. Even if that symptom looks disgustingly like a hemorrhoid, it is still just a symptom. Let me step back 9 years to an incident we all remember. 9/11. 4 planes (and we are going to assume for the sake of argument, no conspiracies here.) 4 targets. Only three were hit. That fourth plane made a rather large hole in the ground. Not due to the ineptness of the highjackers/terrorists. Nope, due entirely to the fact that someone on that plane made a decision to not sit by like a sheep but to fight back. That person started a revolt on that plane that kept the body count down to low numbers. We will never know just what happened, but the fact that (and this was before the TSA, remember) someone got up and said, "you want to kill me, fine, but I am not going down without a fight" just illustrates what a RESPONSIBLE person is capable of. This person didn't sit around to be hung/shot/burned/stabbed. He/she got up and took the elephant by the tusks and started swinging. End result: Fewer people died that day.

We can scream all we want about how we are being violated by the TSA, Our Government, etc etc Ad nauseam. Fact is, we, as a people, have allowed this to happen. Even asked for it in most cases. I know that I didn't but I also didn't bark loudly enough when things were really getting started.(back when the Repugnicants were pushing through the PATRIOT act just as the Demonoids recently pushed through Obamycare) Think about that(and I know some have).

WE DIDN'T DO ENOUGH TO STOP IT! Our parents are equally at fault, in many cases, our grandparents and great grandparents as well. The rape of the Constitution started back in the 1860's under Lincoln. Things were still somewhat in check even then but the road map was laid out. Along comes 1913 and the creation of something that should have been pulled out of its cave and slaughtered but was blatantly ignored (even into the 21st century)(Arguably, the fall started BEFORE the Declaration was even signed. The original intent of the Declaration and Bill of rights was for Life, Liberty, and Property. Property is a metric, you can measure it. As are life(live or dead no inbetween really), and liberty (a bit more elusive but still measurable). If you can make a measurement of something, it exists. Happiness is relative to each individual with no true measurement possible.)

Some may want to call me a racist for part of that last. Go ahead, I have been called worse by better. Read the facts and make up your own mind than you can call me whatever you want.

Slowly, in small increments, we have given away ALL that the Revolutionaries fought for. Even now, the Socialists/Progressives call it 'taking baby steps'.

THEY KNOW that they are stripping us of rights and responsibility!!!! They feel justified in this thought by those that are willing to 'give it up for safety'. Of course that is a downward spiral. You can "hope" that the police will save your sorry ass when the house gets invaded, that is a personal right in my opinion. Things aren't 'changing' for the better of the country or its people. They are changing to allow those in power to stay there. The TSA is only one of the visible symptoms of that fact.

I can only pray that a good majority of the sheep wake up. I won't hold my breath for that to happen.

I am just going to sit back, watch the fail, and hope to be alive to pick up the pieces after the fact. It is coming, just a matter of time.

To ticked to talk.

Mayberry has a couple of posts and massive amounts of links.

I posted a couple of comments but really have not much to add(that doesn't weigh in around 200 grains and travels about a 1000 feet per second) right now. I have said it before, I say it again. This shit can't fall apart fast enough. People NEED to see how much the lies have been layered over the last 150 years and just how far down the path we have traveled into that whole Marxist mentality. Maybe the trepidations over the next two holiday seasons will be enough to start something much bigger.

Things in my neck of the woods.

I have been having a bit of fun with my new netbook, I highly recommend one to all that want to simplify their net experience. Best keep your bookmarks handy though; your gonna want them. If you are using Firefox(and you should be if not) the following folder transferred over to the new Opsys will make the change seamless.

type this into your runbox. %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ and you will have all of your bookmarks, cookies, and passwords. Just copy this to a thumbdrive then do the same thing on the new machine and paste EVERYTHING in that file in the new file.(delete the others first) Shh, I didn't tell you how to do that.

Anyway, since I have this new powerhouse, I have been getting more posts in due to the fact that I can now access the net here at the house. I am really enjoying sitting on the back porch listening to streaming audio while posting. I am picking up my cousins wireless up the hill (over 1000' away!!!!! )and getting great reception to boot. One of my cousins found out I was connected and told me about a local that is an avid YouTube user. (I can't think of what you would call that,,,) If you get a chance, check out his uploads. He goes by Madbadvoodo. He interviews locals and comments about things around here that I leave well enough alone.(don't want any enemies. Want to get established here first) He is from up north, same as me, and seems amused by the locals where I take 'em at face value. There are many around here that will give you the shirt off their backs and know how to do most anything (short of monkeying with PC's I am finding.) There are also the usual pieces of dreck that are completely absorbed into the collective and those I steer clear of.

Little update. Was listening to NPR this morning. I can only tolerate so much of it but I do try to listen to the other side of the coins flying around the airwaves. There was some liberal POS talking about reinstating the draft 'so that the young of this country could understand the sacrifices made by soldiers today'.
Umm, excuse me, was this POS EVER!?!? in the military. He sounded old enough to have witnessed Vietnam but young enough to have missed out on that debacle of 'volunteerism'. I don't use the term POS lightly either. This guy was WAY out on the leftist limb. I could tell he hadn't a fricken clue about what soldiers really do nor how much sacrifice is actually paid even if that sacrifice isn't the ultimate one. I was screaming at the radio for about 10 minutes.

I try to be open minded, Really, I do. But to be open minded enough to accept Turds like that, my brains would fall out.

This shit can't collapse fast enough some days.

Anywhoos, here is a little something of melancholy to warm your soul. I love her voice.

Post with a 99 cent heartattack.

Sitting in that evil place that starts with an M and has a clown for a spokesperson. Hey, when on the road, Free WiFi is a plus no matter how bad the food is.

Sadly, they have CNN on the box and I am getting to watch a lot of liberal drivel about "Rights and safety" and how the TSA is getting slammed for reaching a bit too far into places that make Mommy and Daddy uncomfortable. Big Sis is in for a wake up call on this one.

Here is my advice to all of those that want to raise a fuss about this.

DON'T F@#KIN FLY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET TOUCHED!!!!!!

Now, that's not to say I agree with the policy. Hell, I stopped flying when I found out I couldn't carry a daggum pocket knife! Or a lighter!!!! These go with me everywhere I go since they are essential tools 'that could save my life' in a bad spot. I am forced to carry insurance but I am not allowed to carry my own version of insurance? Don't think so, no thank you, you can keep the "Friendly Skies" to yourselves in that case.

Fact is, if there is a 50% reduction in passengers, over the holidays, due to this mess: Do you think the airlines are going to tolerate it? Of course there are so many sheep that are willing to tolerate body cavity searches in the misleading name of 'passenger safety'; this isn't going away easily. It may go away easier than the PATRIOT Act though. (BTW, O'boy signed the extension on that during the election runs at the beginning of the month. Yeah, we are still stuck with that BS for a while longer)

Another point I found interesting was the further Seek and Destroy ploy against the founder of Wikileaks. They can't nail him for information flows so they are going after him in what appears to be a Character Assault. I don't know that this guy did or didn't rape someone. Doesn't really matter to me one way or another, but the timing is rather interesting. It really seems like a character attack to me. That is one I will keep a note on, just'cuz I find stuff like that interesting.

Mayb has a post that I found disturbing but not one bit surprising. Go read, follow his links. May not apply to you directly but it WILL apply to all of us soon enough, if it continues. Then again, Maybe, just maybe, we need to have this 'further encroachment' upon all of the people in this country. I think the only way some people will wake up is when the kids are crying they are hungry and cold, and the parents haven't any solutions except to 'break the rules'. Real change takes place when people have had enough. So far, people have been far too tolerant of this crap.(and too many are receiving bribes to keep them quiet.)

Here is a little tidbit I overheard last week.
The cost of cotton is going up. China, the biggest producer of cotton is having issues with exports, so the prices will start to rise. Predictions of 30% are being tossed around: Think about what that means to the consumers. If you are a smoker, expect a rise in the cost of your Cigs since they use cotton in the filters. Clothes will be on the rise. Hell, everything is going up. Coffee is predicted to be going over $20 for a 5lb can by the middle of next year. Fuel costs are going to go up.

And the Congress Critters are talking about a National Sales tax (without repealing the income taxes or any others)

Hmm, Does anyone feel "represented"? Didn't the founders of this country have a war because of lack of representation? And heavy(3% cough)Taxes?


And on that note, back to the road for me. I really should be working since I am on the clock. LOL

Not a losing battle, but,,,,,

When I hear the words "Obama could be a good President if people would give him a chance," I just walk away anymore.

The statement shows just how far down the rabbit hole these people have fallen. How much dis-information they have received and how ignorant of the real situation in politics. I was never a G.W. Bush fan and I REALLY didn't like Clinton but O'boy makes both of those guys look fairly decent. (note, I didn't say Good, just decent)
You can educate all you want, but ignorance of this level is nearly irrepairable: Especially when the age of the person is taken into account.(retired usually)
This particular person(s) has been so indoctrinated with socialist ideas, they think people that are trying to become self-reliant, are insane. 'The guberment will take care of all that when things get rough!'
Dependency is slavery. PERIOD. These people are slaves to the system and are so ignorant of it they continue to push for the agendas that enslave us all.
I don't know who said this but "if America falls, there is nowhere else to turn for freedom' had it pretty close to the truth. The only fault I have with that statement is that Freedom begins in your own head. If you think about it, you will see how to be free even in our "Responsibility Cop" age.(thanks to Mountain Rifleman for that little idea) How long we can get away with that freedom is up to us and how low under the radar we are willing to live. It ain't easy though.

Even so, until the current generation of slaves falls the wayside, we will have an uphill fight on our hands. The 'Entitled' will cry for the gooberment to fix thier woes and of course, the gooberment will be more than happy to comply; at a price.

I have given up trying to explain the reasons for refusing to go through a bank for building my home. I have given up trying to explain why I won't open up a savings account or a 401K. I have given up trying to explain why my lockbox is so damned heavy with silver(hard to find gold coin locally) (they used to call silver coins cartwheels for a reason: You needed a damned cart to carry them around in any value over local grocery purchases) BUT, I don't have to explain it anymore, I just have to live it. Let those that don't understand, fall under the bus. Family included. I sounds cruel but if you wish to be free, there are hard sacrifices that have to be made.

PS: I would like to thank a young lady in Texas for a wonderful gift I received yesterday. You know who you are and I won't list your name here. Again, Thank You very much.

A thought, on Freedom, Liberty, and Responsibility.

So many times do we hear the words above in conversation amongst Americans. Yet how many really understand that the above are not buzz words, or , more specifically, solitary in nature? I hear people near me discussing things that deal with the above, never realizing that they are contradicting themselves. You can't have freedom without liberties, nor can you have either without responsibility. PERIOD. The Freedoms that so many take for granted were fought for and paid for with BLOOD. Maybe not in our lifetimes (and I don't count any war after WWII as a freedom war. No ill intentions to those that fought in them, just a fact. This could be debated all the way back to the Civil War but I digress) but definitely in blood and lives and livelihoods. Those that paid that price, more than likely made the decision without qualms or hesitation when the time came to them. As in anything, there are probably exceptions but we need not view them for this thought. Only the fact that somewhere, sometime, and someplace, someone died so that others could wake in the morning and make decisions for themselves. Those that have joined the military may not always make that choice through patriotism. Most haven't actually. Many make the choice(since we started a truly voluntary military) to better their position in life. Some to get out of the ghettos, or the bario. Others to get away from "seeing the backside of a mule everyday". It really doesn't matter. As anyone who has served(at least as far back as 20 years ago, it was like this) the instructors will instill in the recruit, some sense of belonging to something much bigger than themselves; something with history, national sense of belonging, Esprit de Corps, etc etc.
Most people never really get that in public schools. They teach history but that really can't instill the responsibility that is required to be truly free.
I am not saying that you have to give up a life to be a free person in this world. Not at all, but somewhere, someone will have to do that to make sure that others can stay free. The other side of that responsibility is knowing that freedom isn't even remotely free, even if you don't pay that ultimate price for it. It requires attention to those that would take it away from you. It requires you to accept responsibility for your own actions.

We are at an extremely poor time in our countries history. When the people chosen to (Mis) represent this country, can't even take acceptance of their own failures; we have reached a new level of lows. Maybe these people are truly representative of the American people as they have evolved over the last 200+ years. I won't lie to myself about that possibility. All it takes is a quick glance in the papers to see the deceptions and greed that run rampant in this country, at every level of society.

I know that, again, there are exceptions out there. Maybe more than a few(and I think there are a great deal more than a 'few'.) and that may be the saving grace of this country: near future or not.

I would love to hear thoughts on what others define "Freedom", "Liberty", and "responsibility" as. I know that many of my definitions come from a mixture of Heinlein (the discussions in Starship Troopers especially) various passages from the bible on reliance and self reliance('God helps those that help themselves' kind of thing.)and other places, many of them from our history, others from overseas(Locke, Machiavelli, etc). I have read other writings on "Rights" and what not, I don't want to discuss "rights" as I think there is only one true right available anyway. I want to hear about your definitions of freedom, liberty, and responsibility, as it applies to the prior subjects.
You can post in comments if you wish or you can email me at James Maynard 4 0 AT gmail.com (all one lowercase word with the numerals.) Fair warning, I reserve the right to quote you in a future post, good or ill. You will be given credit unless you request anonymity in your email.

I'M BACK!!!!!!!

It cost me but I think its going to be better this way. I splurged on a netbook and figure it will be easier to carry it around than lugging that monster laptop that I own that let me down. This little beastie is pretty amazing all in all but it has a surprise headed at it.

Linux Mint.

(I know I could have spent a bit less but I figure I can squeeze a couple more years out of the old book if I don't go lugging it around the countryside everyday when it doesn't get on the net now without a USB dongle.)


I hate all of the proprietary crapware that most manufacturers are installing on units nowadays. That and dedicating a large section of the HDD to a recovery portion is just silly. I know how to back up my files and do so religiously. I keep 2 1Tbyte externals for just that purpose(now that they are getting within a reasonable monetary range. Used to be a couple of old drives that I salvaged out of other PC's) One is dedicated to disc images and the other only to media. I have quite a bit of music and movies and scanned books that I really don't want to have to replace. It also allows me to leave quite a bit of room in the onboard disc for when I need to download.

Yeah, I know; I am a geek. LOL

Anywhoos, I am back, once I catch up, I will be posting again. Tonight is dedicated to making this little monster into something the techs at HP have night sweats about. MuuuaHahahahHHAHHHHaaaaaa!


Will be back on soon. Time to go play catch up before I warp this things world.

phone post

network adaptor on my laptop imploded over weekend. Since I don't have a hardwired access point, phone posts are it for a couple of weeks.
Only one comment from me about all of this. "This sucks big green and greasy donkey dick." Will try to stay in touch but it will be trying to say the least.