Leashed to a wall :-(

Well, bit the bullet, dragged the charger along with me to the library so I could get my net fix. Using the phone is like slipping powdered sugar in the syringe for a junkie. Yeah, I am a Web junkie, but I have gotten better by not spending HOURS a day on it. I have throttled back to just a couple of hours a week.

The one downside of that being, lack of realtime information. I don't/won't use the mass media sources as the blatant lying has given me more nightmares than my ex-wife. I have to use Drudge Mobile for now to try and stay up on things. Works to some extent, but I also have to limit my file transfers to a set amount on the phone. (AT&T really gets outrageous with billing if you 'go over' even just a little.)

SO, without spending hours pouring over massive threads of information, I have very little to add to the fray at this point. Far too much information to absorb and process BEFORE I can give an decent opinion. BUT I can say that what I have seen, really boils down to "Stay of Execution". That kicking the can down the road that they have "accomplished" is just a further delay of the inevitable. It is really nothing more than giving the junkie a watered down shot of crank to keep him hobbling along for a bit longer. The look on Turbo-Timmy's face in the shot with Reid says far more, to me, than any MSM report about "doing the right thing".
(H/T to Concerned American for the pic, Link to post here.)
Yeah, that is the face of a power broker not getting his way," right now, the way I said to do it the first time; someone is gonna get put up against the wall if you assholes don't 'get on board" look.

I am sure that TT is getting that look quite a bit from O'boy and that O is getting that look (or at least the tone from the speaker phone) from Soros over the last 14 days. And of course Tearful Boehner had to play right into the shit with his stance (on jello).

Dammit, They can't do a damned thing right. Let this shit fail please! Yeah, its gonna hurt but you can't coddle the kids forever. They have to bust some knuckles, scrape some shins, get some stitches and end up in a cast at some point. If you surround them in protective padding, with rubber bumpers on everything, they will be far worse for wear when all of that protection 'goes away'.
Those 'kids' are the American populace, if you hadn't figured it out.

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Conversation with my sis while in the Armpit of the MidWest: We were discussing everything from the Economy to Boson Particles/quantum physics to home repairs. That list went wild and I stopped trying to track it after awhile. What did get brought up was my take on what a collapse could do FOR this country. I had to pick an industry to show how things would improve IF the the Gov went into default and how it would better others around it in said situation. There is one assumption that has to be made in this argument and it hinges on that one assumption but the case can be made for MANY industries along the way using the same premise.
Higher Education: If the funding/subsidies all failed due to the Government going broke, The higher education system would go through a 'cleaning house period'. Those Researchers and Professors that are living in tenure due to those subsidies would take the 'high road' as they would be forced to 'earn a living'. Colleges are businesses, just like every other business. They would be forced to compete in a marketplace that was just as beat up by the economy. Without the subsidies to keep them alive, they would have to drop costs, and in order to do that, they would have to lower salaries among the professors. Many would just say to hell with it and move into public sector research or leave the country all together. The REAL educators would stick, they would be willing to take the cuts so long as they were able to do what they loved. Granted, Everybody has a limit as to how deep you can cut before they hightail it to higher ground, but there are educators in this world that Teach because it is the higher calling that they chose.(IF the government would get out of the damned way, I would jump into those waters with a quickness. I actually enjoy teaching people, far more than I enjoy any other thing I have done in my life. And I like to do many things.)

I am sure you can reason out the rest of that cycle. And it would be cyclic. Better teachers + more freedom in teaching style= better students= better teachers= better citizens= more business proposals=better country growth etc etc etc.

Did you figure out what the assumption was?

No tyrannical government to replace the one we (desperately) need to lose.

yup, big 'what if?" eh? I know, a pipe-dream of sorts because there will ALWAYS be those that want power over others. Always. Just as there will always be those that are more comfortable as slaves than Freemen. I really think it boils down to aspiration. So few have aspirations to grow past semi-adulthood: those are the ones that are happy in the chains of servitude. The ones that don't mind someone stealing them blind of 35%(or more) of their labor. The other side of that are the ones that think being fair is every one sharing equally. They are the ones blinded to the power hungry that would happily feed mom to the wolves if it meant they could gain one more ounce of political power.

With that in mind, I am going to cut this short today. My battery should be in soon and then I will be able to lug the anchor around without the chain. Both are heavy but together they are a real pain the ass. Tomorrow is that meeting and I really have no idea what is coming down the pike. I will drag the anchor with me tomorrow so I can update all on the further trials and tribulations of a working stiff named Dio. (and just for peace of mind: I have other work already lined up that falls very neatly into my plans of 'getting off grid'. I am good no matter what happens tomorrow)

Houston, We (may) have a problem.

As anyone that has been following this blog knows, I moved down here(SE KY) with great angst and the only serious selling point was 'lack of building codes'.(well, and closer to my dad and other family)

Seems that may not be entirely true any longer. Not 100% certain about that, and I will be finding out tomorrow, BUT, if that is the case, ALL of my plans are up for re-evaluation.

Maybe some would say, "Build it anyway, once you have all the inspections done, you are in the clear."

Maybe some would say, "Build it anyway and once the inspections are done, get rid of the crap they 'code' you into and do it your way."

I say "Piss on all of that!" The 2008 building code was written by lobbyists for the manufacturers of various high dollar gadgets that really have nothing to do with "Homes". One in particular. The Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter. This thing is placed into the normal breaker slot in your breaker box. It was designed for use in Operating Rooms, Mines, and various other places that may be exposed to volatile atmospheres. The 2008 code specifies that ALL homes built or upgraded after 2008 have to have all breakers replaced with this unit. They say it is to keep a house safe from electrical fires. IT is supposed to protect home owners from electric shock too.(GFI anyone?) Here's the kicker. A standard 15A breaker is about $10 give or take a buck or two depending on where you are buying it. These AFCI breakers are no less than $80 EACH! Hell, The breaker box for a 10 circuit house is less than that! On top of that, they sometimes confuse the arc generated by motor startup (your vacuum cleaner), or switching on a lamp as the dangerous type of arc. (I would imagine that this gets worse with time as the unit gets more sensitive. Like a 15A breaker that pops at 10A after a few years) I haven't had to deal with one, but I would imagine my MIG welder would play merry hell with one.

The 2008 building code is one thing and one thing only. Revenue Generation. Not only for the city/county/state, but for the larger manufacturers that needed to 'fill a niche'. (rather like the catalytic converters back in the 70's.) Create the niche, fill it, make it mandatory, then work on the fix for the faulty crap you forced on the general public, in the name of "safety" or "the children" or worse, "the environment".

Like I said, I will know for certain tomorrow where I stand on this. Luckily, IF, this is fact, I don't have much more than time and dreams invested in it. I am certainly used to having those shot to shit in front of my eyes; Won't be anything new to me.

IF this is fact, I will post what the changes will be. (and Mayberry prolly already knows where that is headed.)

Gelled thoughts on Saturday night.

I watched C-Span for 3 hours leading up to the vote for cloture on the Healthcare reform bill. Several thoughts kept coming to mind while watching it but I held off making any reports until I had a chance to let things come together in my own head.
One of the first things that I came up with should be rather obvious. That is a lot of hot air coming out of that particular house on the hill. If we had a way of tapping that and converting it into mechanical energy, we could solve many of the energy issues that have been on the front page lately.(and no I don't buy into that whole climate warming thing. Momma earth is doing what she has done since before we showed our monkey faces on this rock)

Second thing I noticed is how shallow the majority of the republican party is. Mr. McCain is the worst in my book. Lots of talking points, but the more I listened the more I realized that EVERY SINGLE ONE was straight from Limbaugh, or Beck or Hannity. That man hasn't an original idea of his own to bring forward. Every fiscal argument was straight from the CBO and he completely missed the biggest one of all: That the United States Government is F*@KIN BROKE. No real loss as he has that reputation of being good at quotes and a stuffed shirt anyway, but while watching I was wishing for some other Republican to go over and just jaw jack the bastard and tell him to shut up and sit down.
Mitch McConnel came through with flying colors. He managed to get the points I just mentioned across quite clearly. His delivery was quite dry but then when you are alluding to financial collapse of a superpower, you need to be more than a little dispassionate and detached.

Something else I noted. The divide between reality and emotional MeMes is HUGE. There isn't an aisle to reach across in either the Senate or the House anymore. Its a Ginormous RIFT, and its getting wider every day. For the most part, every republican brought forward fiscal arguments of why we can't afford this crap. Most even pointed out that there are other reforms that can take place that either cost nothing or very little that can go into effect immediately.

Every, and I mean EVERY democrat only brought forward emotional Feel good crap, basically pleading that we need to do this as Americans are dying in the streets. Or they would point out how the Republicrats have railroaded these legislations into the dirt at every turn. Watching them I felt I was watching the Freshman debate team discussing how to get better lunches in school. Not one of these people had a rational basis for this legislation and most went so far as pulling up specific cases of dire situtations to illustrate the "horror in America".

One Republican stood out all night in my eyes though. Sen Kyl he only spoke for about 5 minutes but what he had to say summed up my thoughts rather nicely.

There are 535 of us up here on the hill trying to say that we know better than the 300+ million americans on the street. That is just plain Arrogant. The hubris I see on this hill is why we aren't trusted anymore.

That isn't a direct qoute( I could probably look it up but its Sunday morning and I feel lazy) but is pretty close to what was said. He nailed it though.



At the end of it they passed cloture 60-39, This pushes the bill forward but its not passed yet. We still have some say for whatever that is worth. I for one no longer have any reason to think that they will listen to us. Leviathan has started flexing and its only a matter of time before the sleeping giant flexes back or folds up in a fetal ball.
I don't want to say the latter will happen but I look into history and have seen great people fall for no reason other than surrender for desire to be left alone. Unfortunately, that never happens.

I keep saying be ready to go Galt. Keep your powder dry, etc etc.
I would say keep an eye on your wallet but they already have the means to empty that for you before you ever see it.

There really is only one way to fight back non-violently at this point. A tax revolt. Every working person going into HR and re-writing your W2 for 0 deductions. Its not like you aren't paying your taxes, you just aren't giving it on loan to the government in payments. Its hard for the Government to keep going on credit they don't have. If we cut that credit at the root, even for one month, they will panic. I don't see it happening as that requires resolve of EVERY SINGLE TAXPAYER. To get that many people on one side of the fence is impossible in this country.

So where does that leave us?

yup.

We shall see how the reps really view us shortly.

Tomorrow the senate is having a special session on the healthcare reform bill.

I tend to think that this is another sneak through like they did in the House two weeks ago. I have issues with the bill but I have further issues with the way that they are pushing this through in the dead of night. There isn't anyway that these people have read this bill. They have intentionally not included themselves in it, opting to maintain their own insurance policies. The whole mess stinks.

Some would have arguments for this to pass as they see nothing but the good intentions in it. Having done much research on it and reading posts from those across the pond in and in the great white north, I fear what is coming at this country. The economy can't handle the amount that is being proposed to fund this mess and they are saying that there is a way to reduce the funding needed. I have issues with that statement on two points.

1. When has the government EVER been under budget on ANYTHING?
2. The only way to reduce costs would be to limit services. Who gets the shaft in this case?

I freely admit that I don't have insurance at this point and it isn't necessarily by choice but I have had insurance in the past and paid a premium for it. As it stands now I have access to a doctor that accepts cash(therefore I am not being a burden on society) and if need arises where I would need hospitalization, I would honorably accept the debt incurred. I don't expect the general population to support me and find it offensive that others feel that is an entitlement. The area that I live in is loaded with those that feel that the rest of the world OWES THEM, usually without a reason.

My fears with this are compounding daily. First and foremost if this passes I lose my doctor. He WILL retire from his practice and won't sign on as a public servant. Another reason is the threat of Legal Action that has been readily admitted to by Pelosi. No insurance and unwilling to sign up for the 'public option' warrants a year and 25,000.00 fine for individuals, first offense. How is my not wanting to sign up for government assistance a crime? The allusions there go all the way back to George Orwell for me.

The fact that there is a 48% approval of this bill by the populace shows to me that this country is sick, and getting sicker. Whatever disease we have we picked up from the Brits. They have become progressively socialist since 1947. It is to the point that there is more emigration by natural born citizens of Britain to other countries than ever before in history. The social base in Britain is more immigrants than nationals. The Tax base is failing as they become more and more socialist, eventually there won't be a tax base, I wonder what they will do when NO ONE is making anything to tax but the welfare recipients? Seems like a never ending spiral of slavery to me.

I am going to get off here for the night and go read a book. A piece of fiction too, I need the escape tonight. I will be on watching the Den of Thieves on C-Span tomorrow. I want to know how much sooner I have until I am forced to go Galt.

Leviathan flexes

Last night at 11:15pm the House of Congress voted by slim majority for H.R.3962. Final vote was 220-215. One Republicrat voted for this, 39 Dems voted against. Other wise it was pretty much strictly party vs. party.

This is now up to the Senate to kill on the floor.

If this monstrosity goes through we can start mopping the floors with the remains of whatever future Our children would have had. These "representatives" have sold our futures and the futures of our children and their children to a soulless Government that won't give one iota of care for humanity but demand the highest price.

I won't go into specifics here as the bill is openly displayed on Thomas.gov. If you have the wherewithal to muddle through all 1992 pages of Pelosi's landmark, feel free. I have read enough of it to realize that it will strip from us freedoms that we take for granted and is going to take them at the whims of a 'panel' put into place by bureaucrats, not professional health caretakers. This is one step closer to putting us all in a socialist country similar to that of England. If you have any questions of how bad that place has become, consider that they have been immigrating here for years due to the loss of freedoms that they have been suffering.


I just wonder what happened to this country? What happened to the CAN DO attitude that was prevalent in my parents age. I inherited it. It seems that the common attitude is now DO IT FOR ME. People seem to WANT taken care of instead of respecting themselves.
To Quote the Founders,

"Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have. "(quote has been attributed to Jefferson and Crockett)

I see another quote that sums up the rest of this post though.

"A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader."
Samuel Adams, 1779

That pretty much sums up why we are where we are now. I guess that also describes why some parts of this country still exhibit "Conservative Principles" while others most assuredly do not.

I don't even attempt to prognosticate the future of this country, I haven't a clue where we are headed. I so see that there may be violence in the future once people realize to what extent they have been robbed. Once people start receiving visits from the IRS (the enforcement arm of this "health care bill") there will be trouble. To what extent I won't even guess. I can only hope that it happens quickly before the American people are completely subdued.

I am going to the range.