A Day That Will Live In Tyranny

Today is the 95th anniversary of the 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution. For those who are not constitutional scholars, it is the amendment that provides Congress the power to levy and collect income tax. For many Americans, the act of the government taking money from your paycheck goes unnoticed. All many citizens see is the amount left over to buy the items necessary to continue living. For many, it is a shrinking pool that causes us to make decisions between subsisting and enjoying life just a little.

I am continually amazed by how our government views taxes and how they have conditioned Americans to view them. When you say taxes, I think my money. It is not the government’s money. They did not earn it. What they have done it appoint themselves guardians of an ever increasing stream of cash, that they themselves can make even bigger just by changing the law. There is never accountability for what they are spending it on. It is viewed as an endless pot with which they can pull from to get re-elected. I believe the operative word is pork.

So as we approach the election of our nation’s leaders, I look to see which of them is looking out for my welfare. What I am seeing is promise after promise to give me something I do not want in exchange for a larger portion of my earnings. I do not want universal healthcare because it will do nothing but make our medical system as effective as every other socialist countries. It will make waiting in a Soviet breadline seem like a memory to enjoy. I do not want illegal immigrants being provided the same rights and privileges as American citizens. That is one reason our health care system is in the shape it is in. We do not need more restrictions placed on our energy usage. Humans are not responsible for the rise in temperature our globe appears to be experiencing. It gives us way too much credit. And there are many other “promises” on the drawing board that are slated to be implemented without any idea of eliminating the waste already in the system.

I guess it is not a matter of replacing anything. You cannot get votes by depriving those who do not recognize theft when they see it. If we do not continue to build this governmental tower of Babel, how will be ever reach the perfection that socialism promises for all of us. Everyone equal and every one equally poor except those we elect.

Icool

Cobb

Don't Lacrosse Duke Part II

I wrote an entry on September 29, 2007 concerning the treatment of the Duke Lacrosse team by the police, prosecutor and worst of all the school administration. It was based on an article from Yahoo in which the dean of Duke was apologizing to the alumni groups for grossly mismanaging the situation. The latest in the fiasco is that the lacrosse team members are suing the school, police and prosecutor for a variety of things. My big question is why it took so long.

The way the "guilty until proven less guilty" activity took place made a mockery of the entire American judicial system. Sure it pitted the rich spoiled upper crust youth against the poor helpless black stripper. And of course rape is a serious matter but once the evidence pointed away from the lacrosse team, it should have dropped. What would have been even better is for the crime to be investigated before the supposition of guilt was splashed all over the media. By the time the truth could be reported, it was already too sensationalized to find an avenue of escape.

This is a good lesson in how things get out of hand. It is like The Sorcerer's Apprentice with Mickey Mouse getting the brooms going and not being able to stop them. When the media is so hungry for a story, they will publish anything just to be first, it becomes ugly when the truth actually comes out. This is a case when freedom of speech causes big time collateral damage. When people's lives are disrupted so the media can get their precious story, it is like the paparazzi chasing Britney Spears. Break any law for a picture or break any law for a story. What is the difference? Oh but it's first amendment. Some things are bigger than the precious story.

Icool

Cobb

Environmental Capitalist

I have come to realize that I am an environmentalist. What is sad is the connotation of the word environmentalist dredges up pictures of eco-terrorists chaining themselves to trees or Al Gore, the High Priest of Carbon Feet, sacrificing our freedoms for a pseudo-science. When I think of ecology, it is forever linked to whacked out liberal causes that only seem to benefit those who already have instead of those who have not. But, I am proclaiming my self a follower of what is best for our environment.

I am also interested in progress and making things better in the future. I have always had a soft spot for science fiction and the promises of a better tomorrow through science. The science fiction authors of the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s were all bent on man reaching for the stars and creating better lives for us Earthers. They developed faster than light ships, lasers, robots, and all kinds of neat technologies. Many thought to be impossible that are now common place; i.e. cell phones, computers, and satellite television. It was not until the 1960's that science fiction turned from a bright future to a doom and gloom outlook of our path forward. Although there predictions of total global and human annihilation are fading into the back ground, the movement spawned by those prophesies has endured and turned into a back to the Stone Age religion.

Part of making things better is looking for clean, non-polluting energy sources. Even the hard core capitalists realize that fossil fuels are a losing bet. They will eventually dry up and we will be forced to find another source for our I-Pods, DVR’s and Flat Screens. There are a bevy of methods for achieving this freedom from fossil fuel. Yahoo had an article today about tapping into the Gulf Stream and using underwater turbines to generate electricity. You can reference the article by clicking on the title. The eco-terrorists had to get their dig in by saying that the turbines would acts as a blender for sea life. It is great to comment on a process without ever seeing the design. The article says that they could eventually provide the electricity of 10 nuclear reactors. It would be totally non-polluting and hidden beneath the waves. What more could you ask for.

Icool

Cobb

Gunpowder Obsolete

For those who have seen the movie Eraser with "Arnold", the plot centers around selling a high tech weapon that propels it's bullets using a railgun. What makes the weapon so special is that is does not require a platform to rest on. They have managed to shrink it to the size of a rifle. Needless to say, the terrorists are interested and a corrupt government official is more than anxious to supply them. We all know that Arnold saves the day and the world is once again safe.

Well now the Navy has test fired their first railgun. At this time it rests on a battleship but it is the step into the future. To review the article, click on the title. The lack of gunpowder makes the gun safer for the sailors that pack the powder for the Naval artillery. Another unique feature is the absence of explosive shells used in the guns. The velocity of the rounds are great enough to cause extensive damage. It also has a much greater range than conventional artillery by a factor of 10.

The Navy says that by 2018 it will have a fully capable prototype to demonstrate. If the Armed Forces survive the next several years without being fully demoralized and dramatically reduced, you may see our land and sea artillery switch from short range chemically propelled ordinance to long range, environmentally friendly ( I just threw that in) and certainly safer systems. Just think how cool it would be if they could shrink them down to Eraser size weapons. Terrorists beware.

Icool

Cobb

The Future Through The Past

One of favorite movies is National Treasure with Nicholas Cage. The sequel came out for the 2007 Christmas movies deluge and although good, it was not up to the original. In National Treasure, Nicholas Cage steals the Declaration of Independence in order to solve a mystery. Prior to stealing it, he visits the National Archives and reads a section of the document. It continues to give me goose bumps to hear him speak those words aloud.

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

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

That these men were willing to sign their lives to this document shows how fed up they were with the mishandling of their government. That we went to war and fought to overthrow the injustice they all felt was happening says much for their vision of what was to become the United States of America. These same men went on to pen the cornerstone of the freedom they sought; the Constitution of the United States. It envisioned the freedoms for all men and put in place the safeguards to prevent tyranny from creeping into government and usurping those freedoms. It has taken more than 200 years, but those freedoms have been chipped away and are now but a mere shell of what the founding fathers envisioned. The Declaration of Independence is a document that through its very words, provide the outline of how the fathers of our nation dealt with the tyranny of an oppressive government. They gave us a great document as a guideline on how we could prevent future occurrences that resulted in the loss of our freedoms. We are nearing the threshold of the loss of our freedoms that may again require such actions as the founding fathers recommended. We have taxation without representation. We have political dynasties that push to have their families rule greater proportions of our nation. We have political agendas that make killing legal (abortion), allow laws to be broken without repercussions (illegal immigration) and are pushing to remove the only avenue by which a citizen can defend themselves (gun control). The only area that has not been targeted is the freedom of speech that allows the liberal media to manipulate the masses with their own brand of manipulation. And why would we not try to stop the one group that stirs the pot? That seems to be the one area of the Constitution that is free from attack.

I am not advocating a revolution. There is still enough freedom to allow me to write this. But with the courts legislating their agendas and our nation approaching an election with only three liberal politicians in the mix, it may be soon that we need to revisit the words of our founding fathers and look for a way to overthrow the tyranny of an unjust government.

Again not Cool

Cobb

Without A Choice

Our national primary has managed to create at least one disenfranchised voter. I am sure there are many more of the gravely disappointed citizens out there but I am certain of at least one. As a conservative, the field presented few viable options. From my angle, Ron Paul with his strict Constitutional belief, would be the ideal candidate but he is getting the same treatment as Dennis Kucinich. With Romney out of the race, we are left with three liberals running for the highest office in the country. Be afraid, very afraid.

If the democrats hold both houses of Congress, we could be in for some very "progressive" legislation over the new few years. It will do no good to grab you wallet because the IRS already had you pocket book attached to their bank account. They will make sure that your employer conforms to their will by removing the money from your check before you recieve it. Instead of actually helping the people they have pledged to assist, they will create the opportunity for many more to join their ranks.

I foresee the following legislation, barring a miracle:

1. Health care for everybody at the taxpayers expense. Say goodbye to your doctor and welcome to socialized medicine.

2. Citizenship for 12 million illegal aliens. Not in itself a crime other than the illegality of them being here in the first place.

3. Raising taxes on gasoline, wages, and property to pay for the increases in social programs that will be enacted.

4. Global warming laws that will stifle any growth of our economy by restricting carbon based energy usage instead promoting renewable.

I hope I'm wrong.

Not Cool

Cobb