Gospel of the New Truth

We're Losing Perspective

April 28, 2008: Well, I just finished reading Senator Barack (Barry) Obama's ode, "Dreams from my Father". So what did I learn? Well, the Senator discovered that he wanted to be a black man, he learned that political hustling in Chicago is a given in the black community, that whites are evil, that being black in Southern states was difficult, and that the Senator thinks he's pretty hot stuff.

Hey,I'm not trying to be mean, but that's the perception I got from the book. Of course, the book isn't what you would call a scholarly piece - it was written, as Obama wrote, because his publisher thought a book by the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review - something he mentions more than once - would be a good seller.

The book did make the New York Times Best Seller list, and I would imagine that his target audience bought a few of them, but I wonder how many people were actually able to read this work? It's not the most interesting read around. But the most important thing I didn't learn from "Dreams from my Father" is why Obama should even be considered for the office of the President of the United States of America. Aside from the book,I believe we're losing our perspective about what's really important for Americans now. Listening to commentators and reading magazine articles, you would think that the Environment is the item of prime importance to our peoples. More important than the economy? health and welfare? earning a living? living in a peaceful world? political and economic liberty? Come on...!

Everyone is working so hard to be green (sort of the color you turn when gangrene sets in), that they lose touch with reality. If we're working to make sure planet earth will be in good shape 10,000 years from now, we sure as hell have the wrong perspective on reality. We need more oil - so we should drill for it. Forget carbon footprints, carbon dioxide, and all that good stuff. Of course, if the world would stop producing so many people, the environment wouldn't be a problem. But when land begins to be converted to housing and its required infrastructure, when local governments call for more and more growth, destroying our forests, agricultural areas, waterways, and so forth, of course people are going to yell that the environment is important.

When we decided to produce corn for fuel production, we put ourselves on the road to a food crisis. But after all, if we use corn ethanol, we don't have to drill for oil in Alaska, off the coast of Cape Cod, or any other place NIMBYs live.

Perspective - what does that mean?

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You've Gotta Luv Las Vegas

 April 27, 2008: There are still a lot of people in this world who don't believe - or realize - that Las Vegas (that is, Nevada - not New Mexico) - is a place where people actually live. Now that's not an unexpected misconception, what with everything people see and hear about the city and county (since Las Vegas is in Clark County, as is the Strip, which actually isn't in the city , but only the county, and which is referred to as Las Vegas - oh well..) is from movies, TV shows, and maybe some books - all of which mostly focus on downtown Las Vegas and the Strip.

Some people around the world seem to have the perception that Las Vegas is a country unto itself, and they may not be too far off the truth - that is, as long as we can keep all those new people moving in (Californians, that is) from remaking the Las Valley into what they left.

A dozen years ago my wife and I were on our honeymoon in Italy, and being that we dress indigenously (western clothes), locals in Florence and Milan always shouted greetings of "Hi, Texas", so part of our enjoyment was getting those folks straightened out. Anyhow, in Milan, while strolling down one of their interesting streets, a couple of carbineer came up and shouted "Texas". When I said no, Nevada, I was greeted with a blank stare, but as soon as I said "Las Vegas", a big smile came across their faces, and one of the cops high-fived me, with the shout "Mafia!". Las Vegas sure is a great town.

Of course, here in the Valley we have some very interesting social situations. For instance, we have Las Vegas welfare - where you are bombarded with gifts and cash from your local casinos - one of the strange (to outsiders) benefits of life in this part of the high desert. Of course, all this proves businesses can make a lot of money from giving away money (most of the time you don't get to keep it - it's all in the machines as 'Xtra Play Cash'), and giving away great merchandise (most of the time. Why, if you're a pretty smart gamer (Nevada parlance for gambler), you can get a pretty good collection of useful merchandise - coffee makers, pots and pans, tools, and, of course, the most popular article of clothing for most people moving into the area, T-Shirts. T-Shirts, shorts, and sneakers seem to be what is considered "real fashion" by too many residents. The "good old days" of dress in the town have just about gone away, unfortunately.

We also have what I call "Las Vegas Alzheimer's" - go away for a week or two, and when you come home, you see buildings you don't remember ever seeing before..

Another phenomenon here is the rapid growth of shopping centers, The Valley has around 6000 new residents per month, with about half that number leaving, so with this growth, new shopping locations are required. No longer do you have to drive across the Valley to find the store you need - a good thing these days, since what used to take up to twenty minutes is now about a one hour drive. All you have to do, figuratively, is fall out of bed and you can roll into a new super-dooper shopping center. These are not your old fashioned strip centers, although there are plenty of those in the area, but upscale palm tree designed locations that have a wide variety of fancy and not so fancy retail establishments, with plenty of local bars and food markets supplied with your favorite video poker machines.

Gaming is the life-blood of Southern Nevada, as well as most of the state. I believe we may have lost our last local ranch a short while ago, and it's getting more difficult to find property to keep some horses. Cattle?, forget about it. And like being a bad place to raise children - a lousy school district, not enough for the kids to do, and a growing gang and crime problem, regardless of what law enforcement and local government reports may say, even the horses can have problems, due to the increasing number of cars and air pollution which causes skin problems on those great animals.

Oh, yeah, lest I forget, this is a beautiful area - the mountains surrounding the Valley continually change colors with the rotation of the earth - becoming more colorful as the day goes on. And the light effects provide a Japanese-like painting scene in the late afternoon Unfortunately, developers ignore that beauty by building more shopping centers and blocking much of the view when you're driving to you favorite casino.

Not withstanding the above remarks, I can't think of a better place to live - as long as people don't try to screw it up. Las Vegas is a place where you can be what you want, a tough town for many people, but a great place for those who want to be independent, who have the determination to make it (that's for the younger folk), and who want to be a citizen of Nevada - the state always advertised as the "real West".

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Thoughts from a Classical Liberal

April 23, 2008: I have previously written that I am a classical liberal, meaning that I strongly believe in political and economic liberty. In the practical sense, that means that I believe those liberties which this country's founders fought for against their English rulers - the liberty to be free from political and economic government restraint, with the caveat that such freedom doesn't put us into collision with the Constitution.

The government has certain basic duties, mainly to protect our borders from foreign incursion, to protect individual rights under the constitution, and to adapt those protections to conditions created by technology.

People should be free to have the religions they wish, as long as those religions do not in themselves become power units affecting the political and economic liberty of all individuals. Those liberties do not include infringing upon the political and economic liberties of those who are not interested in behaving  or believing what the various religious organizations would like for all to believe. Companies should have the economic liberty to trade with whom they wish, without restraint, as long as those companies do not harm the basic liberties of our citizenry.

People speak against globalization, but globalization is here to stay. The world has been growing more compact every year, certainly helped to do so by the Internet. Western ideas have now become almost de rigueur as capitalism is now the goal of more and more countries which previously decried that economic concept, because those countries know that regardless of what they would like to believe, without strong trade, both internal and external, the prospects for a strong and secure nation are very weak.

Which brings me to Senator Clinton's Pennsylvania primary victory speech. It was interesting to hear many anti-Clinton pundits talk about how good the speech was. Now I've previously written that I'm not a fan of any of the candidates, and that I believe both Obama and Clinton are Socialists, with Obama being more of a liberal fascist than Clinton. I've also written that there are some points the liberal left make that are worthwhile enacting because they would be good for the country.

Clinton's speech was a very good one - it appeared to be nationalistically inclusive - and she gave the impression that her socialist leanings would not be Bismarkian, but would be more open - that is, not of the kind of socialism that would force everyone to worship statism, but would be open to dissent. If that's what she has in mind, that's fine, after all we are already living in a sort of "gentle fascism" state, except try denouncing environmental concerns, the greening of America, and other "hot key" issues, and you will find yourself looked upon as some kind of anti-American - just as those who denounced the Iraq incursion in its first few years were called traitors by the Bush Administration.

One topic is important, and that is Clinton's idea of medical coverage for all citizens. Notwithstanding the fact that there are a number of problems this could, and probably will, present, health care is an extremely important issue for the United States of America, if it is to regain its political and economic superiority. A society in which everyone knows their health problems will have the opportunity to be repaired will be one which can then concentrate on those other issues which will enhance lives - economic, political, and personal.

Developing a strong nationalistic society is desirable and it does not have to be in the same mode as Hitler's National Socialist Party (Nazi), nor does it have to be Fascism.

As long as individuals know they have political and economic liberty, that they do not have to worry about their health care, the peoples of this nation can unite in making us, once again, the powerful and respected world leader that the United States of America has always been.

The last item I want to mention is education.  Until a better system is devised for basic schooling, it looks as though we are stuck with what we have. The important thing is for children to learn that learning is important, and this has to be a function of their parents. With so many illiterate parents around, it's no wonder than too many of the kids in our schools have no interest   in learning. If the country is to regain its world respect and leadership role, aside   from its citizens' health and economic opportunities, basic education is of primary   importance. The ability to read and understand (comprehension), understanding world history   and especially that of the United States is of utmost necessity; not the revisionist history   as is being taught on many school campuses, but the learning of what actually took place    in the founding of our country, and the reasons behind the wording of the Constitution    and the Bill of Rights, and how England's political history affected that document.

   The educational emphasis should be on the old "3 Rs - reading, writing and arithmetic".    because once those skills are learned, the road to possible economic success is open for travel.    A college education is not necessary for all, but the ability to learn new skills is. We    have to understand that there are many career opportunities available for the young,    and more become available every year. Making education important to elementary, middle school, and high school students    is a priority task for our educators - not just the ability to pass required exams (which too many students    fail).  

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It's Toffler to Huxley

 

April 19, 2008: Apparently a large portion of the Democrat party, along with some Republicans, are anxious for a change in the way the country's governance is conducted. And it's just as apparent that change for chanage's sake will do. 

So it looks like, according to what I think I'm hearing from the candidates - particularly the Democrat Party candidates - "future shock" is meeting "the brave new world". Alvin Toffler's shortest definition of future shock is a personal perception of "too much change in too short a period of time" ( see reference)

Listening to Senator Obama, we get a feeling that should he be elected, the country is willing to unite as one, where everything will be good for all people - sort of like Senator Clinton's "It Takes a Village" concept. So while we will be reeling from the effects of the sudden political change taking place, at the same time we will end up as one happy family (as long as nobody rocks the boat), and be happy in a zombie-like state of joy.

Maybe it's time for voters to read Huxley's and Toffler's books. Hopefully, the reading comprehension ability of those voters is "up to snuff".

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Apparent Decision Time

April 17, 2008: I think I have finally had it with the current presidential campaign - or is it still only the primaries? Aside from the obvious wearing down of the Democrat contenders,   our Republican apparent choice isn't exactly setting the world on fire.

  As I have probably written in previous blogs, there's not much of a choice on the table -   two socialist candidates and one who is some kind of conservative, but I don't   know which kind. Thomas J. DiLorenzo had it right,for this campaign season anyhow, that   a truly patriotic American would not vote (for president).

  For crying' out loud, even Maureen Dowd has noticed that Senator Obama is an elitist candidate,   really out of touch with most of the people in this country. The last time a real intellectual   ran for president - Adlai Stevenson - it was a pleasure to hear his speeches, but   nobody wanted him as the leader of our country (well, some Democrats did vote for him).

I don't think it's a matter of being snobbish, as has been written about Obama, it's just a matter of believing that the person running for the job is really in touch with his constituents - whether he really is or isn't. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who sure as heck wasn't one of the "common folk", had the ability to make everyone   think he was for them.  Roosevelt, like Obama and Clinton, was taken, to some degree, with   Mussolini's fascist socialism, as were many nations' leaders in the 1930s. And who knows how this   country would have turned under the various New Deal programs Roosevelt pushed, if   WWII hadn't intervened. Except for one thing - WWII was a call for all Americans to   unite behind its government in order to defeat the Axis powers. And those who spoke   out against the war were not looked upon kindly. The idea behind the internment   of American citizens of Japanese descent in the name of security was the same as   the Federalist Alien and Sedition of 1798, the Sedition Act of 1918, and the   atmosphere surrounding the Home Security Act; by the way, the two acts were during the   administrations of presidents who were not Republicans. The Bush administration's   practice of creating fear is more reminiscent of those old Federalists - and Wilson and Roosevelt   Democrats, and is all related to what we know is a tactic of a right wing socialist system.

  Anyhow. to make this story short, at this time I do not see how any intelligent, constitution loving   American can insult the country by voting for the current list of candidates. Clinton   may be less of a liberal fascist than Obama, and as I said at the top of the blog, I'm   still not sure what McCain is. So I'll vote for the other issues on the ballot, but   right now, I can't contribute to what I don't believe is in the best interest of   the people and the country.  

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Signs of a Less Kinder Socialism

April 12, 2008: The way things stand on this date, I don't think I will be able to vote for any of the presidential candidates come November. Each of the candidates has some good ideas, but as a complete picture, I'm not sure about any of them.

I don't know what McCain really believes, since he's preaching to some of the more extreme groups in the Republican party, although he does have some practical outlooks on important topics. Clinton and Obama are from the liberal fascist contingent, going by their goals and histories - of course, we're still finding information on Obama, but I believe he's a more militant/right wing liberal fascist than Clinton.

Listening to yesterday's sound bite of his remarks which somewhat disparaged blue collar workers, who are apparently more interested in guns and their own interests, I could not help but hear the old fascist distate for those not interested in becoming part of corporatism.

Obama's "gun comment" also signals what he will probably want to do should he be elected to the presidency. After all, firearm owners are independent thinkers, and one of the dislikes the extreme left has is for those thinking outside of the socialist/ fascist liberal box.

One other point, and I'll extend my remarks re: this after I finish reading Obama's "Dreams of My Fathers", is that Obama, in his deire or need to be black - similar to the dreams of many white liberals - is his seeming belief in identity politics. When recently interviewed by Bryan Gumbel, Obama professed his love for basketball. Now I guess he's a lousy bowler, but a good basketball player, which probably, in his mind, gives him   street creds as a black man.

So between the two socialists, I would guess that Clinton would be the safer choice   - safer because we (should) know just who she is, and if Congress could develop some   balls, it could provide its required checks and balances act. I'm afraid that   with Obama, our representatives in Washington will continue to play the "guilty   white man" card.

    It's going to be a helluva four years.    

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PC and Protestors

April 9, 2008: Political Correctness is well on its way to destroy the liberties we have been granted as citizens of this country. And political correctness doesn't only mean, as we used to say when I was a young man - you gotta call a spade a spade - but any comment made about anything - animate or inaminate - can create for you all kinds of trouble. It happened here in Nevada - a woman's license plate, one she has had for a number of years, was XSTACY - was taken away by the DMV because someone was offended by what it might mean. Today's news reports an Obama campaign worker fired becasue she said a bunch of kids were running around, c limbing trees, "..like...monkeys..."). And the example continue almost everyday. Groups of people - call them a community rather than groups - are protesting the Olympic torch bearers and the Olympics, based upon China's apparently heavy-handed in Tibet. A human rights problem? More than likely. But China has been a human rights violator for the past 30+ years, but everybody is still buying goods marked "hecho in China". When Germany held the 1936 Olympics, and the National Socialists were led by Hitler, nobody here boycotted the games. When United States athletes, upon winning medals in a more recent Olympics, raised their   fists in the fascist salute as a political symbol, the Olympics were not boycotted.   The point is that every country has problems that other countries' citizens rally against. But to    boycott the Olympics just because it is being held in China, and that government is acting   in a way many people are unhappy about, the Olympic athletes should not be punished.   So why is this happening? Groups (communities) protest over that which they do   not like or want; people have to be afraid to say anything lest it be considerd racist or   anti-government. Folks, the problem has been here for years - under the Wilson and Roosevelt   administrations, as well as under the current Bush administration. Fascist liberalism is slowly but surely   taking over this country.   We've been living under a kind socialism, but now it is becoming harsher. The Hitlerian/Nazi   policy of the community over the individual is what we are witnessing in this country.   Classical individual liberty is slowly but surely being destroyed, in favor of statism.   Nothing new, as I said - but appealing to most of our youth and others who, knowingly or not,   believe extreme liberalism will make their life better.   Unfortunately, those people may get what they're asking for...       -30- [April 28, 2008: A thank you to Michael Moore for the correction re: the license plate   note - plate letters originally stated left out the letter S (XSTACY)]

Finally - the Truth Comes Out

April 3, 2008: The truth about Obama's political concepts is finally exposed - although maybe not intentionally. Answering a question about college loans on the Chris Matthews show yesterday, Obama said, among other things, that the middleman had to be eliminated in the loan process - that the banks and other loan organizations profits were too big. This is not the first time Obama spoke against companies making what he considered too much profit - and that from a man who, in two years, made 2.6 million dollars from book sales, and whose wife profited from his being in office via a change in job title to the tune of a salary increase of over $200 thousand dollars a year!

Apparently, profit (except for his own) is not a good thing - an example of the fascist/right-wing socialist idea of "community over individual".

Then a couple of other known, but rarely stated facts, were made - one by a super delegate in Pennsylvania who backs Clinton. The individual stated that even though he believes Clinton is the better candidate, that Obama will win, because white people will vote for Obama to assuage their "guilt". Other comments predicting Obama's win also stated that his victory would be for "justice"!  What nonsense! Our next president should be one who is put in office just to make people feel better? What, all those Democrats and Republicans who vote/voted for Obama are or were slave holders? Come on- .. And, if you want to talk about guilt, which is basically ridiculous, shouldn't there be guilt shown by blacks re: whites who fought along with them in the civil rights movement, and who were killed in the process? And what about black anti-Semitism - shouldn't there be guilt in that community over the fact that a large number of Jews fought for the civil rights of blacks, and some were also killed in that struggle?

This country is rapidly becoming filled with a bunch of ignorant, uneducated, non-thinking, dysfunctional, wimpy Americans, snowed under by deconstructionist political correctness, living under a pleasant socialist government, and who won't be happy until a Mussolini style fascist government is in place, where our freedom of speech and thought will be replaced by group thinking rather than individual thoughts, where statism is predominant over individualism.

Jefferson believed the people of the country had the ability to ensure that the country would remain as intended; Hamilton believed that the people didn't have the ability to do so, and the State should be in control.  Our history over much of the past 100 years has shown that Hamilton was pretty much on target. Obama's election to the country's presidency would pretty much put us back into the more extreme liberal fascist days of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, with or without the militarism of their times.
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