Gospel of the New Truth

The OBAMA Acronym

May 8, 2008: It appears that in the current Democrat Primary climate, Senator Obama will be the party's presidential nominee, and there's a good chance, at this time, that Obama could win the election.

Until proven wrong, I have some strong fears about that occurrence, for a number of reasons. In no particular order,

• inculcation by Pastor Wright of his views on American society, most notably expressed by Michelle Obama

• Obama's continued speeches about uniting the country, including building and maintaining a bi-partisan cooperative existence in the halls of Congress (a corporatist action)

• Michelle Obama's remarks about evening out the economic pie - spreading the wealth

• Obama's early statements that show he would delegate much of the presidential management work

• a lack of evidence proving Obama's professional capability to assume the office (other than making lofty speeches)

• the weakness of both houses of Congress in carrying out their duty of "checks and balances"

It appears to me that what we have here is the OBAMA Acronym: "Obamas Believe America should be a Marxist America".

That doesn't change my previous opinions that Obama is a liberal fascist - Marxism and liberal fascism are shirts cut from the same cloth. What we have is the socialist call for corporatism (control of a state or organization by large interest groups; "individualism is in danger of being swamped by a kind of corporatism"; important - read this). This unity called for by Obama is a nationalist call - in itself a good thing - but as expressed in opinions by Michelle Obama, indicates a desire to denigrate capitalism and replace it with a more socialist economic approach.

Now this is not a new idea from those who would - and did - lead this country, except that in the end, because we really know that a strong capitalism is what has made us the great country weare, it has not worked. Of course, there's no guarantee that it won't, now, given the ideologies in which many of our recent crops of college graduates have been immersed.

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there" - Anon

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More Questions About Obama

May 5, 2008: The other day, it was reported that Al Sharpton threatened mass riots by black voters if Obama did not receive the Democrat Party nomination. This is the second civil disobedience, or worse, threat made by Sharpton in the past few weeks - the first concerned the judge's ruling in a New York City police shooting case. So far, nothing has been heard from the great uniter, with reference to Sharpton's threats. In a recent speech, Obama talked about providing a college education for everyone, or words to that effect. Another "chicken in every pot" promise. The only problem with the state (our federal government) giving everyone a "free" college eductaion is that it smacks of Bismarkian, Mussolini-istic, Hitlerian National Socialism. A program of that type is bad, because it makes the grant receiver a property of the state - just what is found in liberal fascism, or Fascism per se. It is just another "Brave New World" concept. We are now beginning to hear commentators talk about the high probability that Pastor Wright has said what we've recently heard because he doesn't want Obama to be elected. That might also be on the minds of Al Sharpton and other black leaders/spokesmen. That might not be as strange an idea as one might think. Shelby Steele, who wrote the book A BOUND MAN: WHY WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT OBAMA AND WHY HE CAN'T WIN, has laid out the concept very simply (as I have written about in the past)- the power of black leaders is held in the concept that the "man" is holding blacks down, therefore much noise can be made about that, as well as laying guilt on the white man's shoulders. Once that concept is proven false, vis-a-vis Obama's election, then those "leaders" lose their power. This Democrat Party primary race has some pretty interesting depths to it. -30-

Machine conspiracy

May 1, 2008: Did you ever have the nagging thoughts that one of your major household appliances was going to fall apart and you weren't going to be home to take care of it? Well, I've recently had that thought several times when I was going out of town for a few days. I kept thinking that my 12 year old hot water heater, which I carefully maintain, was going to end up spouting water while I was down in Laughlin for a few days of R&R. Not only would the Las Vegas Valley Water District be sending me a big bill for wasting water, but I would probably have a lot of neighbors PO'd. I worried about that since the warrantee for the unit was six years, there was some cause for concern

Anyhow, I was reading an article in this morning's paper about what you could buy with the $600 rebate we're all getting - hopefully, ours will arrive sometime in the early fall. But I read that article just for curiosity's sake, since I knew where that money was going to go - our dishwasher suddenly began making noise about two weeks ago (around April 15), and finally ceased its life a couple of days ago. I'm waiting for delivery of a new one as I write this). Well, OK, I thought when the dishwasher stopped working, at least most of it will be paid for with the rebate.

But wait!. I believe artificial intelligence is at work, because no sooner than did we order the new dishwasher, than the hot water heater began leaking...what is it with these machines, are they engaged in a conspiracy to see which one could spend the rebate the fastest? So today I have two new pieces of household equipment arriving - hey, at least I won't have to worry about the hot water heater leaking when I'm out of town - some consolation. This is the first time I've had to replace either unit in any home I've had. So either that's a sign of AI, or it is just that, even though the technology has greatly improved over the years, perhaps quality hasn't.

Just remember, when you hear odd noises in the night, it's probably your appliances conspiring with each other. 

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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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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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Food Comes from Farms?

My interest in agricultural spans quite a few decades, including undergraduate and some graduate work in agriculture. With this background, I imagine I should be continually amazed at the public's lack of knowledge about the source of the food it consumes. I often facetiously remark, when I come across food items in markets, such as milk or beef, labeled "organic", "is there such a thing as inorganic milk or beef?". But with modern technology, and reading the labels on some junk food items, that remark may not be as facetious as it sounds.

Anyhow, notwithstanding the fact that many people have no idea where their food comes from, it may be a good idea to read the article Survey shows consumers ignorant of farmers’ role in food chain, from the Mar 28, 2008, written by David Bennett, Farm Press Editorial Staff. I found it quite interesting and, sadly, to some degree, funny. Anyway, the story is located at http://westernfarmpress.com/news/survey-farmers-0328/.  An example of a survey response: Farm animals raised for food should be treated the same way household pet owners treat their pets.Amazingly, 30 percent strongly agreed with that and 26 percent strongly disagreed.

One point of interest - with the increase in cost of many farm products, if folks want to reduce their food costs, maybe they should start growing their own produce, raise a few chickens if they have the space, and generally get back to the small "family plot".  The World War II version of this - the Victory Garden - wasn't a bad idea, since it put some power back into the hands of the people.

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Changes we need

Politicians running for President of the United States of America are talking about the need for change, but so far, in my opinion, they are all missing the boat.

Here are the changes we really need:

• one national primary, just before the nominating conventions
• candidates have to talk about the important subjects, not the pulp mags kinds of nonsense - you know, about just how they will improve the economy, take care of national security, bring manufacturing back to this country, all those "boring" topics
• once again, we need improvements in education - people have to not only know how to read, but have to improve their comprehension skills - depending upon so called "political pundits" for their information, without the ability to discern between reality and fable (promotion), does, in the end, give us poor choices for the job of president.
• real news and political broadcasts - provided by commentators who at least know about that which they speak - all we seem to have now are, as Lewis Black to Larry King, "failed comics - entertainers"; the problem with that is, would audiences have the ability to understand what they were told, or, for that matter, could they watch the programming for more than a few minutes before switching to something more entertaining?
• commentator shows - as seen on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, et al., and their ilk should at least change their "guest" panelists - the same old faces with the same old opinions, promoting the same tired old candidates. If you don't have cable or satellite, then how can you watch/hear some intelligent commentary shown on channels like CSPAN, Free Speech TV, Book Channel, etc. (note - Free Speech TV is interesting in that you hear news, stories, and opinions that are not of the mainstream - most of what I have watched has been pretty far over on the liberal socialist side of the spectrum, but it's always good to know what "the other side" is talking about).

In other words, the change we need is to become a more mature, thinking, intelligent society. I know that's a tall order, but think about this - Governor Richardson said he was supporting Senator Obama because he is a "unifier", which is what many of Obama's backers state. But what is meant by a unified country? Wars against this country (WWI, WWII) were great unifiers, where we all worked for the common good. But without that kind of uniting event, a "unified" country could only be one which is subservient to the state. Because if we are unified, then there is no room (need?) for diverse opinion. We are subjected to what the state believes is good for us, which the state will have convinced us will make us all happy. Sounds like fascism to me.

 

Just an American

Senator Obama announced the other day that he is an African-American, has Hussein as a middle name, and that information didn't or doesn't make it easy for him as a politician. It didn't make it difficult, either. This split nationality b.s. is really a pain in the rear end. Obama is no more an African than I am. He was born in Honolulu, so how can he be an African-American?

And for that matter, why are all blacks called African-Americans? I imagine that there are a few blacks, and whites, who are citizens, but who were born in Africa, but what value is there to being called an African-American or any other hyphenated nationality, unless the individual truly holds dual citizenship. Look, first the blacks were Negros, then coloreds (which included all non-whites), then in the 1950s the name to be called was black – as in “Black Pride”. Apparently that wasn't good enough, so, regardless of where the person's birth occurred, the black became an “African-American”. I imagine that just being an “American” wasn't and/or isn't good enough. I'll have to start calling myself a European-American, since my family goes way back in time.

You might say that the American Indian is the only real American except that it is understood that those native to this continent may have come from either South America or from across the Bering Strait, which leaves that ethnic group out of the picture (Siberian-Russian-Tibetan-American, or what?).

Anyhow, the point of all this is that if Senator Obama wishes to be President of these United States of America, and achieves that goal, he better forget this African-American crap and just call himself an American. Otherwise, we'll really have a divided country. Millions of people have emigrated to this land, anxious and proud to become an American, not a hyphenated American.

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Still Important Words for Today

Just in case you have forgotten this most famous quote from Patrick Henry's speech to the Virginia Convention - words of equal import - and maybe more so - today as then:

"The gentlemen may cry Peace, peace! but thee is no peace. The war has actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethern are already in the field! Why stand here idle? What is it that the gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"


[I would also like to recommend Eric Burns' excellent book, Virtue, Valor, and Vanity, a rare look at those who were so important to the founding of this country}

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