Saturday, December 31, 2011

M.A.E.D.

Mutually Assured Economic Destruction. It is hard to imagine the economic world coming to a stop. People will not cease to exist and their daily efforts to survive will empower local economics even if it is bartering. The installed infrastructure facilitates the supply of good and services. However, it will be disastrous for many perhaps millions, especially in the developed world, when the supply chain is disrupted. Which in consequence affects the manufacturing of things and the production and distribution of food affecting even the less developed. The resulting run on and collapse of the banks and the scarcity and hyperinflation of food and products will be calamitous.

It will be as if a neutron bomb was detonated. Many of the people will gone but no physical damage only that which was caused during the food riots will evidence the passing. An interesting way to reset the world. The question will be, who will survive and will they be smart enough to not repeat the previous generation's mistakes?

Friday, December 30, 2011

Want versus Need

Want is insatiable. Need is dependent upon the individual and the circumstance. If that were the sum of it then life would only be complicated by the availability of resources. The fact that "others" exist introduces the concept of share. The question then resolves around can I, will I, do I.

Profits, Entrepreneurship, and Storytelling

I was disappointed in the above mentioned Econtalk podcast because too much time was spent talking about the notion of "Desserts" or who deserves what, philosophizing about the morality of profits, and entertaining the progressive mind set that government knows best. 

A discussion of hedge fund manager's billion dollar average annual profits was centered on the moral dilemma of how much is too much. I did not hear any discussion about the creation of wealth and the fact that not one person, not even Steve Jobs, ate the money.  How can you have a discussion about profits and not talk about or tell a story about how the profits were invested immediately into the economy even leveraged multiple times. How the wealth created by innovation and entrepreneurship served to invigorate and empower other enterprises even noncommercial. And how a rising tide raises all ships even the dingy.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Means, Mastery, Leadership

The first world countries have been living beyond their means since the inception of credit and especially since leaving the gold standard. The central banks are complicit in the demise of the current economic system because the elite are incapable of managing the masses or the economic complexities. The middle class is where the innovators and critical mass exists to create wealth but also to consume it. The poor and needy will always exist to make men feel guilty about their pursuits of wealth and power. To assuage their conscience the well-to-do's are faced with philanthropy and the wanna-be's are conflicted by greed and need. Well meaning leaders and unscrupulous politicians plan and contrive for both means of power and taxation to take from the unsuspecting successful wanna-be's and give to the perpetual welfare class on the basis of fairness and compassion.

The solution is self-mastery. Living within one's means does not necessarily commit a person to poverty but does require prudence. Magnifying one's calling is not only for the socially conscious but for the socially able.  Whatever we are capable of doing, whether it is consuming only that which sustains us or producing that which sustains many we as individuals, resident's of the world should have an obligation to exercise that talent on the behalf of others.

Not everyone is imbued with the knowledge or skills to understand or affect the outcomes of life. Those that can, need to educate those that can't.  Those that can't, need to pay attention. A lack of leadership is responsible for the current failure of our fiscal and social order. A dearth of leadership in partnership with the arrogance of the unwise is the bane of this life.

Are we doomed to failure, condemned to a conflict and strife, confined by mediocracy, inspired to achievement, or destined to fulfillment?  Some, each, and all.


Wednesday, December 14, 2011

I know you are, but what am I

It amazes me that the government class, politicians, representatives, and agency heads all have the same failure. They accuse someone else of their failings.  When they announce that someone needs to be an adult it is because they are acting childishly. When they pronounce that someone is the smartest person in the room it is because the room is filled with idiots. When they stand upon their soapbox and castigate a particular person or group as racists it is because they are being racist. It doesn't make any difference what the person says or who the person is that is saying it the very words out of their mouths indicts them of that very thing.

Assuming


Assuming that there is a purpose, to this existence, what serves evil.  I understand and am a beneficiary of good. I don't understand and hope not to become a victim of evil. The bible tries to justify it by extolling the vice of evil at serving to define and quantify good. Science ignores that it exists because it is subjective. Politicians revel in it because it empowers and animates them. The general population puts up with it because it is prevalent and ubiquitous. The unfortunate, unwary, and purveyors of evil are subject to it.

If evil were not to exist would this existence be enriched or impoverished? It is hard to imagine how the absence of evil would adversely affect our lives as much as the existence of it does.  Recognizing the difference between things breaking down, actions going wrong and evil choices I don't see the purpose of it.  Even if the bible is correct at stating that we are served by opposition in all things my faithfulness is not necessarily dictated by the degree of evil in my life.  In fact there is proportionality to the chance of my falling victim to evil by its prevalence  persistence, and prominence.

I suppose that as our progenitors have learned and we are taught, greatness or degree of achievement does not come without effort and is directly proportional to challenge and resistance. If that is true and is seems that it is, then evil is a prerequisite and I can only wonder to what degree of accomplishment this life offers while evils only plays a distraction for the most part. Am I prepared for or do I even want to venture a guess at the circumstances and situations accompanying an existence where the outcome is even greater, the risks are higher and the opposition is appropriate and adequate to the task?

If we are more than an accident of nature, a cosmic coincidence, or juxtaposition of circumstances than evil does serve a purpose, perhaps an important one.

Divestiture

There is nothing wrong with congress and big government that divestiture wouldn't solve.  Corruption, meddlesome litigation, constituency irrelevancy, cronyism, pork barrel legislation, over-spending, inequitable taxation, generic regulation, inappropriate mandates, and childish behavior.

The same things happen at the state level but the impacts are less onerous to the collective population of the U.S.. If we were to also divest the state governments of locally pertinent governance America could be transformed back into the United States.   The challenge is to figure out how to deal with inequitable resources, inadequate response, and inappropriate behavior which does exist and will occur but can be handled because the incidents are both limited in scope and marginal in nature.

Because of technology all central banks can be eliminated and the gold standard must be returned to.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Third letter

Thank you for you response.  However, I do not think you answer addresses the issues.  First, the nature of the NDAA is to declare that  American's are no longer safe in their own country from their own military and that in the pursuit of terrorists the military can and will prosecute any terrorist any where.  Second, Feinstein's amendment is a red herring and does not distinguish between foreign or domestic terrorist.  Which leads me to my main concern which is the definition and determination of terrorist.  As we have seen, the Obama administration, Cass Sunsten and reports to the Homeland security agency has declared Tea Party members terrorists. I am concerned about the anecdotal information that gun ownership, more than 7 days food storage among other dubious characteristics classifies individuals as terrorist suspects.  This law is a disaster and no amount of wordsmithing makes it acceptable. Any future administration will be tempted to use this as a tool in silencing its critics. Any person can be held indefinitely without recourse on the suspicion that he or she is a terrorist.  That is frightening.

It is no different than the Sarbanes Oxley act which can be construed by a lawyer to exonerate the guilty CEO because no one can prove what a person was thinking so the law protects any and all actions of the guilty and gives the department of justice ultimate power.

In congress's efforts to codify the free and legal maneuverings of the the american people all you are doing is tightening the noose around our necks.  Your are ignoring the premise of the constitution and changing it from a document of negative liberties to a straight jacket of positive liberties that in turn require definitions and are subject to legal discourse and reinterpretation.  The negative consequences of such a course of action is disastrous.  The notion or practice of judgement by precedence is strangling the constitution and congress's efforts to prescribe legal behavior is a fool's errand.

On Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 7:45 AM, <Correspondence_Reply@enzi.senate.gov> wrote:
December 13, 2011
 
 
Mr. Scott Campbell
377 Quebec Ave.
     Lovell, Wy 82431
 
Dear Scott:
 
There were several amendments considered during debate on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) related to military detainees.  I supported Senator Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) amendment #1456, which addresses the lawful protection of U.S. citizens while allowing for military detention for terrorists that pose a threat to the United States.  The amendment states that nothing in the detainee policy sections of the bill will be construed to change existing law relating to the detention of U.S. citizens.  The Senate approved this amendment by a vote of 99-1.  I want to emphasize – this amendment make clear that nothing in the NDAA changes the rights of American citizens under current law.
 
There are several interpretations of the detainee language in the NDAA.  These sections of the bill are in line with current detainee policies, and those were also upheld in the Supreme Court case Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507, 519-21 (2004).  This ruling upheld that the detention of enemy combatants without the prospect of criminal charges or trail to be proper under the President’s Authorization for Use of Military Force and the Constitution, as long as there is a procedure in place for prisoners to challenge their classification as an enemy combatant.  This procedure currently exists.  If any U.S. citizen, such as Mr. Yaser Hamdi in this case, is detained by the military under terrorist suspicions, they have the right to challenge their enemy combatant status before an impartial judge.  The NDAA language upholds the current policies.  In addition, there is a strict criteria provision for military detention in section 1301 of the bill that applies only to individuals determined to be part of a terrorist organization, and who were also participants in planning an attack on the United States.
 
The NDAA is going through the process of a Congressional conference, which works out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.  The detainee language will certainly be part of the conference committee’s debate.  I understand your concerns about infringements upon our Constitutional rights – I work every day to uphold and defend the Constitution which has guided America for over 200 years.  I will continue to ensure our national security without having to sacrifice our Constitutional rights, and will keep your concerns in mind when I review the final version of the bill.

 
Thank you for contacting me about this important issue.
 
Sincerely,
Michael B. Enzi
United States Senator
 
P.S. You can get a more complete view of all my activities in the Senate by visiting my web page and also signing up for my e-newsletter. Visit enzi.senate.gov for more information.
 
MBE:jw
 
 
 

How can we...

How can we...
Accentuate the positive as opposed to addressing the negative?
Befriend the possible as opposed to betraying our potential?
Control our emotions as opposed to criticizing our circumstances?
Develop character as opposed to denying accountability?
Evaluate our responses as opposed to eviscerating our relationships?
Find peace as opposed to foster discontent?
Grope success as opposed to grieve misfortune?
Hope for others as opposed to hate them?
Institute pride as opposed to initiating prejudice?
Jump into action as opposed to justifying our inaction?
Knowingly practice provident living as opposed to kicking the can down the road?
Laugh at ourselves as opposed to lamenting our fallibility?
Manage ourselves as opposed to manipulate others?
Nourish our friendships as opposed to navigating selfishness?
Open our eyes to the reality as opposed to oppressing our conscience?
Participate in communicating as opposed to practicing mind reading?
Quicken our understanding as opposed to quietly existing in ignorance?
Restrain our appetites as opposed to ransacking the pantry of life?
Subscribe to good as opposed to succumbing to evil?
Transfer knowledge as opposed to trashing common sense?
Utilizing the opportunity as opposed to using the moment?
Verify the intent as opposed to vilifying the messenger?
Wrangling with your conscience as opposed to wrestling with the outcome?
Xerox your positive attitude as opposed to practicing xenophobia?
Yell our thankfulness as opposed to yelping about fairness?
Zero in on the problem as opposed to practice zone defense?

 I tried to be original but assume that others have come up with the same platitudes. I am not knowingly plagiarizering anyone else.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Obvious

It is obvious that the so called smart people, of this planet's population, aren't very smart. The world is in financial stress because the so called smart people couldn't figure out that if one spends more than one earns the results will be financial ruin. There has been numerous occasions when the so called smart people could have acted intelligently and enabled a transition of the world's governments and its citizens into a sustainable governance and life style. The free market and self-governance system works when it is not being manipulated by the so called smart people or abused by the ruthless.  In every instance of excess the blame can be surely rested upon a government and it so called smart people.  The challenge is developing a system of behavior that allows the truly smart people to operate, keeps the ruthless people from dominating, and protects the environment and less fortunate.  Self-reliance doesn't work, organized religion doesn't work, dictatorships don't work, democracy doesn't work, communism doesn't work, and anarchy doesn't work. So what does that leave us with? Laissez-faire. The planet and its population will run a course of existence ebbing and flowing from bad to good or good to bad in whatever realm of existence is possible.  Those who existed prior to the current succeeded or failed according to their own personal circumstances.  Those who exist after the current will succeed or fail according to their own personal circumstances.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Collapse

It is easy to assume a collapse but difficult to imagine the particulars. As I watch the EU dance around and flirt with insolvency and bankruptcy, the politicians kicking the can down the road, and the bankers digitizing more money I wonder what if any aspect of today's society can actually trigger the collapse.  There always seems to be a mitigating agent, an extenuating circumstance, or a last ditch effort which really isn't the last.

As far as I can tell it really is only a crisis for the rich because they are the ones exposed and there are so few of them that when the hedge fund crooks loose, steal, or misappropriate a trillion dollars there is hardly a consequence for the world.  There are numerous rich people who are less rich and some devastated but for the most part the world seems to be unaffected. Goods still flow, services are still consumed, and transactions take place.  Installed infrastructure and diverse producer and consumer base seems impervious to wholesale disaster.

The resiliency of the human species to adapt and the creativity of the human mind to innovate plus and the indomitability of the human spirit insures that the human population of this planet will survive even prosper.  It is the mad man, the corrupt politicians, the self-righteous collective, or the power hungry egomaniacs and their accomplices that causes the most grief and may even cause a local disasters, a wide spread financial calamity, a socialital collapse, and world wide impacts.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Lock Step

How is it possible that the progressive agenda is so will coordinated? It is amazing to me that disparate groups and individuals seem to be in lock-step when it comes to the destruction of our constitutional freedoms and liberties. As america approaches its next election there is mounting evidence that these groups will participate willingly in civil unrest and violence in our major cities and that will be the excuse for the current administration to suspend the election and institute martial law.  With the passage of the NDAA, by congress, it will be lawful for the US military to seize and detain indefinitely, without evidence, American citizens defined, merely, as suspected terrorists by the current administration. How is it possible that so many willing accomplices, associated groups, even so called political opponents are heading undeterred toward anarchy and eventually a totalitarian government.  How is it possible that the evil in a few can so easily overwhelm the good in the many? I suppose that the good in man's nature is not intrinsic but is a learned attribute which comes about in the face of evil as has been evidenced in the past. However the cost of such lessons is catastrophic and unfortunately the lesson is not passed on to the progeny. Because there is no place for the good to escape our future condition may be permanent.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Star Trek

The star trek mentality is what the liberal, socialist, progressive, communist useful idiot has at the center of their belief system.  They believe that money is irrelevant and that human nature is amenable.  All that needs to be done is to convert the hard currency to a cell phone credit currency or request what they want from the "replicator" and then let each of us find our our level of personal involvement and self-satisfaction.  They imagine that there are some who are leaders, captain Kirk or Picard, and others who will find personal reward being the engineer, number Two, or the science officer Scotty, Riker, or Spock. The don't worry about the crew members wearing red shirts because they are expendable and take one for the Federation.  The don't worry about the extras on the set because they are extras and are going to be satisfied being extras. They don't consider the people who clean up the stage after the play is done or clean the toilets at the end of the day. They don't comprehend the masses of humanity unselfishly slaving away on earth so that the crew of the enterprise can explore the frontiers of space.

There is no room for jealously, greed, or cowardice everyone knows their role and is happy to stay in it.  Not everyone gets the captain's suite but then not everyone wants one. We will all be satisfied with wiggling our fingers in the air or dangling them down while someone signs for point of order.  Those women who are raped or people who die must be wearing the red shirts and those people are expendable for the greater good.

When they turn the lights out we all go home and sleep in our comfortable beds.

Genie

It is hard to imagine how we are going to put the genie back into the bottle. The vitriol that permeates a response whenever someone takes a contrary position is not going away. There is no courtesy or respect.  There is no empathy or a will to try and understand. Because the Internet has no censors and there is, apparently, little self-censorship the diatribes, accusations, and vulgar tirades substituted for intelligent response makes me wonder where society is headed.

Considering that our society has evolved from hunter gathers through various stages of civilized development, I wonder if this is this the end of society or growing pain? Do we become more civlized or less? It appeares to me that in the abscence of a will to control ourselves and prescribed morals and behaviors society is doomed to failure.  Man's intellect is capable of understanding the value of civilized behavior but man's nature does not lend itself to self-mastery and that is the key.

We are not going to cease to exist so then do we devolve to the lowest common denominator of self-interest aided by technology in the pursuit of isolation where proximity detectors and computer programs isolate, insulate, and segregate. Where interactions are minimized but altercations are extreme because there are no rules of engagement.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Coincidence

If space is the constituent of and energy is the facilitator of the existence of matter, what happens when space is activated and it becomes a particle? What happens when active space is combined with other particles of active space to become an atom. Does space condense as would be the case as a gas turning into a liquid? What fills the area around or between the active space?  Or does it need to be filled?  Is existence a local phenomena? How does one pick up a rock and put it in his pocket? Is that a convergence of local phenomena?  So in a sense I don't really exist I am a figment of imagination. How then can I experience someone else by clasping their hand?  It would have to be the coincidence or proximity of space and the cognizance or interaction of energy.

Concoction

How does one come up with a concoction from which the planet in its current form comes into being? How are the elements created which then aggregate into an iron cored nuclear active globe with water on it and gasses surrounding it?  Where in space are the basic constituents or constituent that can become the 103 elements? What is the mechanism that causes, so called, empty space to transform into matter. The big bang is not and answer it is name given to the event of creation which, so called, scientist can't explain.  What caused the universe to come into existence and why is existence this and not something else.  

90%

I read the other day that the current surface of the earth is 90% sedimentary rock. That means that 100% of the current earth's surface has been under water for extended periods of time.  The most intriguing aspect to that fact is where did the sediment come from?  What was above the surface of the water that could erode and flow into the water to become sediment? What portion of the globe was above and what portion below? Apparently there is some evidence that Africa and South America share some geologic features. That has led to the notion of plate tectonics. In my thinking they must have been under the water at the same time.

Even the Himalayas are sedimentary in composition. What is the mechanism that erodes the above water surface onto the below water surface than pushes the below water surface above the surface and then erodes that? I don't believe tectonics is a credible description because there is no explainable force which causes the plates to sub-duct or the plates to crash into one another.  Unless heat is applied sugar water doesn't boil and if it is not stirred the top surface crystallizes. It is the escaping of the water which causes the contents to  fall in onto itself.

So in the case of the earth did it start out as a rock covered by water or a liquid concoction that separated into layers like a bottle of muddy water.  Assuming that it was a concoction that would account for the layering of the earth as the elements responded to the force called gravity.  As the heavier elements aggregated at the core of the globe eventually igniting and adding a second mechanism called heat caused the water to evaporate and then condense on a rapidly cooling surface.  As the globe continued to shrink the surface began to buckle and create nonconformity.  The motion of the planet adds a third mechanism which is stress which shows up as fault lines.  As the planet cools and its interior contents escape to the exterior the earth is transformed.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Choice

Just read a newspaper article about a woman who allowed cancer to kill her so that her unborn child could come to full-term.  I makes me sad that life requires those kind of sacrifices and it make me mad that there are so many selfish people that do not allow all unborn children to come to term. 

The right to choice is before conception not after. The argument that it is the woman's choice because it is her body ends when through a conscious decision she begins to share it with another person.

Life's not fair why should the burden be born by the indefensible. I wish to honor people like Jennie Lake of Pocatello, Idaho for her sacrifice and courage I hope that heaven exists and that she is forever rewarded for her choice.

Probability

As is evidenced by history things go on. Man continues, places are changed, and events happen.  What is the probability that it will continue as it has?  The interesting thing is that there was a point of beginning. Does that mean that there will be an eventual end?  Even if we over populate and disease and pestilence decimates the population some will survive. Even if we attempt to destroy ourselves with war eventually the survivors will call a truce. Even is we detonate nuclear winter there are places on earth where man will survive. Is there a time when man's existence is ended on this planet? I think not.

Last Stand

Since the advent of man there has been a struggle between his nature, which is selfish, and his nurture, which inspires to be selfless. Until recently it was possible to avoid the struggle because there was room for both. Rapidly the time approaches when the selfless man finds that time and space has run out and his survival depends not on avoidance but resolve.  Is it possible for the selfless to stand his ground?  Is it possible that selfless will find enough resolve to resist selfishness? Is it possible that selflessness will realize that selfishness is truly a coward? Is it possible that at the last stand selfless will not acquiesce its rightful place in man's nature and thus transform man to God. Unfortunately only time will tell.

Escape

The western world is about to go over the edge of insanity because there is no place left for Good to escape.  Since the beginning of time Evil has attempted to destroy Good only to have Good escape to an unsettled place and start over. Eventually Evil settles in and routes out the Good in that place as well and the process starts over.  For centuries Good has settled more and more of the globe until there is no place left.  America was the last place and now that Evil has successfully infected America there is no place left for Good to escape.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Where

Where does one go from here? The government seems to be in the hands of crooks. The largest heist in history is being perpetrated upon the peoples of the world as trillions of currency are being digitized and transferred to their cronies at the expense of the common man's labor. We, our children, and children's children are being relegated into slavery because the cost of government and daily sustenance is escalating so rapidly that we will not be able to earn our fiscal freedom. Our very lives will be dictated by the technocrats installed by the criminal elite under the guise of fiscal responsibility and social justice. Our daily existence will be regulated and controlled to an even greater extent because everyone will be a ward of the state and all actions must be controlled so that no one individual exceeds their allocation of good and services.The useful idiots and the silent majority will subserviently line up and accept the dictates of power and control. The few protesters will be marginalized, tolerated, and dispensed with over time. Each loss of freedom will be lamented only shortly and excused away by the greater good. Incentive will disappear and innovation will be stifled and society will settle into a malaise of selfishness, apathy, and drug induced stupor.

The alternative: Government is wrested from the crooks by an activated electorate and represented by selfless public officials who exercise their collective duty to divest the power from the government and invest it in an educated and selflessly motivated public. The world's needy and less fortunate are elevated to self-sufficiency and accounted for through dedicated efforts and charitable actions by a society that realizes the worth of the individual and the, importance of sacrifice, and the power of cooperation. Our citizen's are civically motivated,socially responsible, personally productive, and individually accountable  Our children grow up understanding the importance of obedience to a few newly founded rational principles based on personal responsibility, accountability, and integrity. We become stewards of the earth using what is necessary, wasting nothing, replenishing what we can and striving to minimize the impact and maximize the benefit.

In reality western man is at a precipice. Can he discipline himself and forgo the greed and selfishness that is characterizing his worldly activities or will his society become extinct as it dissolves into chaos and anarchy leading to the takeover by socialism and fundamentalism?

The socialists believe that enterprise is not essential to civil success and the capitalists aren't willing to exercise self-discipline on enterprise. Both are wrong.  The inequities of this place and time can only be remedied by enterprising individuals advancing the situation while exercising care and consideration for their fellow beings.

It is not possible to impose morals or enforce willing obedience.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Thanksgiving

As the last morsel of turkey passed my lips I reflected on how it was possible.  First someone had to establish a farm grow  the turkey. Then the bird is shipped to a meat processing plant, killed, the feathers and innerds removed without my involvement. The meat is shipped to the market and the customer buys it.  A cook prepares and cooks it.  It is served at dinner and the leftovers are refigerated for comsumption later on.  I did nothing to deserve the bird.  I didn't produce the feed for it to eat, construct the road on which it was  shipped to market, manage the supermarket where it will be sold, generate the electricity by which it is cooked and refigerated.  All I did was show up when called to dinner.  I didn't build the house where we ate dinner, manufacture the plates and utinsils it was served on and consumed by.  I didn't do much of anything accept consider how many blessings it takes for me to celebrate thanksgiving day at home with my loved one in the freest nation on earth.  Thanks to everyone who make it possible.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Existence

 Our challenge is to figure out how we came into existence without something or somewhere preexisting our existence.

 Can existence come from nothing or does it have to occur within something or is there no possibility for nothing because there has to be a place for something to exit.

  If there is no place for nothing then where did something come from.  Something else? But were back to the beginning.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Purpose

There is nothing mortal man can do in this universe that has any meaning at all.  Our very existence is so miniscule and over shadowed by the immensity of space and time that anything we think or do is inconsequential, inadequate, and immaterial.

Yet we exist. We act, we think, we dream and then we die. It seems that our temporal purpose is to seek happiness until we die.  Is there life after death? Can our souls exist in another realm? If so then does this life have anything to do with this existence? Does it provide us a second and third purpose? Would those purposes be to server others and learn from that service?

Serving others can bring happiness to the individual but is it insufficient in a temporal world where survival of the fittest is an axiom and where bad things can happen to good people. Science in its finite wisdom denies anything supernatural and pretends that their belief in the substance of things hoped for is somehow evidenced by things not seen or proven.  So it is not temporal knowledge that we should seek even though our continued well being is predicated upon it.


Religion accepts things supernatural and faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Are we then purposeless or do we have a purpose that exceeds even the vastness of space and the timelessness of eternity but only after we become spiritual beings.  Therefore our purpose here on earth is to seek attributes of spirituality not temporal happiness. Our purpose is to be spiritual in our actions toward others as we serve them and become stewards of the elements that surround us.

Those actions are revealed in the New Testament and Book of Mormon. It is our opportunity to read, study, ponder, pray and act upon our understanding of the scriptures gaining enlightenment through which we can ascend to a higher state of awareness eventually achieving exaltation and achieving our intended purpose.  Assuming that we were created by God and not evolved, as science hypothesizes, which is in conflict with the state of entropy which surrounds us.  We then have one purpose and that is to  practice true religion which is to server others and seek spirituality in our temporal endeavors practicing truthfulness, honesty, integrity, faith, hope, and charity.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

bubbles

Watching bubbles appear in a glass of water being heated is analogous to space mutating into substance in reality. Space can not be anything because once it is something it has to be surrounded by something else.  Thats why bubbles are our term for something not water.  Where does the water end and the bubble begin. What is inside of a bubble and when does the outside of the bubble become the inside of the bubble.  In the world of the very small eventually you have to get where the inside and the outside are the same thing.  In the world of the big; bubbles are something other  than the substance they are in air, oxygen, nitrogen... but in the world of the very small, existence is in the realm of something and nothing.  When does nothing become something? How does nothing become something? When it becomes something what surrounds it, nothing?  Is there ever a time when nothing exists? Is there ever a place when something exists without something else existing to surround it?  So how do we come into existence? If you break us down eventually you have nothing left to define as us but we still exist, assuming that we were not killed in the process of breaking down.

Cosmos: Chance, Creation, or Design

The recent nova program missed the point again with the fabric of the cosmos.  They fail to apply logic and instead come up with incredible explanations for simple things.

Their dark matter is really space and our so called existence is simply vibrations of that space which result in the physical universe.  People move about and stars shine because of the vibrations of space. The vibrations are simply the fluctuations of energy within a sphere of influence which results in all particles large or small.
We don't actually move but the vibrations are relocatable like waves of water, sound or electricity. The adjacent space becomes excited in a replica of the previous space and is perceived as movement when it is actually trans-location of the energy or actually the vibration of space.

What makes things big or small and shine.  It is descret vibrations like difference between treble and base.  Is it one single type of vibration or an infinite range of vibrations all existing simultaneously and in concert with one another.

The organization of space into physical entities is the question. How does that happen.  What dictates form, function, and duration.  In a universe where entropy is the climatic state how does order come about in the first place.  Can it be left up to chance? That seems insufficient to account for the complexity and diversity that exists. Can it be the powers of a God? That seems to be too supernatural to accept.  Who provides the design and what powers it?  Is it the collective "force" of our intelligences which seems to be supernatural in affect but natural in consequence.  So is religion a manifestation of our collective consciousness empowering individuals to write and act accordingly. Is science the effort of the individual to seek knowledge? Is the sum of all things the physical manifestation of the universe, its people, its place, and time tempered by fallacy and foible?

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Broken Windshield

     Whack, the sound caused we to flinch and I quickly looked to the left side of the windshield to see where the sound came from.  Almost immediately I see the large star of cracks right at the edge of my windshield.
     I was on my way home from a trip to Idaho. 300 miles down, three days there and another hour on the return trip to be in perfect position for a rock to come flying out of the tire of tractor trailer hauling hay and hit the very edge of my window.  A moment here or there, a mile per hour faster or slower, an inch right from where I was and my window is unbroken.
    My morning had been spent getting ready. I stopped to visit with my wife and say goodbye to her.  We spent some time visiting with one of our old friends at the university, refused some birthday cake, and I got on the road.  Along the way I drove with the cruse control on and off. I stopped to take several pictures. I even spent some time slowly cruising the edge of the highway anticipating a picture spot of the Teton mountains.  My van is somewhat underpowered so it takes some of the steep grades more slowly than a car. I am not consistently at the speed limit.  The steering and my concentration in not very precise so I use up most of my highway lane to heard the car down the road.
   Given all of those variables what are the odds that a rock will come flying out of a truck tire that has been driving on the same road, only in the opposite direction, for who knows how long and hit my windshield at exactly the left most edge with sufficient force to seriously crack my windshield?
      I read an article the other day that there were a routine number of accidents where a person was crushed by a car in a very peculiar fashion every year and no matter what variables were altered the same number of accidents with the same peculiar characteristics still occurred.
     So is it a coincidence and the odds are simply high enough that a broken windshield is part of the scenario or is it fate and my windshield was the one of those windows that needed to be broken to satisfy it?

Debt

Debt is the forfeiture of the future. Buying something that will be paid for by future work means that the when the future arrives you can't choose to do something else, you forfeit the alternative. You can't spend the money earned on any thing else.  You have no choice but to work to pay off the debt. The payment of interest always accompanies debt. The cost in the future is some percent greater than the original price of the item bought on time. So debt really is servitude. You contract your ability to work for an agreed upon amount of time plus the additional time to pay for the cost of the interest of borrowing someone else's money.

Debt is never good but the cost of debt can be considered acceptable, by the individual, when the car or home, that is purchased with credit, can be driven or occupied while paying for it. The price of servitude is considered agreeable.

Debt should never be agreeable when it requires the servitude of another to pay for it. So why do elected legislators think that it is acceptable to enslave their constituencies?  Because it is not only their money that they are spending. It is not only their time they are committing. It is not only their future that they are sacrificing.

Debt become debilitating when we don't hold our elected officials accountable. When we don't recognize the cost of government debt as something that affects us. When we don't realize that our futures and our children's futures are being forfeited.  When we unthinkingly demand from our government and accept services that requires debt to pay for.

Debt and the accompanying interest enslaves the borrower whether it is the individual or the citizen.  The problem is when the borrower irresponsibly enslaves the next generation and a crime is committed when the third or fourth generation is included.  The generations before me enslaved themselves and affected me.  It is my generation that has not only enslaved our children but apparently have enslaved multiple generations into the future. Only time will tell how many that will be.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Shoulders of Giants

The idea that we stand on the shoulders of giants has always impressed me but it never completely satisfied me as an adequate statement of our conditions.  We do stand on the shoulders of those giants in our past who have implored us to do better, invented something that benefited us, added value to existing things, or incited us to action that brought about positive change.

We also stand on the bones of those who came before.  The soldier that gained and protected our freedoms. The farmer that cleared the land. The contractors that installed the infrastructure. The jobs that were created and lost in the process of business. The structures built, inhabited, and re-inhabited. The business started, the investments made and lost to be purchased by someone else. And the taxes on our labors that have been imposed.

Everyone of us throughout existence stand on the shoulders of giants and the bones of those who came before.

History

History doesn't repeat itself. The Future patterns its self after history. Our ignorance of history does not condemn us to repeat it but it disables our sensibilities to similar circumstances, telltale behaviors, and probable outcomes. Unfortunately, the Future is never satisfied with 'similar' but always wants to exceed and to increase its size and scope.  Our inabilities to learn from our mistakes seems more likely the culprit. Our unwillingness to accept responsibility for our actions appears to be the cause.  Our natural tendencies to dismiss the obvious becomes the catalyst. And the fact that good and bad are eternal companions makes me wonder about the the possibilities of affecting a change in the routine.

Pandora's box is never re-closed, each drop of ink changes the water and it cannot be removed.  In retrospect, is the advancement of society dependent upon or delayed by the replaying of historical events. Does the welfare of mankind benefit or suffer from its own inabilities? Is it the unwillingness of the individual or the anonymity of the group to blame? Can we alter our tendencies in the light of the past. And is it our perspective or our preferences that determine good from bad.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Usery

Would the opportunities lost be greater than the calamity experienced if the charging of interest was made unlawful?  The problem is that man's greedy and envious nature has resulted in the creation of usury and the occurrence of fraud.   The poor are not willing to save for the future and the rich are not willing to risk their money without return. The delay of gratification minimizes frivolous buying and the loss of excessive consumption. That in turn inhibits future production, stiffles hiring, reduces employment opportunities and affects the individuals abilities to buy things and the entrepreneur's opportunity to make things.

Historically, the lack of technology limited the alternatives. Contemporally, capitalism is empowered by expansion and growth. Would living within our means affect growth adversely or cause an unpredictable outcome compelled by technological innovation and entrepreneurship. Would the affect be negative or positive?  I believe positive because when much is expected the average person complains while the agents of change are motivated.

Can credit be replaced by discipline?  Only if man's selfish nature is overcome by stewardship. Does pride make it impossible for the individual to acquiesce and sacrifice? For the most part yes. Does survival make it possible for the individual to acquiesce and sacrifice? For the most part yes.


Politicians revisited

Quite some time ago I came to the conclusion that most if not all democrat and too many republican legislators are clowns, con-artists, even crooks.  Today I have to amend that to include all democrats are and too many republicans are liars, cheats and scoundrels.  In addition there are too many democrats that are just plain stupid elected by gerrymandered idiots.  There are too many republicans in name only who do not uphold the constitution and adequately represent their constituents.

All one has to do is read or watch the news to see the clowns, be disheartened by the con-artistry, and lament the dire economic situation promulgated by the crooks.  It is amazing that too much of the public media has abandoned it role as reporters, watch dogs, and purveyors of the truth to become editorialists and complicit in obfuscation of the evidence.

This country has been pushed over the brink of insolvency by its legislators and a willing, ignorant, and apathetic populous.  The only positive aspects of this development is that the the corruption is being exposed, the poulous is awakening, and the exceptionalism of America and its good people are what will help it survive this period of neglect, deception, and greed.

Monday, October 17, 2011

World Order





Notions

While listening to the news reports about Greece's labor unions striking, in response to the cuts in funding because of the austerity requirements, I wondered where the notion began that bailout money was free money.  Money that was simply available for the asking. Money that could be used to fund business as usual with no strings attached.  That all you really needed to do is demand or strike for more.  It seems to me that it all began with the advent of the Federal Reserve Bank and its eventual practice of routinely expanding the money supply.  A practice not based on supply but demand. Not founded on income but expectation. A practice of inflating, actually devaluing the currency.  That way a government had more physical money to exchange for good and services it wanted to buy.  The vendors, for a while were fooled into thinking they had actually been adequately paid.  They in turn paid there labor cost with devalued money etc. The market eventually figures this out and inflates the cost of it good and services. The laborer strikes and gets more money. The government gets more taxes.  The legislators want to buy more goodwill so the Federal Reserve Bank is encouraged to print more money.  Eventually the funny money exceeds the gross domestic product and the system collapses.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Pride

One must be careful not to ascend inadvertantly out of the valley of humility onto the precipice of pride. That is why it can be said that pride goeth before the fall.

Entropy

The breakdown of order is equally apparent in the moronification of the human species.  With each succeeding generation it is apparent the we are getting dumb and dummer.  I am amazed at the intelligence of our ancestors.  They invented science, philosophy, and language.  We stand on the shoulder of giants and enjoy the splendors and benefits of this modern day world because of the intelligence of our forefathers.

It is painful to see, watch and hear the countless morons that pass as intelligent people today.  It is worrisome to consider our potentially bright future collapsing into chaos because there are so many more idiots than there are thoughtful, respectful, ambitious, and self-mastering citizens of society.

Public Speaking

In epic story movies the lead character gave a stirring speech to the gallant souls gather on the battle field.  As a viewing audience we hear the speech but I always wondered how the troops in the back and along the front lines could possibly hear.  In the Book of Mormon a king Benjamin give a speech to his subjects from a tall tower but that doesn't solve the distance or wind problems.

Videos of the so called Occupy demonstrations showed the audience repeating each sentence of the speaker and the people behind them repeating what they heard and so on until the repetitions could no longer be heard on the video.

It donned on me that by doing that the entire audience would hear the speech and it serves the purpose of engaging the audience and helping them to remember what was said.

It might be impressive to hear a whole army of people reciting the motivational words of the general as like a wave in a pond it ripples to the farthest regions.  Unlike the whispered message which gets garbled  in the process.

I can imagine that whole sentences could be repeated by our ancestoral audience members as opposed to three word segments of today's college educated morons.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Economics

If we live in harmony with nature as the indigenous tribes have throughout history then we will experience feast and famine. Many of our ancestors chose the path of consumption which has led us on a path of abundance, conflict, depletion, and pollution.

Modern society is based on consumption but is faced with economic turmoil because the resources are inequitably dispersed allowing for profiteering as well as being depleted potentially leading to conflict.

It is possible for humans to live in balance with each other? Will we equitably and honestly distribute the sustainable resources? We we be good stewards of the planet as we consume the nonrenewable resources as we diligently search for renewable alternatives?

I think the answer is yes because crises have a way of ordering the environment. Conflict and pollution will take place but eventually the remaining constituents miniscule or vast will find order imposed.

Monday, September 12, 2011

2nd letter

Please, Please, do not vote for the proposed jobs bill.  It is a waste of my grandchildren's future.  Please stop the madness.  We have gotten ourselves into this mess and we must be the ones to pay the price and suffer the consequences.

I understand there will be hell to pay, selfish people rioting in the street, and general deterioration of our standard of living but we should have stopped this idiocy in the 70's, it should have never been started in the 40's and it will only lead to anarchy in the 21 century. Please be responsible and stop this.

We have to cut our budgets and eliminate unjustified expenses and when we will not put up with less then we will have to agree to pay more for the services we demand.

B.O.

Just because B.O. says it, doesn't make it true. " Things would have been worse" had the money not be printed, the future taxes encumbered, and previous consequences ignored. "Things will only be better" if I print more money, bankrupt our great-great grandchildren's future so the we don't experience any unpleasant moments, so we can continue to pay people not to work, so we can continue to buy what we can't afford, so we can be as irresponsible as we can possibly be.

In one single generation we have gone from the best to the worst, from the most selfless to the most selfish, from responsible to irresponsible, and from decent human beings to despicable.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Consumption

Existence is based on consumption. Food, water, air etc. Conflict and economy are outgrowths of consumption. You have something that I want so I either take it from you or trade something that I have for something that you want. Abundance, of anything valuable, attracts consumers. Societal rules of behavior have evolved to reduce conflict and promote cooperation. Cooperation produces abudances, economies, and wellbeing. Human nature aspires to wellbeing and unfortunately excess. Eventually prosperity leads to inequities and conflict. Growth, expansion, development, and consumption distracts us from those inequities because of its inherent promise of wellbeing. Eventually the resources run out, surpluses turn into scarcity, and promises become failed dreams.

Given the economic and social circumstances of our world is it possible to ascribe to the future a behavior where consumption is relative to the resources available and where human nature is mastered by one's self? Is it within the purview of society to facilitate the individual's wellbeing or simply prescribe and enforce the deviant's punishments?  I think not.  The religious have tried to constrain and the godless have tried to restrain to no purposeful outcome. It seems to be the nature of a few to advance the cause of the many but as the many become too-many and as the insufficient becomes scarcity then what can one person, one society, one agency, one government do?

Thursday, September 1, 2011

The Big Horn mountian in Wyoming are composed of sedimentary and metamporhic layers of rocks 10,000 feet above sea level.  Where did all of the water and soil which was above them go, maybe to the tune of many thousands of feet.  Down stream you say. How when this was originally down did this become up?  Plate tectonics you say.  What causes the north ameican plates, 30 miles thick, to shift resulting in the pacific plate to slide under affecting  the crust over 1000 miles away causing  it to tip up and drain a sea of water and eventually erode thousand of square miles of soil to the ocean?  The rotation of the earth, your say and the molten core the mantle floats on, assuming that theory is accurate, causes the earth to slide and shift around, some plates moving east and west, and remakrably, north and south.  Most interesting .  What would cause the plates to over-ride one another.  Well it is the spreading of the ocean floor in the Atlantic, five or six thousand miles away. More interesting.  What causes the spreading.  The potursion of the magma from cracks in the mantle that come to the surface. Why would that happen?  The natural event of hot things rising which then allows for cold things to settle like a boiling pot of water. Unlike water a boiling pan of gravey burns because the ingredients are too thick to move effectively which causes one to wonder about 30 miles of rock.  Assumig that any of my charactizations are accurate then it seems to me a different mechanism is required to explain how the water and earth originally above the layers of sediment which accumulated from somewhere else is to become the big horn mountains of today.  Please see condensing earth earlier post.  India crashing into asia, its northen neighbor, is another story.

Seven Sins and Heavenly virtues

After contemplating the seven sins and the seven virtues for quite some time I have come to the realization that there is and eighth.

Silence and Prayer.  The seven sins and virtues are temporal and I understand how they are conclusive. However, they do not recognize the spiritual even though they are relevant to it.

If we do not communicate with our worldly partners then our lives are wasted. If we fail to communicate with our other-worldly partner then our eternities are wasted.

Maslow's 5 needs

I think a sixth can be added. Spirituality.  Some will argue that it is included in self-actualization but in reality it supersedes it because even after we are actualized there is a feeling of incompleteness and that can only resolved when me is replaced with we or more profoundly you.  When I am so concerned about you that I forget myself I will have superseded self.

Covey's Eighth Habit

I like Stephen Covey's Eighth habit, "find your voice and help other find theirs". It was easier to do when I was employed. Now I an not very successful in even finding mine.  I have been given credit in saving someone's life because I was brought into their life at a very critical time and inspired her to enrich her life and find her voice.  I didn't realize what I was doing just that I see value in those around me and naturally encourage them to make the most of themselves.

At her graduation party she reminded me that five years earlier I told her that if she were still working at the same job, in five years, I was going to fire her. She told me that was what motivated her to go to school and get her life back on track.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Tank tracks

A pendulum metaphor used to describe the political modulation from liberal to conservative needs to be replaced with a tank track metaphor.  If each track pad represents the political philosophy of each incumbent. No mater how conservative it is it still travels left while the tank is moving to the left. At best the conservative tract pad stands still while the reminder of the tank moves left. Then as soon as a liberal government is elected the speed left is even faster.

A tank moving to the left represents our county politics even when we elect a conservative government.

Credit

It is going to be rather interesting, if that is not an understatement, to see if the, vast majority, of the american people can be dissuaded from the uncollateralized credit habit.  Everyone is so used to having more that they can afford for so long that we believe it to be normal.  We drive on roads we can't, honestly, afford.  Eat food, out of season, from places exotic with little realization that every aspect, from the farming to the shipping, was done on credit. Plan to retire, with no savings account, pretending that the credit extend to the previous generation will be extended to us. The light switch is flipped without realizing that the relative low price for doing so is subsidized by the printing of, funny, money in washington. Our skies are clear and the air breathable because of the ability to borrow money and put off what is due tomorrow.  We will gladly buy today what we have fooled ourselves into thinking we will pay for tomorrow. The american taxpayer has been lied to by the self-serving politicians for so long that when when Paul can't continue to pay Peter the spectacle of whose ox gets gored may be much more than interesting.

After the low hanging fruit, like NASA and the military, is plucked from the tree of credit what is next.  When will the social programs that make it possible for American's to not work for their livelihood be eyed by the picker of credit unworthy fruit. When will the rotting, from the inside subsidies, fruit fall naturally under the pickers feet.

Not easily, not soon, and not without a lot of consternation because you see the tree of credit is the most prized tree in this garden of fools.

Monday, August 29, 2011

What?

Is all of this inevitable ? Are we predisposed to arrive at this point in-spite of our potential and individual agency simply because of the group dynamic imposed on us by chance and indecision? Do we prescribe socialism because it is the lesser of the two evils anarchy or totalitarianism? all the while democracy is promoted is it being subverted on purpose? As liberty is practiced are we forfeiting it because of indiscretion? Is freedom taken for granted until it is lost through in-action?  Are we condemned to mediocrity because we will not discipline ourselves? Is this country great because we stand on the shoulder's of giants or the bones of our progenitors? If we choose not to be stewards is the future of the earth pollution and consumption. If we chose not govern ourselves will only a few end up governing us all? Will the next generation care or will their lack of education facilitate the inevitable.

Nanny state

The US has become a nanny state. RIP rugged individualism. Big government's response this past weekend in the forced evacuation of the east coast residents will lead to, my guess, the vindictive prosecution of the those that ignored the orders. This heralds the demise of the american spirit.  Couple that with the political outcomes of a socialist regime, the complicity,  apathy, and ineptitude's of the american people to make a difference and the transition is complete as of this week end's hurricane.  There is no place left to escape, no where absolute corruption has not been achieved, and no individual activity which can not be prosecuted. The End.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Politics, Human nature

A new report about the growing middle class in Gaza a city under the control of Hamas, a political entity created by hyper-religious, culturally regressive, and impoverished economic conditions in the middle east, describes what criticisms are being levied against them because they are breaking out of the omnipresent poverty.

Evidence of capitalism as being the motivation and free enterprise being the force which is causing the changes was reported.  At the same time the report illustrates how the leadership which came to power because of the circumstances are wanton to keep the status quo as a means of remaining in power.

This unfortunately this the lamentable condition of man. No matter which force takes leadership cultural, economic, or religious the powerful are not inclined to relinquish their position in spite of the evidence that there is a more excellent way.

As a consequence the average person is subject to the whims of man and nature.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Mismanagement & malfeasance

Google, union mismanagement and only one story, and it is a blog critical of the unions, shows up. That is amazing to me. Unions are underfunded in some instances by less than 60%.  Which means that almost half of the money paid in dues have been mismanaged. That much incompetence is only exceeded by the federal government.

The problem with collecting money and power, especially in large amounts, is that it attracts criminals, crooks, and con artists.  The only real solution is to divest power and spread the money out.  The probability of mismanagement is still great, maybe even greater but the impact is local rather than global.

How does one quantify the amount of harm. The average person swindled out of their money by local crooks or the average person's money confiscated by the government for redistribution less administration costs.  The local crook can only steal what you have. Our government confiscates our earnings plus penalty.  The local con artist has to sleep and it does take time to turn the con. Our government is now technologically advanced and can confiscate our money around the clock and in advance of our earning it.

The resident criminals can devastate an individual's life, our government has diminished the lives of this country's great grandchildren.  It might be acceptable if it were an either or situation. But it's not. Both miscreants are aggressively pursing what little money we have left.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Nauvoo Pagent

Marie and I spent two weeks as a volunteer at the Nauvoo Pagent in Nauvoo, Illinois.  Marie worked in the administration office and I served as security and handyman.  We attended the Pagent almost every night for two weeks and was spiritually edified by it.  We helped with the associated, Country Fair, events and became aquatinted with many excellent latter day saints. It is truly an amazing experience.

Acts 15-16 Lesson 31 Gospel Doctrine

Paul's journeys back to the cities and the peoples he visited and converted appears to me to be an example of one of Stephen Covey's seven habits  "sharpening our saw". What Paul found was varying degrees of apostasy, spiritual degradation, and inactivity. By going back he was able to positively affect and influence the people and help them to follow the teachings of Christ.  If we revisit the principles of the gospel that are present in our lives to make sure that we are actively and correctly following them we will be sharpening our saws and become better latter day followers of Christ.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Letter to my congressman

Thank you for responding to my email. I was pleasantly surprised, but I am disheartened by your response.  You are right, government is the problem, but it is not the solution.  Two trillion over 10 years is simply a miniscule reduction in the growth of government. Privatization of government services must become the focus and de-funding of nonessential enterprises the method. Spending controls and fraud prevention, as in any government program, is an oxymoron. A balanced budget amendment is too easily circumvented and hardly worth the paper it is written on (i.e. congress's and the president's willingness to disregard the constitution).

What I wanted to hear was how your efforts were going to develop support for divesting the government of unaffordable departments and programs; what your efforts were for reviewing and reducing the government regulations that are destroying private enterprise; and how you are actively engaged in an effort to term-limit all politicians and sunset all legislation with a 2/3 vote for reinstatement of both the politician and legislation.  

This country is bankrupt in money and, unfortunately, in leadership. I was hoping the Wyoming delegation would be outside of the norm and not let business as usual or the too often used mantra "you don't understand the political process" be the justification for continuing the erosion of liberty, the destruction of freedom, and the replacement of the capitalistic system with a socialist one.

Instead of the Ad council being used to fund antagonistic and counter cultural announcements, it should be used to inform the populace of civic duties and financial responsibilities. If the money is to be spent at all, it should be used to raise our standards of behavior not lower them.

Our country is being lost because too many of its politicians are too often unwilling to make the tough decisions and because too many of its politicans are anxious to vote for the expedient measure rather than deliberate the long-term consequences. 

Please allow me to encourage you to do the right thing for the majority of the people rather than sacrifice the many for the few. I don't believe anything can be done well by the broad brush of the federal government. I do believe that we can restore America but only through the collective agency and work of the people at the individual, community, and county level.  The states should be willing to cooperate rather than bicker and feud. The federal responsibility should not be at the local or especially the private level.

Individual income taxes should be replaced with a consumption tax which is collected by the states and each state would then pay its federal assessment to fund the federal budget which then is based not on the projected income, but on the actual receipts and zero-based budgeting.

Please allow me to encourage you to sponsor legislation which promotes America's abundant resource development and makes it possible for manufacturing to return to our soil and for our independent farmers and small business people to succeed.

Divestiture rather than collectivization of business; individual accountability rather than social classification of our citizens; responsible development as opposed to sequestration of our resources; and shared risk with consequential litigation limiting the awards to context specific criteria. Pay the right amount for the actual damages.

Please allow me to encourage you to defend the conservative point of view and to actively pursue the practical legislation which promotes it.

Thank you for your commitment to the citizens of Wyoming and for your time on our behalf.


Tuesday, June 28, 2011

angry birds revisited

Today's conventional wisdom is that we can launch an idea toward a perceived problem or futuristic outlook and think that it is relevant.  For example, I read a recent article about the demise of the Dollar as the reserve currency.  In 25 years...  That is like loading an idea up in a sling shot and launching it toward a perceived situation and expecting that at the end of the journey the idea will be unaffected by time and distance and that the structure has somehow not changed.

Everything changes and the simple fact of addressing it causes changes.  Instead of pontificating about the outcome which is worthless it would be much better to put forward a strategy toward some desirable end.

For example the world needs a reserve currency and that currency needs to be as stable as it can be.  Stability comes from discipline which is achieved through responsibility.  A second aspect is that the reserve currency status is not delegated but earned. It is achieved by being the predominant economy.  Economic vitality presumes risk and risk is associated with instability. Instability can only be countered by integrity and responsibility.

Integrity can be taught, modeled and promoted. Responsibility can be monitored and measured. It is the standards of responsibility that must be discussed. It is the duty of the purveyors of conventional wisdom to maintain the standards of responsibility.

Angry Bird Mentality

The recent smart phone game to go viral is called "Angry Birds".  Little did the authors and developers know but they actually created a metaphor for our current mentality.  In angry birds a structure exist which houses some green pigs that have supposedly stolen the birds eggs.  Angry birds are then sling shot toward the structure with the intent of destroying the structure and killing the pigs resulting in a fictitious score and utter destruction of the structure, the pigs, and the birds.

The current mentality is that capitalism, the green pigs, have stolen the riches of the world, constructed an edifice unto themselves and therefore must be destroyed by catapulting constituent groups of angry citizens into the structure to break down the environmentally damaging structure and destroy the capitalists within while accumulating points which presumably means that the person shooting the birds can now post his name as score leader.

The metaphor doesn't stop there.  Once the destruction is complete, the game will reset or advances to the next level epitomizing the current mentality which assumes that life is a game and that it will reset itself with no lasting damage.  Society can be destroyed, the pigs of the world vanquished and all will be well at the next level.  Only it is the same scenario with more pigs, bigger structures, improved defenses which proves more difficult to destroy.

I have a suggestion to improve the metaphor and that would be to eventually turn each pig red and house them in an practically indestructible grass shack adjacent to the diminishing capitalist structures. Eventually all of the pigs are turned red, the capitalists no longer want to steal the wealth or build environmentally destructive structures, the world is at peace and the birds are no longer angry and the game comes to an end. RIP

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Self-absorbed

It has occurred to me that the political climate, we find ourselves in today, was inevitable. The standards of good and right are always contested by the proponents of selfishness and laziness.  The experience and wisdom of sacrifice and hard work by the ambitious are wasted on the philosophies advocated by the self-absorbed. The willingness of the meek will always be met by the greed of the malcontent.   And the apathy of the many contributes to the strength of minority.

Consequently we find too many of the future generation: increasingly ignorant of their history; illiterate, stupid, and uninformed; deeply in debt and lacking the resolve and education to do what is necessary to make things better.

The world doesn't have to be plundered or wasted and the people don't have to be starved or abused but the  greedy and powerful won't exercise self-restraint and the poor and powerless won't exercise self-control.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Metamorphic layer

Either I don't understand the metamorphic process or the process is different than explained.  How does a layer of metamorphic rock exist between two layers of sedimentary deposits?

I suppose that the layer is lime stone which is a precepitate while the upper and lower sedimentary layers are erosion deposits. Which could mean that the lime was deposited while the world was dry or cold and the ocean was very stable and possibly very deep resulting in the hard lens.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Conservative Libertarian

Which means that I believe in a society setting minimum rules of behavior and enforcing them with a limited government, paying for it by fees and fines.  Everything has a value and the consequences of infringing upon the liberty of others will require restitution and resolve.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Current Events

May 3, 2011 One has to wonder where all of this is headed. My initial feels are that we are in for some really bad times, economic, political, social, and even religious. However, I am impressed by the history of this country and the resiliency of people. There are a quite a few who think someone should take care of them. there are some who will try to profit at the expense of others and the vast majority will do what is necessary to work it out. It is those people that constantly outwit the pundits and cause the outcome to be different than the conventional wisdom proponents suggest.

I am inclined to think that there are some signs of positive things happening which will rescue this country from those who wish to destroy it. The question is, will we learn a lesson from the up coming economic meltdown and start to live within our means or will we, as they say 'kick the can down the road'.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Smartest guy in the room

Bernanke's failure is rooted in his belief that WWII was a model for America's recovery strategy.  Spend money!  He failed to understand that America circa 21 century is not a developing nation but a fat and sassy one. He failed to recognize that industrial America was poised to produce all of the necessities for a generation of people ready willing and able to build it themselves and pay for it with credit.  Today's american, even the so-called poor have too much of what we don't really need so cutting back is not a problem and, for many, paying their bills makes more sense. He failed to recognize that manufacturing of the staple goods have gone over seas and every purchase at Walmart sends the money to china. His belief that opportunity chases money and if there is a surplus of money the innovators will rescue the day when in fact 'need' is the mother of invention and surplus cash leads to surplus laziness.  He forgot that america of old had few regulations and abundant resources waiting to be developed as opposed to an over regulated, uncertain business environment, with all of the resources placed off limits to development by the environmentalist wack-os. His biggest failure was to let the socialist's powermongers give the money to the Walmart shoppers and siphon it off for welfare and union saving rather than use the money to motivate 'employee hiring' enterprises that are viable and not simply pipe dreams.

The whole premise that the economic system would collapse and that everything as we know it would cease to exist indicated his basic failure of not really recognizing the potential of America and Americans, it  epitomizes the attitude of the so called elite, the smartest in the room mentality.

Gravity

Gravity is the evidence of space pushing on or against matter as it travels through it.  For example, you feel your back press into the seat of the car when it is accelerating.  The sensation is gravitational but the phenomena is resistance.

Any object that is not firmly attached or at rest on a supporting object will be pushed by space giving one the impression that the apple is falling, the ball rolling, or the water is running. The push or resistance is the aggregate motion of the cosmos expanding, the galaxy flying and rotating, the solar system advancing, and as the planets orbits and spins. 

The paradigm shift is to conclude that space is in fact the unifying force in the cosmos and everything else is acted upon by it.  Space is ubiquitous and omnipresent.  The so called dark matter is the antithesis of space and in conjunction with space composes all matter.  Dark matter is a bubble in space and matter is the aggregation of bubbles. The bubbles are precipitated by vibrations easily aggregated or may exist in clumps which translates into physical matter.  As the matter travels through space the sensation of gravity is encountered.

i.e. gravity doesn't really exist it only seems as if it does.

String theory should actually be bubble theory.  Strings are 2D images of bubbles.

This post was motivated by Erik Verlinde's post in Big Think August 2010, I have long held the belief that gravity doesn't really exist, but didn't have the credibility to suggest it.  Finally someone that does, did.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Liberal elite

The liberal elite prefer to consider themselves as superior thinkers, more compassionate humans, and more capable individuals and yet their thoughts, actions and behaviors are juvenile.  They do not think about the consequences of there actions, they do not consider the adverse affects of their compassion, they do not consider the negative impacts of their behaviors as if their development were arrested at a very early age.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

One look

Just watched a video of a muslim woman holding her own against a muslim cleric or whatever, they are called, who was condemning her for being on a TV show.  He insisted that she was a disgrace to her country and religion. She justified it by explaining that it was the only income for her family and how honorable her behavior and dress was.

He told her that no man was to look at her twice and she told him submit himself for punishment.

I understand the principles being applied by the cleric and that there is a probability of a sin by a man if a woman allows herself to be part of it.  I have told one of my nieces that same thing.  I am not sure what she understood but  I told her my first thought about how she was dressed was my fault. My second thought about how she was dressed was hers.

The muslim woman's final response to the cleric when he accused her of being in violation of the teaching of Mohammed was to rebuke the actions of Muslim clerics in their religion who are molesting and raping children in the mosques.

I understand and support correct principles, I abhor the hypocrisy, and I fear for her well-being.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Condensing/ Consolidating Planet Earth

Plate tectonics have never really satisfied me as being a very good theory.  I think a better theory is a condensing earth.  As the earth cools and its interior escapes to the exterior there is a transitioning of the planet from one state to another.  Like a ballon as it looses air the perimeter changes diameter and its surface consolidates. Obviously the earth is not a simple ballon and it crust is miles thick so the resulting geologic features and interfaces are much more complicated but I can not phathom how a single mega mass can distriubte itself around the globe.  It is much easier for me to believe that as the planet cooled and its surface folded and conslidated its interior flowed to the exterior it did so in a non-homonogus fashion which allows for the current configuration. 

The geologic similarities across the oceans and the discovery of common fossils is currently unexplainable by my notion and there is numerous scientific data that I am unfamiliar with which may alter my thinking but for right now I like considering the condensing theory.

The theory of the very large and the very small

String theory seems to presume that something is vibrating.  I prefere to think that "something" is space and   the so called dark matter which is, perhaps, clumpy and randomly traveling through it like a stone through water or air.  Thus the collision or interaction of the the two matters result in the manifestation of the universe.

This allows for all of the currently discovered natural laws of motion and energy to be exhibited through the known univese.  It allows for all of the unknown, unseen, and unrecognized forces as well.

I have no proof but the very concept of a string begs the conclusion of the string being composed of something else which then requires the explination of what that is.

The physical universe based on the notion of space and dark mater, which are the simplest components of the universe and don't actually require an explination because neither can be seen or measured, is the evidence of their existence. All things vibrate which leads me to the conclusion that the smallest entities are at work and the outcome is both the very large and the very small.