tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84060787354823693252024-03-08T19:31:59.558-05:00Throwback PartyPresidential campaign blog for 2012Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-40981775074673766382008-09-05T14:20:00.002-05:002008-09-05T14:39:55.451-05:00I have to shareHello all,<br /><br />So i watched the Democratic and Republican conventions the past 2 weeks, and I must say that the mainstream media missed it all this time. How exciting was it this week to watch the Republican geriatrics meeting? And although the Democratic meeting event was more exciting, they still couldn't dance. That's what most of my friends got out of the mainstream media coverage the past two weeks. I can't stand it. I have been watching so many free speech shows (I am lucky enough to get the FreeSpeech TV channel) and reading so many indy reporter articles of what's happening outside of the conventions. If the media actually covered those happenings... wow... what ratings they would have gotten then. No mention of the ridiculous arrests made. No mention of the Ron Paul convention which was a huge success. Oh, wait, they did talk about Palin. A relative newcomer to the arena and as such, I don't have much against her. Maybe it's for a different reason altogether that I want to believe her, but the fact of the matter is that she has aligned herself with McCain (who for some reason could lift his damaged arms enough to do the "Politicians point and wave" to the empty upper deck seats of the stadium they were at). That alone is reason not to trust a pretty face. I am straying...<br /><br />So, here below is an example of what I've been reading about. It is a disgusting sample of what has happened to hundreds of innocent people this week and last. It is a gross representation of what has become of our society and what has happened while we watch our TV's and stay inside our homes out of fear. Here it is:<br /><br /><a title="Permanent Link to Why We Were Falsely Arrested" href="http://www.infowars.com/?p=4329" rel="bookmark"><span style="color:#ffff33;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>Why We Were Falsely Arrested</strong></span> </span></a><br /><a href="http://www.truthout.org/article/why-we-were-falsely-arrested"><span style="color:#ffff33;">Amy Goodman</span></a><span style="color:#ffff33;"> Truthdig September 4, 2008</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ffff33;">St. Paul, Minnesota - Government crackdowns on journalists are a true threat to democracy. As the Republican National Convention meets in St. Paul, Minn., this week, police are systematically targeting journalists. I was arrested with my two colleagues, “Democracy Now!” producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, while reporting on the first day of the RNC. I have been wrongly charged with a misdemeanor. My co-workers, who were simply reporting, may be charged with felony riot.<br />The Democratic and Republican national conventions have become very expensive and protracted acts of political theater, essentially four-day-long advertisements for the major presidential candidates. Outside the fences, they have become major gatherings for grass-roots movements-for people to come, amidst the banners, bunting, flags and confetti, to express the rights enumerated in the Constitution’s First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”<br />Behind all the patriotic hyperbole that accompanies the conventions, and the thousands of journalists and media workers who arrive to cover the staged events, there are serious violations of the basic right of freedom of the press. Here on the streets of St. Paul, the press is free to report on the official proceedings of the RNC, but not to report on the police violence and mass arrests directed at those who have come to petition their government, to protest.<br />It was Labor Day, and there was an anti-war march, with a huge turnout, with local families, students, veterans and people from around the country gathered to oppose the war. The protesters greatly outnumbered the Republican delegates.<br />There was a positive, festive feeling, coupled with a growing anxiety about the course that Hurricane Gustav was taking, and whether New Orleans would be devastated anew. Later in the day, there was a splinter march. The police-clad in full body armor, with helmets, face shields, batons and canisters of pepper spray-charged. They forced marchers, onlookers and working journalists into a nearby parking lot, then surrounded the people and began handcuffing them.<br />Nicole was videotaping. Her tape of her own violent arrest is chilling. Police in riot gear charged her, yelling, “Get down on your face.” You hear her voice, clearly and repeatedly announcing “Press! Press! Where are we supposed to go?” She was trapped between parked cars. The camera drops to the pavement amidst Nicole’s screams of pain. Her face was smashed into the pavement, and she was bleeding from the nose, with the heavy officer with a boot or knee on her back. Another officer was pulling on her leg. Sharif was thrown up against the wall and kicked in the chest, and he was bleeding from his arm.<br />I was at the Xcel Center on the convention floor, interviewing delegates. I had just made it to the Minnesota delegation when I got a call on my cell phone with news that Sharif and Nicole were being bloody arrested, in every sense. Filmmaker Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films and I raced on foot to the scene. Out of breath, we arrived at the parking lot. I went up to the line of riot police and asked to speak to a commanding officer, saying that they had arrested accredited journalists.<br />Within seconds, they grabbed me, pulled me behind the police line and forcibly twisted my arms behind my back and handcuffed me, the rigid plastic cuffs digging into my wrists. I saw Sharif, his arm bloody, his credentials hanging from his neck. I repeated we were accredited journalists, whereupon a Secret Service agent came over and ripped my convention credential from my neck. I was taken to the St. Paul police garage where cages were set up for protesters. I was charged with obstruction of a peace officer. Nicole and Sharif were taken to jail, facing riot charges.<br />The attack on and arrest of me and the “Democracy Now!” producers was not an isolated event. A video group called I-Witness Video was raided two days earlier. Another video documentary group, the Glass Bead Collective, was detained, with its computers and video cameras confiscated. On Wednesday, I-Witness Video was again raided, forced out of its office location. When I asked St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington how reporters are to operate in this atmosphere, he suggested, “By embedding reporters in our mobile field force.”<br />On Monday night, hours after we were arrested, after much public outcry, Nicole, Sharif and I were released. That was our Labor Day. It’s all in a day’s work.</span><br /><br />Well, I think this is gonna have a lot of responses and that we'll be discussing this heatedly for a while. Let me know what you think of the conventions, the mainstream medai, and what happened to these indy reporters.<br /><br />Peace,<br />RichRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-45426297586466195002008-08-10T09:26:00.002-05:002008-08-10T09:58:40.518-05:00Thomas Jefferson<span style="color:#ccffff;">"... God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.... And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;"><br />-Thomas Jefferson<br /><br /></span><span style="color:#ff0000;">Wow. Over 200 years ago. What has happened since then to make us think we're smarter than previous generations? We have public schools, we have the internet to look up anything we want. We have planes and cars with a road infrastructure and airports wherever we want to go so that we can learn hands on and commit to memory. We think we're so much smarter than those who lived in the 1700's. If that were true, we would not be tolerating being taxed like we do, we would not tolerate our liberties being taken away and our constitution being voided. We would not tolerate wars overseas and sacrificing lives for the profit of a few (who do not risk their lives at the same time). We would say "No!" and back it up with force if need be. We would be proactive and do what we can politically to make things right for our towns, our states, our nation. </span><br /></span><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Here is a sample of taxes imposed upon us that we are forced to pay (thanks to voyiatzis @ blogspot)</span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><br /><a href="http://voyiatzis.blogspot.com/2008/01/partial-list-of-taxes-americans-are.html"><span style="color:#ccffff;">A Partial List of Taxes Americans Pay</span></a><span style="color:#ccffff;"> </span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_m67dIa8JJqg/R4lnHDPvn8I/AAAAAAAAAfY/qwJ_Xqh_yKg/s1600-h/2008-01-12_2017.png"></a><span style="color:#ccffff;">Accounts Receivable Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Automobile Registration Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Building Permit Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Capital Gains Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Cigarette Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Corporate Income Tax </span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">CDL License Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Dog License Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Estate Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Federal Unemployment Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Fishing License Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Food License Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Fuel Permit Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Hunting License Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Inheritance Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Inventory Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">IRS Interest Charges (Tax on top of tax)</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">IRS Penalties (Tax on top of tax)</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Liquor Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Local Income Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Luxury Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Marriage License Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Medicare Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Parking Meters</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Property Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Real Estate Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Septic Permit Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Service Charge Taxes</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Social Security Taxes</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Road Usage Tax (Truckers)</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Sales Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Recreational Vehicle Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Toll Booth Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">School Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">State Income Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">State Unemployment Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Telephone Federal Excise Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Telephone Recurring and non-Recurring Charges Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Telephone State and Local Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Telephone Usage Charge Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Toll Bridge Taxes</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Toll Tunnel Taxes</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Traffic Fines</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Trailer Registration Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Utility Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Vehicle License Registration Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Vehicle Sales Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Water-craft Registration Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Well Permit Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Workers Compensation Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Gasoline Tax (42 cents/gallon)</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Federal Income Tax</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Jefferson didn't pay these taxes. Who's smarter now? He ensured he didn't have to pay these taxes. So here's my question to you (and I ask for a why to your answer)...</span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;">Would you rather be alive today or in 1777?</span><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">That's all for now. Let me know what you think and as always, thanks for visiting the site.</span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Peace,</span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Rich</span>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-52956347095933711752008-07-17T18:40:00.003-05:002008-07-17T19:17:10.313-05:00How to stage a protest<span style="color:#ff0000;">Here's an interesting article I found. Unfortunately it was a few days too late. I went to the Revolution March this past weekend in D.C. and it went practically unnoticed. I expected the mainstream media to ignore it, but nobody indy was there that I could tell. It was great to be around thousands of people who believe like I do, but I wish something would've come out of it. </span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Anyway, days later, I find an article that would've helped us all out a lot. It was written shortly after the 2004 Republican National Convention and it addresses the protestors that were there. It's here below, but came originally from</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/001278.php" target="_blank"><span style="color:#ffff00;">http://www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/001278.php</span></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">"March To Irrelevance" is an important article on the protests by Matt Taibbi. Taibbi is one of the Bush admin's fiercest critics, and a sharp brain. As such, his critique of the protest movement is worth listening to. -Naeem</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Excerpt: "There was a time when mass protests were enough to cause Johnson to give up the Oval Office and cause Richard Nixon to spend his nights staring out his window in panic. No more. We have a different media now, different and more sophisticated law enforcement techniques and, most importantly, a different brand of protester. Protests can now be ignored because our media has learned how to dismiss them, because our police know how to contain them, and because our leaders now know that once a protest is peacefully held and concluded, the protesters simply go home and sit on their asses until the next protest or the next election."<br /> A March To Irrelevance By Matt Taibbi, New York Press Posted on September11, 2004, </span><a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/19840/"><span style="color:#ccffff;">http://www.alternet.org/story/19840/</span></a><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;"></span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Hey, you assholes: The `60s are over!</span><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;"></span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">I'm not talking about your white-guy fros, mutton-chops and beads. I'm not talking about your Che t-shirts or that wan, concerned, young Joanie Baez look on the faces of half of your women. I'm not even talking about skinny young potheads carrying wood puppets and joyously dancing in druid circles during a march to protest a bloody war.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">I'm not harping on any of that. I could, but I won't. Because the protests of the last week in New York were more than a silly, off-key exercise in irrelevant chest-puffing. It was a colossal waste of political energy by a group of people with no sense of history, mission or tactics, a group of people so atomized and inured to its own powerlessness that it no longer even considers seeking anything beyond a fleeting helping of that worthless and disgusting media currency known as play.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. I admire young people with political passion, and am enormously heartened by the sheer numbers of people who time after time turn out to protest this idiot president of ours. But at the same time, I think it is time that some responsible person in the progressive movement recognize that we have a serious problem our hands. We are raising a group of people whose only ideas about protest and opposition come from televised images of 40 years ago, when large public demonstrations could shake the foundations of society. There has been no organized effort of any kind to recognize that we now live in a completely different era, operating according to a completely different political dynamic. What worked then not only doesn't work now, it doesn't even make superficial sense now.<br /> Let's just start with a simple, seemingly inconsequential facet of the protests: appearance. If you read the bulletins by United for Peace and Justice ahead of the protests, you knew that the marchers were encouraged to"show their creativity" and dress outlandishly. The marchers complied,turning 7th Ave. into a lake of midriffs, Billabong, bandanas and "BuckFush" t-shirts. There were facial studs and funny hair and man-sandals and papier-mache masks and plenty of chicks in their skivvies all jousting to be the next young Heather Taylor inspiring the next Jimi Hendrix to write the next "Foxy Lady." And the New York Post and Fox were standing on the sidelines greedily recording all of this unbowed individuality for posterity, understanding instinctively that each successive t-shirt and goatee was just more fresh red meat for mean Middle America looking for good news from the front.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">Back in the '60s, dressing crazy and letting your hair down really was a form of defiance. It was a giant, raised middle finger to a ruling class that until that point had insisted on a kind of suffocating, static conformity in all things – in sexual mores, in professional ambitions, in life goals and expectations, and even in dress and speech. Publicly refusing to wear your hair like an Omega house towel boy wasn't just a meaningless gesture then. It was an important step in refusing later to go to war, join the corporate workforce and commit yourself to the long, soulless life of political amnesia and periodic consumer drama that was the inflexible expectation of the time.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">That conformist expectation still exists, and the same corporate class still imposes it. But conformity looks a lot different now than it did then. Outlandish dress is now for sale in a thousand flavors, and absolutely no one is threatened by it: not your parents, not the government, not even our most prehistoric brand of fundamentalist Christianity. The vision of hundreds of thousands of people dressed in every color of the rainbow and marching their diverse selves past Madison Square Garden is, on the contrary, a great relief to the other side – because it means that the opposition is composed of individuals, not a Force In Concert. In the conformist atmosphere of the late '50s and early '60s, the individual was a threat. Like communist Russia, the system then was so weak that it was actually threatened by a single person standing up and saying,"This is bullshit!" That is not the case anymore. This current American juggernaut is the mightiest empire the world has ever seen, and it is absolutely immune to the individual. Short of violent crime, it has assimilated the individual's every conceivable political action into mainstream commercial activity. It fears only one thing: organization.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">That's why the one thing that would have really shaken Middle America last week wasn't "creativity." It was something else: uniforms. Three hundred thousand people banging bongos and dressed like extras in an Oliver Stone movie scares no one in America. But 300,000 people in slacks and white button-down shirts, marching mute and angry in the direction of Your Town, would have instantly necessitated a new cabinet-level domestic security agency. Why? Because 300,000 people who are capable of showing the unity and discipline to dress alike are also capable of doing more than just march. Which is important, because marching, as we have seen in the last few years, has been rendered basically useless. Before the war, Washington and New York saw the largest protests this country has seen since the '60s – and this not only did not stop the war, it didn't even motivate the opposition political party to nominate an anti-war candidate.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">There was a time when mass protests were enough to cause Johnson to give up the Oval Office and cause Richard Nixon to spend his nights staring out his window in panic. No more. We have a different media now, different and more sophisticated law enforcement techniques and, most importantly, a different brand of protester. Protests can now be ignored because our media has learned how to dismiss them, because our police know how to contain them, and because our leaders now know that once a protest is peacefully held and concluded, the protesters simply go home and sit on their asses until the next protest or the next election. They are not going to go home and bomb draft offices, take over campuses, riot in the streets. Instead, although there are many earnest, involved political activists among them, the majority will simply go back to their lives, surf the net and wait for the ballot. Which to our leaders means that, in most cases, if you allow a protest to happen... Nothing happens.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">The people who run this country are not afraid of much when it comes to the population, but there are a few things that do worry them. They are afraid we will stop working, afraid we will stop buying, and afraid we will break things. Interruption of commerce and any rattling of the cage of profit –that is where this system is vulnerable. That means boycotts and strikes at the very least, and these things require vision, discipline and organization. The '60s were an historical anomaly. It was an era when political power could also be an acid party, a felicitous situation in which fun also happened to be a threat. We still listen to that old fun on the radio, we buy it reconstituted in clothing stores, we watch it in countless movies and documentaries. Society has kept the "fun" alive, or at least a dubious facsimile of it.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ccffff;">But no one anywhere is teaching us about how to be a threat. That is something we have to learn all over again for ourselves, from scratch, with new rules. The '60s are gone. The Republican Convention isn't the only party that's over.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">This was written four years ago, and we still haven't learned. How sad.</span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Peace,</span><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Rich</span>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-89414317329505754722008-05-18T15:27:00.002-05:002008-05-18T15:31:16.180-05:00<p><span style="color:#33ffff;">So I'm posting once again… but why? What does it matter? There is nothing we can do about it. People don’t want to hear it anyway. They just want to pretend that it’s absurd to even imagine our country’s leaders out to get us. I watched Endgame this week and must say that I’m getting quite disappointed in the level of intelligence in this “free” land. Part of me says they should get what they deserve. I just wish there was a way for me and my family to not also be affected by the changes that are coming even faster now. Anyway, I really am too upset to respond to Sarah’s question today. Instead I’m gonna start a new thing…<br /></span></p><p><span style="color:#33ffff;">So I stumbled upon a website the other day with some interesting quotes on it from our founding fathers and would like to start sharing and discussing them. It amazes me how we let the Supreme Court take a look at things from the past and see what the true meaning was when all we have to do is research what they meant by their writings! Anyway, here we go…</span><br /></p><p><span style="color:#ffff33;">"Any people that would give up liberty for a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety."</span> <span style="color:#33ff33;">Benjamin Franklin<br /></span> </p><p><br /><span style="color:#33ffff;">How valid is this quote today? It makes me sick to my stomach to know that these people were so much smarter than us as to realize this. How could they know? Maybe because it happened to them too? Maybe history repeats itself? We have to give up our liberties for some security. I have to be tracked every move I make?! I have to be on camera if I go in public?! I have to be scanned and harassed just for the privilege of flying on a plane that I paid for?!!!!! I will have to have a national ID card for my safety? What do I need protection from that I cannot provide myself? There have always been bad guys. Maybe if we stopped taunting how great we are and rubbing everyone else’s noses in it we wouldn’t be hated so much! Have any of our braindead citizens thought about that? We need to get them Iraqis because someone somehow linked them to the people who ALLEGEDLY flew some planes into our buildings? Wake up, damnit!<br /></p></span><p><span style="color:#33ffff;">Too mad to go on…</span></p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-24898589873472069102008-03-22T14:48:00.002-05:002008-03-22T14:54:26.202-05:00Post-flu postingSorry to everybody, hopefully you all have bags an bags of unlimited patience! Two weeks ago, I had all hopes of typing the newest blog, but came down with a major case of the flu! And not just me, but my entire family. It has been a miserable number of weeks. On top of that all, I've been working 12-16 hour days at work. Rough times. I got over the bad part of the flu pretty quickly, but I have a bad, deep cough that can last up to 6 weeks. Oh well, it can always be worse... I mean, at least I'm not on fire. Okay, anyway... whlie I've been under my rock according to some :), I have thought of a few things to talk about.<br /><br />First of all, we once again set the clocks forward. And why do we torture ourselves twice a year? Originally, it was created to save money. But with everyone having heating and ac units, not to mention lights, it is an outdated, antiquated idea that causes more trouble than its worth. Here's an interesting article that kind of unofficially highlights my point.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ffff33;">http://www.geocities.com/midimagic@sbcglobal.net/daystupid.htm</span><br /><br />Okay, I know I'm usually more winded at my points, but I really have little energy, so I'll just go on to my second point for now, which is...<br /><br /><br />Does anyone care about the upcoming election anymore? We have been, as a country, more interested and involved in the 2008 presidential election coverage than maybe ever before. But what has it become? The republicans have all but picked John McCain, who is determined to continue to put us in the downward spiral that we've been going into. Sure, Ron Paul is still campaigning, but for what use is he at this point? Without making a third party run, he is doing nothing good. People gave him so much money, but what is he doing with it? His campaigning was minimal and now he has scaled backed to almost nothing, but what has happened to our money? We paid money to him and he promised to spread the message of the people as long as the money came in. But unless he makes a third party run very soon, I will be done with him completely.<br />The democrats have two choices left. Hillary, who for some reason says she has over 30 years of making change. That would be the same as my wife stating that she defended the country on a submarine. No, she supported me, as Hillary did to her husband, but that is the extent of it. She didn't join the ranks of policy makers until she became a New York senator. And isnt it funny how she is only taking credit for the positives that happened during Bill's presidency, but doesn't own up to any of the negative. She is such an old school politician, that it's disgusting to even watch her. And Obama... well, I'm not sure what his deal is. I would like to say that it's the fact that he doesn't have enough experience, but I have said time and time again that experience only corrupts. Ron Paul aside, of course. Some articles I've read have even predicted him to be the antichrist (I personally save that distinguished title for whoever sired Michelle Malkin). My biggest issue with Obama really is that he wants to make healthcare run by the government. That means more taxes out of my pocket. And as anything else run by the government, it will be a huge moneypit of a project. It seems like all three of the candidates that have a chance will take more money and more freedoms from us.<br /><br />Personally, I will be voting third party or just writing in Ron Paul's name. Some people have tried to tell me that that would be throwing my vote away. No it's not. It's me stating my voice. It's me being heard. If I stay home and not vote at all, then I'm saying I don't care who is in charge of me. And if I vote for the lesser of two evils, then, as I've stated before, it's still voting for evil. No, my voice will be heard. It doesn't have to be in the majority. I am not so shallow that I need to vote for who I'm told will win just so I feel good. Nor am I so stupid that a news channel has to tell me who to vote for.<br /><br />Sorry, not sure if this makes sense at all or if it even is complete. I'll read it over again in a bit and see if I need to edit it anymore. But, please, let me know what you think and feel free to argue like intelligent beings in the response page. Until next time, take care all.<br /><br />RichRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-85899481248717921972008-02-11T09:04:00.000-05:002008-02-11T09:08:28.170-05:00Keeping Me In CheckHello all once again, my friends!<br /><br />I am pleased to announce that I have had a new person add a post and share her views while asking for clarification on mine. Welcome to the blog Sarah. And not to leave the old "salty" one out of the spotlight, thanks again to Dan for his question. We'll get to it in a minute though. First, a response to Sarah...<br /><br />First of all I guess it came off a little rough when I stated that people have three choices when it comes to public schools. I stated they can accept the teachings, ignore the teachings, or move to another school. I still believe that accept or ignore are options. This has always happened and till happens today. Case in point... Evolution or the Big Bang Theory. Not everyone believes in those two theorys, but yet it is taught to them and the children are tested on it. So the children either believe what the teacher says or they ignore it based on what they hear elsewhere. Some go to the point of sending their children to a different place to learn such as a christian based school or they home school. So to clarify my comment of "move to another school", I never meant that people had to pack up and leave town. Most towns have more than one school available that people can send their children to, to include their own house possibly.<br /><br />Ultimately, I would expect a principle or the school board to hear the voices of parents or read petitions, and plan their school out appropriately. Offer Christian courses if that's what parents want. And they could be optional, so not to offend or ram religion down the throats of others. The point I want to bring home here is that other groups are being taken care of, sometimes to rediculous extents, so that they are not offended, while Christians are thrown to the wayside. That's not right and I would expect everyone to be respected the same. Of course, this is only possible if parents get involved with their schools and it would go a lot easier if they actually volunteered to support what they think is important.<br /><br />Now, on to the second item. Sarah brings up a great point that teachers influence young ones. I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, I don't think it's only a vision of the future but also a spectre of the past and the body of truth today. And that's why I think it's even more important to match up the right teacher with the teachings that parents want to see. Even as a judge has their favorites but cannot let their feelings interere with their job, a teacher must do the same. When it comes to an item such as I already brought up (Creation versus the Big Bang Theory), I have had teachers who said one was right and one was wrong. This is such an awful thing to do. They are both theories and should be presented equally. That would take away a teacher's influence one way or the other and allow the child to see both points of view equally. And today, there are schools out there that are forcing children to understand islam and other religions(go to <a href="http://www.blessedcause.org/encourage/forcing%20islam.htm">http://www.blessedcause.org/encourage/forcing%20islam.htm</a> for an example... google for more). I think this should be saved for after school clubs which would be totally voluntary (all religions included). This could be how parents get involved with volunteering.<br /><br />Lastly (and I hope I haven't lost my newest reader already with my responses!), Sarah has stated a concern about dividing the States on such issues as abortion. I agree totally that the States would be non-homogenous and I look forward to the day! Our Constitution was written with that in mind. That is the way I believe we should still be today. I personally have travelled to may States in our Union and get so dissappointed when I realize that the accents are disappearing or that every town has the same restaurants to choose from. We do not need to be the same. That is the beauty of the Freedom we have been granted. But if you look at history we always band together when it counts to ensure that our freedoms remain. We need to do that now as well, only the politicians we currently have are not willing to rally us together. Why? Because they are the enemy now and so we must look elsewhere for leaders.<br /><br />Thank you for the topics, Sarah. I really, truly appreciate them. I promise we will not see eye to eye on everything. It is impossible, regardless of what our Presidential Candidates will have you believe. But, I will always respect your opinions. And I hope you can think of other questions or topics to introduce on this blog. And for anyone else who reads, remember... nothing is off limits.<br /><br />Okay, now on to Dan's question. He has asked the question of how I intend to inform the public of what is really going on in Washington and abroad and how I would plan on providing proof for them.<br /><br />Good question, Dan. One of my platforms on running for President in 2012 is to talk to the public every day, Monday through Friday, around 7:30 and inform them of what happened that day in politics. But not as a politician would. Down to earth and let them know who voted for what. For example... what who added earmarks to a bill and what it was for. That way the people know what their voted representatives are doing. In addition, I'd take a call each day from someone in the country and just listen to what they have to say. No holds barred.<br /><br />One other thing I plan on doing is utilizing the internet to allow efficiency and accountability. A user-friendly site should be created to where a person puts in their zip code and then a screen pops up with a menu of all their politicians from local to president. Click on a name, andevery vote that person has made in that position is available for review. This would eventually reduce campaigning to minimum spending and weed out the criminals and enemies of the people, paving the way for champions to succeed in politics.<br /><br />And, if I keep a blog going, I think I would be a little too busy to type every day, but I'll hire someone to type it for me (after I approve of it). Looking for a job, Dan?<br /><br />I hope this post answered both of your questions, but if not, just let me know. And Sarah, please continue to be my "inner voice" for when I don't explain things properly. Keep me in check so people understand where I'm coming from with the issues.<br /><br />I'll leave you all with an interesting article to read...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/february2008/100208Impeachable.htm">http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/february2008/100208Impeachable.htm</a><br /><br />Okay, all... that's enough for today. Keep the questions coming and have a great day!<br /><br />RichRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-48526912939303193502008-01-04T21:09:00.000-05:002008-01-04T21:12:11.758-05:00Happy 2008 to all!Hi all! I’ve been busy doing my part for the candidate whom I believe should be our next President. But here I am to answer the two questions left as comments to my last post as well as add a little something bugging me these days.<br /><br />First is the question presented by Dan and he writes:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ffff33;">I know you are pro-life...but are you anti-choice?</span><br /><br />As he has written, I am pro-life personally and could not imagine giving up or having aborted any of my children. But to clear things up, I am not anti-choice at the federal level. This is one of the issues that I believe should be out of the hands in Washington D.C. I would like to see the laws be made at the State level as the highest level. Personally, I would like to see it be a county or community decision. Since we are a nation of many peoples and supposedly the land of the free, I don’t believe in a “one answer fits all” system of government for the issue of abortion. Will people leave one area and travel to an area where it is legal to have an abortion? I’d like to answer with a sure “no”, but we all know that it will happen in some instances. But at least those women would have more time to change their minds as they travel or would agree with the laws of their community and not go through with the procedure. Lastly on this subject, I believe with the proper education provided, that we can reduce the need for abortion all together. This would tie in with my idea to give the education system back to the people of their communities. People should be able to decide what to teach their children with much looser federal guidelines.<br /><br />Now for the second question, from anonymous, who writes:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ffff33;">Don't you think it is time we put God and discipline back in our school systems? All we have to do is walk around any major city and see the product of our failed schools.</span><br /><br />Personally, I would answer with a yes, but again, I believe in throwing back to a time when the local community cared about their children’s education and had a say in it. I believe in an education system where the majority votes win and is not constrained by ridiculous requirements handed down by the folks in D.C. That includes the issue of placing God in schools. If the majority of people want God in the school and a few oppose it, then He should be placed back in that school. And the opposed have three choices from there… Accept the teaching, ignore the teaching, or move to a more suitable school. We can not please everyone. We are learning that at the expense of Christians right now. And the failed schools are not just in the major cities. It’s any place where the community doesn’t get involved. It’s anywhere that lets government make the decisions about what their children need to learn. And it’s really this “No Child Left Behind” act, which is made up of complete horse manure. See my earlier postings for a whole article on my ideas about the current state of education as well as my ideas for the future.<br /><br />Okay, here’s a headline that has irked me today…<br /><br /><span style="color:#ffff33;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Online protests seek to include Ron Paul in N.H. debate</span></span><br /><span style="color:#ffff33;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span>NASHUA, N.H.--An online protest is growing over presidential candidate Ron Paul's exclusion from a Fox News debate here on Sunday, even though other Republicans receiving fewer votes in Iowa or scoring lower in the polls were invited.<br />Paul received a fifth-place 10 percent of the GOP vote in Iowa's caucus Thursday, ahead of Rudy Giuliani, who received 3.5 percent. He's also ahead of Fred Thompson in New Hampshire polls, </span><a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/nh/new_hampshire_republican_primary-193.html"><span style="color:#ffff33;">polling</span></a><span style="color:#ffff33;"> 7 percent to Thompson's 2 percent.<br />But both Giuliani and Thompson still appear to be invited to Sunday evening's debate sponsored by Fox News and the New Hampshire Republican Party. Paul isn't.</span><br /></span></span><span style="color:#ffff33;"><br /></span>I placed a response to Fox News with the hopes that it will open the eyes of many FoxNews loyalists of the link between Rudy Guiliani and the FoxNews station. It read:<br /><br /></span>"Fox News was launching, with Ailes at the helm, and Time Warner, which provided cable service to 12 million homes nationwide, had decided it would not carry Fox News. Time Warner was the dominant cable operator in New York City, meaning that not only would 1.1 million city homes not get Fox, but the fledgling network would go unseen by media powerbrokers in the nation's media capital.<br />Three days after Murdoch learned of Time Warner's decision, a call from Ailes to Giuliani set in motion a series of unprecedented moves in favor of a cable network by the Giuliani administration. As calls and meetings continued between Fox and city officials, including Giuliani, the Giuliani administration reportedly threatened Time Warner executives with the loss of their cable franchise if the cable provider didn't accept a deal in which the city would give up one of its own government channels so Fox News could take the slot. (Some 30 other cable networks had tried and failed to win channel space on Time Warner.) When Time Warner refused to take the deal, the city announced that it would go ahead with the plan anyway and force the cable provider to carry Fox News. A legal battle ensued."<br /><br />Read the full article @<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/11/15/regan/">http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/11/15/regan/</a><br /><br />I think they are helping out their guy by taking out the biggest threat to Rudy any way they can like after the last debate when they said that the "Paulites" were texting over and over to vote him as the winner when for days prior, they were touting how there would be only 1 vote allowed per phone. I hope this opens everyone's eyes to the real nature of this "fair and balanced" Faux News!<br /><br />Please take the time to read the whole article and respond to me with what you think. Until then, Please take it easy in these hard times.<br />RichRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-80243231654961196722007-12-04T20:22:00.000-05:002007-12-04T20:31:31.466-05:00Random thoughts on recent politicsHello, once again, all. I will update you on what has been happening in the past… well, forever…<br /><br />I have left the oilfields for a better prospect and have been hard at work going through the classes needed to do my new job. For those of you who know my background, I have gone back to a previous field of work… nuclear power. For those who don’t know me well but want to know more, you have but to ask. There are so many more benefits to my new job (like spending time with my wife and children at home every night) that outweigh the fact that I’ll be making just a little less than I would have in the oilfield. Having been in fields that took me away from my family more times than not over the past 12 years, it has been a refreshing six weeks with them. So while I apologize for not updating this blog, I do not necessarily feel bad about it. But now it’s back to business.<br /><br />I have been following just about every debate that I can, as well as watching Fox News (aka Faux News), CNN (aka Clinton News Network), and MSNBC (does anyone have an alias for that one?) and listening to National Public Radio. So I think it’s safe to say I’ve been hearing things from all angles. And here’s some questions and thoughts that have come into my mind recently…<br /><br />1) How can people lean towards one candidate or another based solely on what they say at an event? I mean, are we so blinded by mass media that we do not look into their voting records and such? For example, Guiliani wants to be tough on illegal immigrants, but look what he did in NYC. Romney is against abortion all of a sudden, which is GREAT if you ask me (just another one on the side of LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), but where’s the proof that he changed his mind years ago as he claimed. Without proof, he is just saying it so we hear what we want to hear. And Clinton… don’t even get me started on her. She continues to say what we want to hear, but do the complete opposite. Her voting record is against the benefit of the American people. And although she claims to have made a mistake for voting for the war, she is chugging along the same track to lead us to war with Iran, while stating that we shouldn’t do that.<br /><br />2) How can these candidates campaign against recent votes, bills, and vetoes in Washington if they were not there to do their job and vote as well? Maybe because it’s very convenient, doing it their way. for double talk. Tell one group you would have voted yes, then tell another group you would have voted no, just so everyone hears what they want to hear. Note to all of them… do your jobs! Let me get this straight… we are allowing these people to run a year ahead of traditional campaigns, throwing money at them left and right in a time when we have no money anymore, and allowing them to spend our money while not actually doing their jobs? Shame on them and us. Oh yeah, shame on the States for playing along as well by moving so many primaries up.<br /><br />3) Why do all the media outlets play snippets of Guiliani and Romney going back and forth like a couple of 3rd graders, but leave out real quotes such as Ron Paul, when asked about what he would do about the aging bridges across the country, who answered (and I’m not quoting exactly, but the gist is there) “We go to other countries, spend money to blow up their bridges and then spend money to rebuild their bridges while ours are in poor shape. Our priorities are not where they need to be”? I believe it’s because if there was no war… if there were no bridges collapsing, killing many… then there would be no sensational news. Then we could be content to watch 30 to 60 minutes of news every night again and get all we need to know. This would, of course, eliminate the 24 hour “news” channels.<br /><br />4) Shame on nobody to actually ask Guiliani about him getting so much airtime on Fox News, which he helped come to a broadcasting power while mayor of NYC. It makes me need to shower thinking that he might actually be the leader of this country. I mean it… my wife already wants me to give this dream up and move away to a country where people are actually free.<br /><br />5) Another shame… Shame on NPR for a recent report with a religious leader who said that his congregation might have to a) vote for the lesser of two evils, or b) not vote at all. People who do not even consider that they could vote for a third party candidate are idiots. I’m sorry, but there is no other way for me to display how I feel.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ffff33;">VOTING FOR THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS IS STILL VOTING FOR EVIL!</span><br /><br />And not voting at all only makes you deserve everything that happens in that four years time. You would have no room to complain because you did nothing to prevent it.<br /><br />6) What is with our President and his paper thin sham where he is trying to well now? First of all, he’s trying to make the Democrats look bad. He vetoed money for our nation’s children saying it was fiscally irresponsible. Then he asks for 200 billion to further the “war” effort. The House sent him a bill for 50 billion and a deadline to be out by. The President vetoed it and then said the Democrats were keeping the military from having funds. First of all, he sounds no better than a spoiled little child who didn’t get his way 9and if you ask me, he is just that). It is not the Democrats alone. It is all of them. There are people who say that by stating a deadline, we will admit defeat and tell the enemy the date we will retreat. To those, I present (and open for debate) that we won the war. We won it quickly and decisively a long time ago. Now we are acting as police. Iraq should have taken over their own country years ago. To give a deadline is not admitting defeat. We already won. It would be telling Iraq “no more suckling as of this date”. And for John McCain, who I have the utmost respect for. He has been through what any of us in the military dreads, and come out stronger for it. I also admire anyone who had the guts to do what he asks the current military to do. He did not run from his duty. I love him for his stand on torture and his dedication to the veterans, but I ask that when he go overseas he talk to the common soldier. Officers, like politicians, will often tell you what you want to hear. In today’s military, you don’t go far speaking out for what’s right. How many generals did Bush go through until he found one that said “your plan makes sense”? Today’s enlisted are not all like what they used to be either. A lot of them have smarts, are educated, and can tell you what’s really going on. I’m not even suggesting to hear one side, but at least hear both sides (and NOT a staged group of people either… I’ve been asked to do that when I was in the Navy, to which I said no). I would love to meet McCain out of respect for what he has done for this country, but I cannot agree with him about the war we are waging currently.<br /><br />7) Lastly, I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and will have an enjoyable Christmas or Hanukkah. Remember, times are tough no matter what the government says, but these holidays have nothing to do with money. This would be a great time to reflect back on what the meanings of these holidays truly are. And for those of you who are my oilfield friends or ex Navy buddies, I hope and pray that you get to be home for the holidays.<br /><br />Please drop me a line, my friends, and spread the word. It’s time to throwback to the days when freedom was the way of life and we were the good guys!<br /><br />Rich<br /><br />P.S. Please ask me about things you want to know about... either my views on any topic at all or anything about me.Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-51534234215030727682007-11-07T20:57:00.000-05:002007-11-07T20:58:41.979-05:00I am back, people!!I am now back online and welcome your questions/comments... thanks for being so patient and dedicated to me and our cause.Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-42644405916477846862007-10-18T20:47:00.000-05:002007-10-18T20:48:44.438-05:00An updateAll,<br /><br />I am so very sorry that I have not been around to post, but I have been involved with moving and do not have the opportunity to receive the internet yet. Please bear with me and check again in November. <br /><br />Thanks so much,<br />RichRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-81439766719534542652007-08-31T13:25:00.000-05:002007-09-04T10:42:56.056-05:00Do Pharmaceutical Companies Care About Us? Something to Ponder...An interesting snippet from an article I read titled<span style="color:#ffff99;"> "Absurd vaccine marketing calls for cervical cancer vaccinations for young boys</span><span style="color:#ffff99;">!"</span>. The entire article can be found at<span style="color:#ffffff;"> </span><a href="http://www.newstarget.com/021999.html"><span style="color:#ffffff;">http://www.newstarget.com/021999.html</span></a><span style="color:#ffffff;"><br /></span><br /><span style="color:#ffff99;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong><span style="font-size:85%;"> Inventing the problem, then marketing the "solution"</span></strong><br /></span></span><br />Did you ever notice how the press never even talked about Restless Legs Syndrome until the drug companies had a new pharmaceutical for sale that claimed to treat the condition? The press sets up the fear campaigns for one fictitious disease after another, and then Big Pharma just happens to introduce a new high-profit chemical that treats the disease. In this latest example, the press has been floating stories about the dangers of oral sex for several days, and then -- whammo! -- a story magically appears about vaccinating young boys to protect them from the dangers of oral sex.<br /><br />You have to understand that almost nothing appears in the mainstream media without an agenda. The news isn't news, it's a way of shaping public perception in order to market something: War, drugs, products, paradigms, etc. The U.S. press is a vehicle of shaping the belief systems of the public. It invents and promotes cultural fears, beliefs and perceptions. It has nothing whatsoever to do with bringing people useful news and information. Instead, it is almost entirely focused on getting people to believe what the folks in charge want them to believe.<br /><br />The current news about the housing bubble, for example, is all designed to delay the coming collapse of both the global real estate market and the U.S. stock market (not to mention the U.S. dollar). By shaping public perception and telling people it's only a temporary downturn in the market, they can convince enough people that we should all keep on paying sky-high prices for houses and thereby delay the inevitable real estate market collapse for a little longer.<br /><br />Similarly, virtually every story you read about health is designed to shape your beliefs about nutrition, pharmaceuticals, health care and the (false) causes of diseases. Stories about the genetic causes of disease, for example, are designed to strip away your power and get you to believe that you have no control over your own health. Stories about the dangers of nutritional supplements are designed to convince you to fear nutrition and trust only in pharmaceuticals. Stories about oral sex, as we've seen here, are designed to rally the nation into a state of irrational fear out of which they will react by calling for mandatory vaccinations of teenage boys.<br /><br />David Icke describes this as "Problem - Reaction - Solution." First, they set up the fictitious problem and scare everybody, then they wait for the public reaction (which is quite predictable and actually planned out from the beginning). Finally, they introduce the "solution" which is war, or martial law, or forced vaccinations or whatever was on their agenda in the first place. It's the way all power brokers have ever managed to get things done in a society that pretends to be free. If you want to sell useless pharmaceuticals to hundreds of millions of people who don't need them, you can't just march in and force people to buy them. That would never fly. Instead, you have to convince the people to demand the vaccinations themselves! And you do that by propagandizing scare stories like this one on the dangers of oral sex. If you scare the people enough, they'll demand that you take action, and then your "solution" looks like you're just responding to the needs of the people.<br /><br />Modern medicine is a hoax. It mostly comes down to brainwashing doctors, playing mind games with the public and controlling the media. Disease mongering is rampant, and drug companies are now resorting to the most absurd, ridiculous leaps of the imagination to try to convince people they need more vaccines and medications. Just five years ago, the idea that teenage boys needed to be vaccinated against a cervical cancer virus would have been considered lunacy, but today, the Big Pharma propaganda machine is pushing it with a straight facing, hoping that within a year or two, the population will be so utterly frightened over oral sex viruses that every sexually active person in the country will line up and fork over cash for their "sex vaccines."Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-26442478988802066382007-08-31T10:55:00.000-05:002007-08-31T12:59:06.974-05:00Gays and Summertime Energy DemandsHello all,<br /><br />Anyone who checks this blog regularly must be pretty dissappointed with me as of the past 4 weeks. I have been pretty busy between my current job (which is just booming) and my future job. That's right... I'm moving on to another job that would be better for my family and will also give me more time to dedicate to my running for President. Real quick before I get started on answering questions... Somebody suggested that I change the names of the entries so that people can look to the menu on the side and see the topics I've covered, so that's just what I have begun to do starting with this one. I might go back and rename the previous ones... not sure yet. Thanks to my buddy that recommended it as it only helps to improve my blog. Okay, let's move on...<br /><br />Mr. Anonymous asked what my position is on gay marriage and the ability for gay couples to adopt. What a touchy subject to tackle in today's society if you listen to the main stream media. But I really don't think it's as big a political suicide as the media makes it out to be. Here's my outlook... I am personally against homosexuality as an act. I base my opinions on personal religious beliefs and that is that. I will not be swayed to change my way of thinking on this one, nor will I appear to flip-flop on the topic just to let you hear what you want to hear. That being said, I do not feel ill will toward homosexuals. They are American citizens just like Heterosexuals. Therefore, they have the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If two people decide to create a union, they should be treated the same, regardless of the union. Now we do have to be careful because if we decide to let anyone do anything that they want to in relationships, then before we know it, there would be polygomy parades and such until that becomes okay too. And, of course, as is my answer so many times in issues like this one, I think the power should be left up to the local communities or, at the highest level, the States. That way if a community is against gay marriage, then they can vote against it in their community and vice versa if they are for it. One thing I would recommend is that if it is legalized locally, it be called something other than marriage. The term marriage refers to a union of a man and a woman in front of God. As homosexuality is forbidden in the bible, the term gay marriage should also be forbidden. Another reason to be married is for tax break purposes, but again, in one of my first blogs, I discuss getting rid of the current tax system and creating a National Sales Tax, so there would be no need for marriage to be a tax benefit. We are already encountering entities such as insurance companies that recognize homosexual partners for insurance purposes, so there is another reason shot down the drain. Would this separate the states and maybe even neighboring communities? Yes. But that's okay. It's okay to be different. By becoming homogenous as a society, we take away what it means to be an American citizen.<br /><br />As far as gays adopting children, this is a subject that again, I stand fast in my opinion. I have such a soft spot in my heart for children. They are so innocent and helpless, that it hurts me to see any child hurt or have to go without. If I could afford to adopt every child, I would. I personally think that a non-traditional family would be able to provide a better home for a child than an orphanage or a series of foster homes. To deny a child the chance to be loved, to be cared for... to be supported... to have good childhood memories... to feel wanted... is just wrong to me. I say good on them wanting to adopt if it means a child has a roof over his or her head. Besides, if they don't adopt but are adamant about having a child, they will always find a donor to be able to have one. And therefore a child is brought into the world, passing over an orphan yet again.<br /><br />Sorry if I've offended anyone so far. To recap, I am personally against it, which means that I will not partake in the act due to my religious beliefs. Nor would I want to live in a community that legally supports or allows gay unions. For example, I could not stand the show Will and Grace, but I did not protest it. I did not write in saying it should be off the air... I merely changed the channel and made the decision on my own not watch it. See, I will not try to tell anyone else how to live. It's not supposed to be the role of Federal Government to do that.<br /><br />On to Summertime energy demands...<br /><br />This is just an example of us, as American citizens, wanting our cake and eating it too. We want low energy costs and we protest new energy plants in our "back yards", but then want to use energy as if it's a limitless commodity. It's also a classic case of the haves and have-nots. The blackouts in California... did we ever hear of Beverly Hills losing power? Any reports or live coverage of mansions or well-off people not having power? Not that I can recall. You get what you can afford unfortunately. And that should be the American way. The power companies are going to take care of the wealthy first and foremost because that's where the majority of their money comes from. I do not think we should or could have an instant solution to let us be energy gluttons. Rushing anything would be dangerous and would just make us even bigger gluttons to demand more energy. The power companies should plan for the future, but at the same time people have to be realistic. I've seen many a community become greedy with wanting money in property taxes and such by letting their towns grow at too rapid a pace. They don't take into account roads or police needs or energy demands. That is all an after-thought. I say to cope with the high energy demands, that people either be allotted so much energy or that they get charged on a logarithmic scale compared to the amount of energy drawn. The more you use, the way more you pay. It will keep people from being gluttonous in a time when nobody cares about such issues until it effects them.<br /><br />That brings me to a subject on my mind lately... People who complain about things, but have no solution or do nothing themselves to better the situation. People complain about energy, but what do they do to prevent it? Let's look at the wildfires in Greece. I feel for the people and animals affected by it. But then people protest in the cities that their government isn't doing enough. What would you like them to do? Or better yet... volunteer. Tell the government you're willing to go and help. <span style="color:#ffff00;">Don't Just Complain!!!!</span><br /><br />Okay folks. I think this is enough for today. I'd better cut this off before I get more angry thinking about how some people can be. I hope August was as great as it could be for all of you and I say let's keep fighting the powers that want to take complete control of us!<br /><br />RichRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-87283735248163800952007-07-30T12:28:00.000-05:002007-08-31T13:15:34.567-05:00Illegal Aliens and Border SecurityHello again all,<br /><br />I know it’s been a while since I’ve responded to the questions last asked. For that I apologize… I’ve been going through some personal issues as of late, but never fear, my thoughts have not strayed far from my blog or my goal. Now let me address the questions from the last entry…<br /><br />Illegal aliens and border security…<br /><br />I think there are several reasons that have placed us in the situation we find ourselves in currently with illegal immigrants. First of all, the Federal government has made it so that a hospital cannot refuse to treat a patient or that schools have to teach everyone, legal or illegal. These are wonderful ideas in theory, but it also makes it very enticing for an illegal alien to make the trek across the border. If they cannot receive the healthcare or education in their own country, why not come here and mooch off of our system? Who wouldn’t do that? So I cannot really blame them for wanting to come to the “Land of Opportunity”. Secondly, our government has made the process to become lagal citizens painstakingly slow. I know, you’re saying “Rich, you cannot possibly tell me that there is a federal process that has been turned into some ridiculous, near-impossible task set up for failure”, but I’m here to tell you it’s true. When they do apply, it takes over five years for some to even find out that they’ve been denied! By then, they are settled into their community, have had a steady job, and now receive a letter saying “get out”. So as far as I’m concerned, our government has failed us in that aspect because during that time period, we are making up for their lack of tax paying. I can only imagine that there are not enough people in the department to process any faster (especially given the speed at which a lot of Federal employees move given the fact that they know they have job security). Thirdly, we have always had this problem, but for some reason, it is just coming to light now. I’m not quite sure why it is in the spotlight all of a sudden when there are plenty of other topics to discuss in the news. I do have my own ideas but it’s a bit beyond the scope of this blog. So what’s my solution?<br /><br />Here are my ideas… First, we streamline the process of becoming a legal citizen of this country. Add more people, create less paperwork, and get rid of those within the department who are making the whole process sluggish. Second, we provide harsher punishments for illegals after a period of time to allow those currently here illegally to either leave or become citizens. We still can provide them with healthcare, but when they are done at the hospital, they are deported back to their country of origin. No getting belongings from home or telling anyone… just on the next plane out. After a second time this happens for any individual, they will be considered a criminal and will be transported to a country of our choice. They will also have zero chance of becoming an American citizen from then on. There will be no third chance for health care. At that point, we have been more than gracious hosts and will not carry the burden any longer. I am thinking prison would be a great idea until they have paid off their previous two airfares and the upcoming third by doing prison work (I have discussed my ideas on prisoner jobs in two previous posts). Third, we deal with those that are currently here illegally. Sure, they can apply for citizenship and then live here legally, but what about the time they spent here mooching off of us? My solution is time spent in the military as part of the clause to become citizens. One member of each family must provide four years of active duty to make up for the time spent here not paying taxes. That would bolster our forces until I can implement my military for college plan (discussed previously) and impress some American discipline and values on them. Lastly, there will be no schooling for illegal immigrants mandated by the Federal government. As previously discussed, I plan to give control of public schools back to the States and local communities. Therefore, it would be up to the local citizens if they want to pay for illegal immigrants to be schooled on their dime or not.<br /><br />Now, as far as border security goes, I think our border patrol agents have been doing an outstanding and commendable job thus far. We have underfunded them, undermanned them, and held them back on what they can and cannot do. I say we need more personnel, more equipment, and more understanding of what they go through each and every day, protecting us from not only illegal immigrants, but also from drug dealers and possible terrorists. As far as I’m concerned, they should be another branch of our military, equivalent to the Coast Guard. Maybe even combine them with the Coast Guard and renaming them the National Guard. And still keep our current National Guard, but call them what they really are… National Guard Reservists or MinuteMen (from the days of old). And real quick, while I’m on the topic (and please don’t think that it’s merely a side bar), I think it’s completely despicable that our current President, the man who is supposed to represent our culture and beliefs, has let Scooter Libby off for the crimes he committed, yet has not given a second thought to the two border patrol agents who were defending our country from a drug runner! And shame on Congress for taking so long to even hold sessions on what to do about them. Somebody sign the damn papers and free them now! Do not make this a political cause, trying to use it to get a jab in on Republicans. Do not try to win the office by being sneakier than the others, Try to win it by doing the right thing and having the right beliefs, and by being recognized for doing what’s right for our country. I say again, free them – NOW! What we don’t need is a big wall keeping others out. That would be a huge waste of money because it would just be another obstacle (this one an eyesore) that the illegals would overcome. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Spend the money on the current process that works but has been severely underfunded as of late instead. I really don’t want to have to say “I told you so” about the wall.<br /><br />Whew, and that was only one question…<br /><br /><br />Alternative fuels and the impact on the oilfield workers…<br /><br />An interesting question, perhaps asked because I currently work in the industry. Here’s my opinions on this topic: Let me start by saying that you cannot believe that there has been any conscious effort to replace the conventional fuels. I believe any ideas that are introduced are nothing more than scams to appease society while the oil companies get richer yet. Let me ask this… if we reduce oil consumption, do you really think it will make life better? The alternative fuels will be more expensive, hurting you in the wallet. And the oil industry will still want to make their money, so they’ll raise the cost per barrel even more than it currently is. Look into these alternative fuels…Does E85 really burn cleaner than gasoline or diesel? I think in this case, we have to play within the unfortunate rules that are already in place and with those who make those rules. Conventional fuels are not going anywhere. What we can do is make it as clean burning as possible. Create only diesel engines from here on out…, require that all cars receive a minimum 100 miles per gallon of fuel. That would reduce consumption by 66-80% (and it is possible between hybriding with electricity, using braking energy to then accelerate, and using more efficient fuel injectors)…, and by creating scrubbers that convert the harmful emissions into beneficial ones. And, I know, I still haven’t answered the question (oh no! I must be turning into a politician!)…<br /><br />If, by some miracle, an alternative fuel is created that replaces conventional oils, it will have minimal impact on the oilfields across our country. First of all, a vast majority of our drilling these days is for natural gas, which is in high demand all over the world, so I don’t see that portion as being affected. Secondly, we are set up so that this cannot occur overnight. Even if a new fuel is created, it would take at least a decade to run oilfield workers out of a job. And that’s within our country only. Developing countries will rely on oil for a very, very long time. We’re talking (my best educated guess) a lifetime at least. Therefore, I’m saying even a new fuel would not run out the existing workers from their jobs, so there are no worries there. If the next generation loses their jobs, it’s not like they wouldn’t have seen it coming, and therefore, I can’t really feel sorry for them.<br /><br />And even more far-fetched of a miracle, our oilfield workers are without a job all of a sudden because of some alternative fuel supply, I’m sure that there will be a vacancy for jobs to supply the new fuel and a number of people looking for jobs. We could also make it enticing for the companies of the new fuel to provide training and hire oilfield workers by supplying tax breaks for them for a period of time.<br /><br />Well, I know I only answered two questions so far, but I’ve probably lost half of my readers by this point by putting them to sleep. Next blog will tackle (hopefully) the next and final two questions from the last entry. Please, anyone, if I have not explained these two topics sufficiently, please let me know what I need to expound on.<br /><br />And, of course once again, thanks for taking the time to stop by and read what I’ve written. Take care,<br /><br />RichRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-55009557831267766472007-07-03T13:28:00.000-05:002007-07-03T13:31:36.615-05:00Hello...hello...hello...Is There Anybody Out There?...<em><span style="color:#ffff00;">Do me a favor, people. I don't have a counter of visits on this blog. I need to know that somebody out there is listening othere than Dan. So if you've been reading, just give me a shout out please. </span></em><br /><em><span style="color:#ffff00;"></span></em><br /><em><span style="color:#ffff00;">Thanks,</span></em><br /><em><span style="color:#ffff00;">Rich</span></em>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-9626467895250749512007-07-02T11:21:00.000-05:002007-07-02T13:36:13.749-05:00Our Current Judicial Situation (Finally answering the question!)Finally, after doing a bit of research into the subject (just a drop in the bucket of what I should’ve done though but didn’t have the time), I’m finally ready to address the topic of our current judicial system that was posed by Dan and Andrew weeks ago…<br /><br />I’ve been concerned about what we hear as far as sentences go. Why does someone who does a heinous crime get a lighter sentence than someone who is caught with marijuana? Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying those who have drugs should be set free, but what I am saying is that the punishment needs to more aptly fit the crime.<br /><br />We have a system in place that is not perfect, but is probably the best there is. That being trial by a jury of our peers. I haven’t heard any real issues with the results of these trials. What I have issues with is when a sentence is handed down by a judge unfairly. And I’m not talking about Paris Hilton either… she was handed a sentence that I think was more than fair, nevermind the fact that others get away with the same exact crime with less or no jail time. I say good for this judge and shame on the others that let crimes go.<br /><br />I’m talking about putting people who do minor crimes in jail for more time than they should be in for. Why do they do it? Maybe the following excerpt from the article found at<span style="color:#66ffff;"> </span><a href="http://social.jrank.org/pages/1348/Prisons-Prison-Industries-Excellent-Idea-or-Exploitation.html"><span style="color:#66ffff;">http://social.jrank.org/pages/1348/Prisons-Prison-Industries-Excellent-Idea-or-Exploitation.html</span></a><span style="color:#66ffff;"> </span>has something to do with it…<br /><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;">Federal and state prisons put inmates to work producing goods for sale to government and on the open market. Private companies ... contract with prisons to use convict labor, and private prisons employ their own inmates for private profit, either for themselves or for outside companies. Prisoners who work may have time subtracted from their sentences. Prisoners who refuse get longer sentences and lose privileges (Erlich).<br /></span><br />It is a smart move by the companies to hire such cheap labor and probably not need to pay for healthcare, but it’s too easy for it all to be corrupted by money from the big companies. Let’s think about this… You are a major company who is employing prisoners for less than a dollar an hour instead of, at the very least, minimum wage. Wouldn’t it be worth the cost of kickback to a judge to ensure that the people thrown in jail are of a higher quality to perform the necessary work than the dredges who should by all accounts get harder punishments? Of course it would. Think about that when asking why the punishments seem to be unfair these days.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong>Well-Known Companies That Use Convict Labor</strong></span> </span></span><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /></span><strong>3Com<br /></strong></span><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;"><strong>Microsoft<br /><br />AT&T<br /><br />Motorola<br /><br />Boeing<br /><br />Nordstrom<br /><br />Compaq<br /><br />Nortel<br /><br />Dell<br /><br />Prison Blues® ("Made to Do Hard Time")<br /><br />Eddie Bauer<br /><br />Pierre Cardin<br /><br />Honeywell<br /><br />Revlon<br /><br />IBM<br /><br />TWA<br /><br />Jostens<br /><br />Texas Instruments<br /><br />Kaiser Steel<br /><br />Toys R Us<br /><br />MCI<br /><br />UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries)<br /><br />McDonald's<br /><br />Victoria's Secret</strong></span></span><br /><br /></span><br />Of course, there’s the easy solution to this from a citizen’s point of view… don’t do anything wrong. But is that even possible anymore? Our local, state and federal governments have made so many laws, that it is near impossible to not break the law. And add to that the requirement of some police departments to hand out tickets as seen on this site (the responses to the simple statement are very good reading material) … <a href="http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Police_In_Colorado_Must_Hand_out_2_tickets_Per_Hour"><span style="color:#66ffff;">http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Police_In_Colorado_Must_Hand_out_2_tickets_Per_Hour</span></a><span style="color:#66ffff;"><br /></span><br />So we are currently damned if we do and damned if we don’t. What are we to do? I mean it is not just on the local and state levels. Look at our Attorney General, for goodness sakes. What ever happened with his trial? What was the outcome? Do any of us know? Do any of us care? He was on all the news channels as a “bad guy” and the day his hearing was supposed to begin, we had the VA Tech “massacre”. That took up all the news time for how long? I’ll tell you it was long enough for us to forget about the “bad guy”. Our general public was not force-fed news about him, so we didn’t care anymore. I mean if Fox News or CNN don’t cover it, it must not be important, right?<br /><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;">Wrong.</span><br /><br />Here’s the solution (and amazingly enough, it is very similar in nature to most of my other solutions)… it comes in two parts...<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>1. Get involved.</strong> <strong>2. Vote me in as President </strong><br /><br />That's all there is to it to start making a change. Okay, the second one doesn't necessarily need to happen, but the first one absolutely does. I have some questions for you all...<br /><br />Does anyone go to court to see what is going on anymore?<br />Does anyone know who their judges are?<br />Or what their salaries are?<br />Or what their records of judgement are?<br />Does anyone know the status of the prison in their town?<br />Who is in there?<br />For how long are they in there?<br />Why are they there?<br />What are they doing while in there?<br /><br />These are questions that we all should know the answers to as active members of our community. If I were President, I know I’d appoint only the ones with the best records, the ones with the good of our Nation in mind instead of their personal gain. If we start at the top, good and right can funnel its way down to ensure a safe and secure nation once again.<br /><br />Other sites that talk about prisoners working…<br /><br /><a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_n12_v43/ai_21283789"><span style="color:#66ffff;">http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_n12_v43/ai_21283789</span></a><span style="color:#66ffff;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950311/03110298.htm"><span style="color:#66ffff;">http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950311/03110298.htm</span></a><span style="color:#66ffff;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.celcee.edu/publications/digest/Dig06-06.html"><span style="color:#66ffff;">http://www.celcee.edu/publications/digest/Dig06-06.html</span></a><span style="color:#66ffff;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/05/587.asp"><span style="color:#66ffff;">http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/05/587.asp</span></a><span style="color:#66ffff;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.pe.com/localnews/transportation/stories/PE_News_Local_D_traffic18.38d1adc.html"><span style="color:#66ffff;">http://www.pe.com/localnews/transportation/stories/PE_News_Local_D_traffic18.38d1adc.html</span></a><span style="color:#66ffff;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&safe=off&q=police+quotas+tickets"><span style="color:#66ffff;">http://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&safe=off&q=police+quotas+tickets</span></a><span style="color:#66ffff;"><br /><br /></span>Now, about our over-crowding situation in prison.<br /><br />Why do we even have over-crowding? Why has our society fallen so far as to have so many criminals? Of course, it's a combination of things that make up the answer, but it's not too late to turn the tide. Some things of note...<br /><br />The number of dual-income families has risen since the 1960's.<br />Prayer was outlawed from public schools in the 1960's, taking away the choice from the local communities.<br />The value of our dollar has depreciated greatly since the 1960's.<br />And somewhere along the way, it became the norm to simply be observers while our society has gone downhill right in front of our eyes.<br /><br />What do we have to offer these latch-key kids? Television, which is full of sex and violence. Computer games, which are full of gore and violence. The internet, which is full of sex, gore, and violence. And no supervision, which leads to all kinds of trouble.<br /><br />Why do we need dual-income families? To keep up with the Jones'? To maintain our lifestyles of having anything we want when we want it (Just look at how many people bought the iPhone in the first weekend)? To keep up with the credit card bills that we ran up and now the government has raised the minimum amounts due? Or is it to keep up with the ever-increasing taxes they throw upon us? We can stop that if I'm elected. The President does not have the power to change things alone (actually this one does, but that's another story and a power that i will give back when I'm in), but I can promise the American people that I will lead them to make change in this country. You can lead a horse to water, but can't make him drink, right? I can lead you all to learn how to get your public servants to do your will, but I can't make you actually do it.<br /><br />Why have I stated all this? Does it answer the topic? Of course it does. If we care more about raising our children than what our car looks like, or where we live, then our children grow up feeling loved, knowing people care about what they do, and are a lot less likely to become criminals. That would be a step towards reducing the prison poulation in the future. As for the here and now, I have a plan for that...<br /><br />The plan starts off with the sentence "There is no such thing as over-crowding in prison". The more criminals, the less space for each one is all. Federal prisons should have a certain amount of money for each facility. The more people that are in there, the more guards you need and the more food you need. Therefore there's less money for quality of life issues. If the prison can't afford cable TV or weight sets, then that's just too bad. IT'S PRISON!!!! You broke the law, now pay the damn price. It's not fair to us law-abiding citizens that we can't afford cable ourselves yet our taxes go to you all living it up. And forget the different levels of prisons, white collar versus blue collar. A criminal is a criminal. And the State and local prisons can be run however the States and local communities want, with the Federal government keeping their nose out of it altogether. Now before those out there say that miserable conditions just breed more crime, hear this. A) There weren't any issues with over-crowding when conditions were worse because people actually wanted to stay out of prison, B) we can create a charity to supplement prison funding thereby requiring everyone to pay a small amount through taxes, but those who want better conditions can offer more on their own, and C) I would make it mandatory that school be taught to the inmates. We're talking high school level courses and such to educate them. And if they're gonna work, I can guarantee you it won't be for any company. They can do local government work, such as mowing the sides of highways and picking up trash. It worked in the past, and the present way is not working. Maybe we need to step back, analyze, and go back to the chain gangs for prisoners.<br /><br />That’s about it for now on the subject. Once again, very wordy, I know. But I hope I answered both Dan and Andrew’s questions to their satisfaction. If not, please let me know and be more specific with what I missed.<br /><br />Thanks, and God bless.<br /><br />RichRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-12914095123394497412007-06-29T08:24:00.000-05:002007-06-29T11:09:46.747-05:00Obviously, I'm not alone in thought (just real lonely in blogworld)Hi all. Been a while, I know. And I'm sorry to Dan, my only loyal reader so far. Here's an interesting excerpt from an article that I found. The entire article can be found at <a href="http://www.rense.com/general74/black.htm">http://www.rense.com/general74/black.htm</a> Keep in mind that if you read the entire article, that my own views may or may not be the same as those expressed in the article. I'm really busy with my job right now, but if I can tomorrow, I'll finally answer the question about our judicial system. Enjoy til then!<br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#ffcc00;">It appears that hell has finally frozen over. The extent of the US government's illegal conduct--its lying, scheming, cheating, torture, murder, sexual escapades, and covering up of criminal activities--is finally surfacing and it is breaking through the once calm, sleepy, uninformed U.S. like the tip of an iceberg from hell. Americans all over the country are now wondering when and how the government of the United States became the very thing that the Founding Fathers loathed and despised: a malignant government that is brutal, feared, drunk with power, secretive, completely unaccountable, negligent and dishonest to the hilt.<br /><br />We have been heading in this direction since 1913, but under the leadership of the current decider and his family and co-conspirators, we, the Citizens of the United States now find ourselves plunged into a draconian form of government reminiscent of the Dark Ages.<br /><br />Had we not been lulled asleep, lied to, misinformed and uninformed by the news media for so long, we might have been able to fix things with less drastic measures than are now called for. At this time, however, we find ourselves facing a government made up of individuals involved in so many criminal acts and scandals, our situation is unprecedented in the history of the United States. A massive overhaul is in order. It is time to return to our roots and reestablish the great Republic this nation was founded as and meant to be.<br /><br />No longer able to hide behind their historically owned media propaganda machines because the internet has rendered canned, fake and non-news worthless, those occupying important government seats of trust now stand starkly before us as never before in a horrifying line-up of suspects wanted for every type of crime known. Their offenses and crimes are all impeachable, running the full gamut as described in the Constitution: "treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors."<br /><br />First and foremost, the majority of all federal officials now standing before us have failed to uphold their Oath of Office--the oath in which they swore to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States. Although this Oath of Office is apparently treated as a joke by most who take it, in reality there is nothing of greater importance for public servants, because it is that Oath which protects the people the oath-takers serve. It does this by protecting the Constitution, the supreme law of the land.<br /><br />Instead, the majority of Congress, the entire Bush administration as well as unknown members of the judicial branch have created or upheld laws that are in clear violation of the Constitution. One of the most recent examples of this is the Military Commissions Act (MCA), an unconstitutional law that, among other things, strikes down the habeas corpus for some individuals. Habeas Corpus has served for many centuries as the "fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary and lawless state action." It predates the Magna Carta of 1215. (1)<br /><br />Many others are also standing before us in this line-up for charges of bribery and extortion and for taking kickbacks and expecting such perks because they are office holders.<br /><br />Still others in this rogues gallery stand before us as sexual predators of minor children, daring to use their federal offices and federal titles as a means of finding new victims, or covering up the vulgarities of other office holders.<br /><br />Chillingly, others stand before us as conspirators of murder, caught on camera speaking lies for the purpose of causing unnecessary and unjust wars in which countless innocent civilians, including infants and children, have died terrible deaths or have been forever maimed. Hiring people to murder others is known as homicide in the United States. </span>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-9434538864726331212007-06-17T10:23:00.000-05:002007-06-17T11:16:54.152-05:00How I will not be scared away from doing my thing!Many don't know this, but I tried a blog for this before. But I was weak and got scared away from it because some crazy stuff happened...<br /><br /> I open my yahoo email one day this past October (October 22nd, 2006, to be precise) just to do my monthly check of it and I noticed I had over three thousand emails. Three thousand! that's a heckof a lot more than I usually get! Anyway, I opened my inbox to find they were all in some language I can only assume was arabic. I was perplexed. Especially since I had just recently found out that our President (and therefore Homeland Security) had recently obtained the power and authority to take a person away without any warrant or just cause (proof, in other words) based solely on calling that person a danger to National Security. They further obtained the authority to lock that person up indefinately with no trial by peers or judge. Yes, yet another attack on our Constitution and rights as citizens. And we just let these things keep happening as long as we get to watch TV while eating on our couch... Wake UP!!!!! Oops, I strayed from my story there...<br /><br />So I said "okay, maybe this is just some scam" and started looking at the emails more closely and found something very interesting.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;">The newest one was dated November of 2006.</span><br /><br />Think about that. It was dated in the future (because it was only October of 06). Therefore, I can only assume it was not emailed, but rather planted. I mean, has anyone else ever heard of emails with future dates being sent out to people? Then, after spending about an hour and a half deleting the emails to get to my normal ones that I have saved (which should have been around a dozen or so), I noticed there were still hundreds in my box. So I looked on the backside of my normal emails and found many more arabic emails.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;">Dated back to January of 2004!</span><br /><br />So I deleted those as well. Truth be told, I reported them all as spam. I did not want anyone to say I was in with any bad group and that all I did was delete to try and cover my tracks. I'm sure the rants in my old blog and references to many online movies about how corrupt our current government is and all, my wife asked me to get rid of that presidential blog and lay low for awhile. And I did, but now I'm back again, and we'll see what happens this time.<br /><br />People, it boils down to this... I am not afraid to die free. And I refuse to live any other way than was written by our founding fathers, the way that succeeded for so long until the wrong people got into power. I know and have heard from many people in "the know" that I will be both threatened and bribed to be quiet. My family will be threatened and bribed. But I will not back down again and neither will they. And if I gain support, that's great. If I don't, that's fine too because If nothing else, I am teaching my own children how to stand up for what they believe in. They will not be blind-sided by the authority of a fastly-becoming fascist government system. They will not be sitting on the couch, letting the powerful become more powerful at their expense! I felt I had to write this blog in case something does happen to me, you will all know that it was not me backing away from this or being a sell-out, giving up my freedom for money. It will be because the powers that be would have gotten rid of yet another threat to their empire.<br /><br />For reasons that can be painfully obvious to you readers, I felt I had to write this post ASAP. I know I still owe Albert my view on the current judicial system. I will get to post it as soon as I can, I'm doing some research on it currently. Keep the questions coming though, I'm loving it.<br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#ffff00;">Lastly, for those dads of you out there, Happy Father's Day!</span> <br /><br /><em>Rich</em>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-48844844833648359162007-06-05T10:32:00.000-05:002007-06-05T17:31:17.088-05:00National IndependenceAhhhhh… national independence… quite the topic, eh? Thanks for the questions, anonymous. For those who have not read the response to the last post, here are the questions asked…<br /><br /><span style="color:#ffff33;">I would like to hear what your stance is on topics like true national indepence, ie. food and oil, national defence, energy consumption, the overpopulation of the prison system and other suc topics. take the time and think them over and get back to us. k?</span><span style="color:#3366ff;"><br /></span><br />Let’s see how much of this I can address in just one blog…<br /><br />Here’s a topic that has easy solutions, but for some reason, the politicians would like us to believe that it is a very difficult topic to tackle. I say they're complete garbage. Imagine if the founding patriots of this great nation said gaining independence from the British Empire was too difficult. We cannot and must not accept what we are being told these days by the politicians and their media puppets! There is a great line from a movie that I have used when debating people for years now. It goes something like this…<br /><br /><em><span style="color:#ffff33;">This country was founded on the notion of “I can” and it’s people like you who have destroyed it with an “I can’t” attitude.</span></em><br /><br />To me, this is much more than just a quote. It’s truth. And it can be true again if we not only believe it, but put it into practice as well. Case in point…<br /><br /><br />We are in a bind with our global trade plans. We have outrageous trade tariffs placed on our goods entering other countries, but those same countries can sell<em> their</em> items to us for next to nothing. Sure this is may seem like a good idea when you go to buy something at WalMart or Target, but it hurts us more than we realize by taking away so many jobs. If a U.S. based company cannot compete with companies in other countries for the sale of items here at home, they either go out of business or are forced to move to another country themselves. Either way, this means the loss of jobs at home and we cannot and must not let that happen any more. How do we stop it though, you ask? <em>Reciprocate the trade tariffs</em> is my answer. If we place the same tariffs on their items as they are placing on ours, we can compete with their prices and therefore keep the jobs here at home. Sure, a DVD player will cost a little more, but it’s a small price to pay for National independence. And if the jobs come back to the States, then people will make enough to be able to afford the items anyway. We could be the great nation again as we once were! I would, of course, gather a committee together to plan out a smooth transition into this so that we don’t go immediately to higher prices without the monetary compensation. But we <em>would</em> make it happen. Because this country will continue to run under the “I can” motto.<br /><br />Now some would say that if we did that, then all the foreign interests (like the EU and China) lending us money every day for the budget deficit would stop lending it to us and that would cripple us as a country. My response to that is that it’s better to break those bad habits under our own terms than to always live in fear of them doing it to us someday. Our dollar has such little value right now anyway that it’s really pretty pathetic (yet another thing that the politicians have smokescreened for years and years). Better to say “enough is enough”, take a step back, and start over the right way back to the road to greatness. I realize that I have not yet addressed any of the questions asked, but this how I think I needed to start this topic. It all starts with the trade imbalance. Oh, by the way, trade tariffs would also go to bringing down the deficit, thereby keeping the amount of taxes needed from the National Sales Tax low (see my previous post on getting rid of the IRS and the annual tax procedure we have now and just go to a sales tax so all pay, i.e. legal citizens, illegal citizens, and tourists alike). Okay, let’s move on to food and oil…<br /><br /><br />We grow so much food in our own country and it goes to three places… 1) It goes to our own people for consumption, 2) It goes to other countries for consumption, or 3) It goes to waste. I think we need a good balance of the first two, and there needs to be such a good system in place that we diminish the amount that goes to waste. The problem with the first two, like I mentioned above, is that the trade is not fair. If we tariffed the incoming items, it would make our items more competitive in pricing and therefore our stuff won’t go to waste. Wasted food boils down to both wasted labor and wasted money. And as a result, being a farmer is harder than ever these days because they compete with countries who pay pennies a day for labor. It’s not fair to our guys and we need to change that. If we make it more competitive, then our farmers make more money. That keeps the money “in-house” instead of giving it to a country that will use the money to build weapons against us.<br /><br />Now oil is a different subject altogether… It pretty much is out of control at this point. There have been designs to improve gas mileage since at least the 1970’s, but every time an invention is patented, the mega-oil companies buy the patent and never bring it to fruit because it would hurt their profits. Even now, with hybrid cars, it will create less of a demand on oil, so they offset that by raising the price of oil. That being said, however, I don’t know if the government should get involved in this issue. It makes it kind of suspicious when we are at war in a country full of oil while being given reasons that proved to be untrue. Every time oil issues are brought up in Congress, they are quickly dropped and the media doesn't mention anything about it. I don’t know why, but I have my guesses as to what happens behind closed doors. The way I see it playing out is they feel that they can charge as much as they want and we'll be slaves to their pricing, but we will eventually reach a breaking point and move on to another source of fuel. I personally think they are shooting themselves in the foot, but we’ll see. But do I think we need independence for oil? It's more that I don’t think we <em>can</em> have it. We consume way too much. If we went to in-house oil only, the price would skyrocket to amounts we can only dream of right now. I think we need to start in the other areas, like getting our country back under control in all of the other areas first, then worrying about oil. One last side note on this is that we drill here in the States for natural gas and we ship it out of our country. If they want to play hardball with prices for fuel, I say we return the hardball to their court with the natural gas. Just the birth of an idea for now, I’ll give it more thought.<br /><br />Energy consumption? I think we are the leading country for energy consumption in the world (not sure how China is doing on that topic these days) and although I would honestly expect us to be, there are several things we can do, local laws that can be passed, to make things better. In Europe, when you stay at a hotel, you enter the room and place your room key in a device on the wall that engages the electricity for the room. How many times do we leave lights on in a hotel? Or the TV? Or the AC? Multiply that by the number of hotels in the U.S. and you’d get quite a bit of savings going on. And the number of lights left on at night is too much. I don’t need to see a Sears sign at night. It’s closed. Turn the lights off. They won’t do it though due to needing to compete with the advertising effects of it’s rivals leaving their lights on, so it would have to be a law. But I would leave that up to the communities to enforce that. <br /><br />I would, however, like to pass legislation on a Federal level that would require the cars to be made with the ideas that I mentioned above that have been bought up and left to rot. Mandate that all new cars get 75 to 100MPG or that they use hydraulically stored power from braking to accelerate from a stop. If it can be thought up, it can be accomplished. Make all cars required to do the above by the year 2014 (which would be two years into my term). There would be no price gouging either because it would not be optional. Today, you can save gas money by buying a hybrid, but you’re paying more for the car instead, keeping the consumer from going hybrid, keeping the oil companies rich. That’s my current stand on energy consumption. If I missed the point or need talk about other things on top of these things, let me know anonymous.<br /><br />Lastly (and quickly), National defense should be made in America. How can our secret weapons be a secret if they are being built by foreigners? No matter the cost difference between the labor, it is just plain stupid to do otherwise. There is no other way to put that I think.<br /><br />I will post next time about the prisons and judicial system, but this is certainly enough for today. Have a great day everyone!<br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Rich</span>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-58636616023578026532007-05-24T07:46:00.000-05:002007-05-24T08:22:17.406-05:00No Child Left Behind, or as I call it No Child Learning ScienceHello again, loyal readers. I have a hot topic today. One that truly burns at my inner being with a hot white flame that makes me want to scream when I even think about the current situation. This country will be nothing in mere years if our children do not get the proper education that they deserve. And that education entails a myriad of things, not just english and math. The current policy we have is the No Child Left Behind Act. This is a good idea in the minds of some. I agree that a national standardized test would be a great tool to accurately determine how well a student is doing compared to their peers as well as how well school systems are doing. The SAT's and ACT's are that tool for juniors and seniors, but by then it could be too late. I don't believe, however, that there needs to be an assessment every year. I've seen how the current system works and it hurts the children and teachers alike. This annual thing is one of two reasons that I don't like the current system...<br />First: I've completed my schooling through High School, done some college, and have also done the Nuclear Power School in the Navy. In all cases, we have been taught for the exams. Some people will deny this fact, but there's an easy argument in my defense. The tests cover the important topics that you need to know. The teaching also covers the important topics that you need to know. Therefore, one is taught for the tests. It just wouldn't make any sense otherwise. I see nothing wrong with the testing methods that were in place prior to the No Child Left Behind Act. They were fair in their knowledge requirements and were not the focus of all teaching.<br />Second: The way the current system is set up, if your school does not get at least a certain score on the annual tests, your school does not receive federal funding. This ensures that the topics of English and Math are taught. These are the basics, right? Reading, writing, and arithmetic... the foundation for all other learning. That's great, but I have talked to more teachers than you can imagine and I hear the same things over and over. Their hands are tied when it comes to teaching anything else. Their focus is so heavy on the teaching to the federal tests that their teaching of other subjects have suffered as a result. What does this mean to our children? When I was in school, they started cutting back on the Arts programs in schools due to the costs of things. The Arts are necessary. They open a child's mind to a whole new way of thinking and therefore, make them more educated. It also gives them a hobby and instills pride in accomplishing something. Oh yeah, it also might just keep them out of trouble by giving them something to do. Now they are taking away Science and History. Science?! This country has done some incredible things in the field of science in our two undred and some years of history. We would not have the healthcare (as far as care goes, not the policies) that we do or the military might that we have had and continue to have without our school systems teaching Science. And History?! There's a little saying that has been thrown around as long as I remember, and it's pretty accurate. It goes "Those who do not learn from History are bound to repeat it". Our children are not being taught these subjects effectively and it will only hurt us in the future. Why is this happening? I think I know exactly why, but I won't share at this time. All I ask is that we all open our eyes and do research into why. It may just make you sick to your stomach though.<br />Okay, so I have voiced my concerns over the current system and you may be wondering what I would do different? Here it is...<br />I would require a national test in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th grades only. This would keep tabs on how the children are doing, but require less taxpayers dollars to do it. And it would be more of an incentive to keep our youth learning in the 12th grade. This would be a great method for scholarship selection as well. And I would get rid of (gladly destroy is more like it) the current policy of "teach what we say or you lose federal funding". This is the biggest crock of something that I have ever heard and I cannot believe that our government has the gall to try to enforce this to the people that they serve. If you pay taxes, you get Federal funding. Period. If the school does not do well on the national exams, it is a mere reflection of the community. Maybe then the parents and other community members should actually spend the time to go to the school board meetings. maybe actually vote for and know who's on the school board. Crazy idea, isn't it? To actually do your part in your community instead of having everything handed to us on silver plates. One might argue they don't have time for it. My answer is make the time. If a family needs three jobs to survive, the only way to change it is to get involved in the community to change things. It's not easy, and I'll agree that it's easier said than done, but it's also necessary. our forefathers could have said the same things about goign to war with England for our independence. It would have been so much easier to go home after work every day, relax, and let the King make the decisions. but they wanted things changed, so they put the effort into it. <br />I would also slim down the people getting paid with tax dollars that are meant for education. When you add all the tax dollars that go to education in our country, we are spending well over $20,000 per student each year. How much of that is actually seen in the classroom? We have gotten so bloated in our education system with nonsense that the spending is out of control. Let's take a class of 20 kids. If we gave a teacher $400,000 and said, do you think you could effectively teach these children this year, what do you think the answer would be? Kids would not be sharing textbooks, I can tell you that. There would also be real field trips like when we were kids, to real locales so we can have our eyes opened to new things. Now, I understand that we need a Secretary of Education and Superintendants and Principals and such. but I wanted to ask that question in that way on purpose. Why? Because that's how our schools were started. They hired a teacher, gave him or her money, and asked "can you teach our kids on this budget?". The community handled it all. I would not be opposed to that again in a sense. I want to give more power back to the community, which would save money by making the decisions come from volunteers rather than from someone getting fat on taxpayer's dollars. The local communities need to decide how much they should pay for their youth's education and what should be taught. I'm a firm believer that when we get Federal government involved in something, it ends up being a huge black hole for money that never actually accomplishes what it was meant to do. <br />One last thing for this topic... The money paid in Federal taxes would be divided equally between all schools. I don't believe in more money for Beverly Hills, California than Garden City, Kansas. Okay, sorry I ranted for so long about this topic today. Hopefully you all agree with me. I just get so upset when I think about the policy of "do what we say and teach what we say to and use the text books that we demand or you don't get the money that you paid into for education!" Ludicrous.Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-39000259227553988392007-04-28T21:45:00.000-05:002007-05-24T08:28:40.533-05:00Have I found a home?<span style="color:#ff0000;">Hello all,<br /><br />So my brother called me this evening and recommended I check out a website for a lesser known political party, </span><a href="http://www.newamericanindependent.com"><span style="color:#ff0000;">www.newamericanindependent.com</span></a><span style="color:#ff0000;">. I checked it out and like a majority of what they believe in and stand for. I just may ask to join them and we'll see where things go from there. I'll definately keep you all posted...<br /><br />I have been in a school for the past few weeks and have also been having some very deep and good discussions/debates with many of my classmates. They have told me that they would post some of the questions that were brought up in our talks (hence my not posting in a few days...still waiting...). I figured I'd mention one of the topics that was brought up this past week, that being military service. Many of those I spoke with were prior military with a few non-prior service, so I was able to talk to both sides of the coin.<br /><br />Where do I stand on the military? I think it's the best in the world and I would continue to make it so. Cutting back on National Defense is not always the brightest thing to do. Granted, we outspent the USSR during the cold war and ended up building a larger defense. But after we won the cold war, we looked at our forces and saw they were too big. I personally think we downsized too much however. Two ways of thinking were predominant, with neither apparently communicating with each other. The first was since we had such large forces, and not nearly as much of threats anymore, it seemed logical to downsize all of our military force. The second was since we had such large forces, it seemed logical to extend the roles of the military and demand more of them. Unfortunately, both happened. This has pushed our military men and women to extremes. Nobody I've talked to has said the military has it easy. And now we're stretching our forces very thin in countries that we shouldn't be in, all so the oil industry and the weapons manufacturers can make money at the expense of our soldiers lives, their families, and our own defense capability. My solutions to make it better? I'm glad you asked...<br /><br />Let's start with the military payscale. Under my idea, the first four years of military service will pay next to nothing (bear with me on this one). Then at the five year point, each individual has a decision to make. To stay in or not. If they stay in, then the pay increase will be equivalent to today's paycharts for the military. This will reward those who decide to make a career out of the military. What about those others who decide to get out? Well, Here's my idea: Free college for those personnel. A year for a year payback, meaning if someone is in for two years, then they get two years of college (years one and two). Three for three and Four for four. There are some stipulations to make it not such a blow to our economic situation or to the rich. First, the candidate must get out with an honorable discharge. A full honorable discharge. In today's military, it is common to see someone get out with what's called an "other-than-honorable" discharge, which means they messed up, but not bad enough to get the punishment of a dishonorable discharge. Also, it would be limited to a community college for the first two years and a state college for the third and fourth years. This would still give the prestigious universities the ability to think themselves better than the rest and would give the upper class a place to go away from commoners. Sorry, my sarcasm sometimes gets the better of me. So now, you're probably saying to yourself a couple of questions. Let me guess...<br /><br />1. That would be a lot of money, so how are we going to pay for the tuition?! First of all, that's why we would pay less of a salary for the first four years. Basically, what we would be paying in basic pay would be going to tuition instead. Even if it costs the government a little more for this venture, it will only better the country by providing college schooling to anyone willing to serve. We could become the best educated nation once again!<br /><br />2. There will be a lot of military members, so where could we possibly find enough jobs for them to do? Part of the military cutbacks in the 90's eliminated a lot of miltary jobs. But they didn't go away, they just started getting paid from another pocket in Uncle Sam's pants. Civilians are now doing a lot of the jobs that military used to do. Here's an example... When my submarine would pull in from an underway, we required crane services. Civilians operate the cranes. They get ludicrous amounts of money to do what anyone in the military could be trained to do. Jobs are out there, we just need to reinstate them. Again, this would save money and achieve my goal of strengthening our military and educating our population.<br /><br />Okay, I've been rambling for quite some time now and It's late at night. Not sure if I explained everything properly and clearly. If not, let me know and I'll try again. Until the next time, peace.<br /><br />Rich</span>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-15414378582013264962007-04-24T13:27:00.000-05:002007-04-25T07:00:40.456-05:00Dan's questionHello again and welcome to my post. Thanks for taking the time to visit and again, I welcome any and all questions or comments. I'd like to give a shout out to "Dan" for asking the first question on my blogsite. His question is:<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">What is your take on the current budget situation, and what are some ideas that you would propose to help eliminate the debt? ie. taxes<br /></span><br />A very good question, Dan. And one that seems very difficult to answer if you ask today's politicians. I think they make taxes seem a tough bronco to tame because for them to help out the common hard-working American with the amount of taxes we pay, our government and big business would not be able to take advantage of tax breaks and loopholes that only benefit the fat cats of our country. I also think that our government spends itself into a deficit every year for a couple of reasons that I'll discuss at a later time. To answer your question, however, I fully believe in three things that would help with both the budget and our Federal taxes.<br /><br />The first is to reduce the amount of money that D.C. spends. This is not done by reducing military costs or by taking away Social Security or Welfare (much more on welfare in the future!), but rather by reducing the amount of items that the Federal government meddles in that could be handled at a State or local community level. We don't need FEMA for disaters that occur in our country. When handled at a federal level, it becomes way too corrupt and the finances go into the black holes (fat cat pockets) while FEMA actually makes the situation worse. This could and should be handled at a State level. This is what we have a National Guard for in each state. The National Guard is not here to go overseas. They are here to protect and help here, in our country. If the States had a plan for emergencies, then they would make their planning specific for the disaters that occur in their state. This could only make response better and the chances of funding slipping through the cracks would be minimized. There are several other programs that could be cut and placed in the hands of the States. I will get into those at a later date however.<br /><br />The second is to change the way we pay taxes... it is currently set up in an unfair way (no matter who you ask). My biggest complaint is that not everyone pays taxes. We have so many people that either are illegal immigrants (which is what our country was founded by) or people who find the loopholes to pay much less in taxes than they should be required to pay. I would get rid of the entire way we currently pay our Federal taxes and redo them in the following way: A National sales tax. If we were to tax every purchase that is non essential (I don't think things like milk and bread or baby formula should be taxed), then we benefit in the fact that everyone is paying taxes. Illegal immigrants, current taxpayers, and tourists alike will all be paying to help run the country. This also makes it fair in the way that the more money you make, the more you end up spending, so there still will be a scale in place to where the poor end up paying less than the rich when you look at the numbers. I would, of course, have to get some statistical analysts to crunch the numbers and come up with what would be a feasable percentage for the tax, but I can't imagine it would be much with how much spending we do as a nation every year.<br /><br />Lastly, to help with the deficit, I would create trade tariffs that currently do not exist. This promotes two things. One reason is that it makes money for the Government and therefore would keep the amount that each of us is taxed to a minimum. The other reason is to make American made products more competitive, thereby creating jobs for our country instead of losing jobs to third world countries and such. The reason we don't have enough tariffs in place now is because it benefits big business and we all know that our public servants would rather work for the better of the fat cats who slide them money under the table than to work for those who they were meant to represent.<br /><br />I hope, Dan, that i have answered your question adequately. If not, just let me know and I'll try to clarify more.<br /><br />That's enough for now. Please keep the questions coming so we can maybe make a difference in 2012. Thanks, and to everyone, good day.<br />RichRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8406078735482369325.post-70459341480796970002007-04-19T14:06:00.000-05:002007-04-19T15:02:59.677-05:00Welcome to the Throwback Party!!Hey, I've got a crazy idea...<br /><br />How about if we elect a Presidential candidate who can actually represent the people of the United States of America? What if we, as free citizens who have the ability to do research and vote logically, actually get out there and ensure that corruption is put to an end in government?<br /><br />It is my goal to provide everyone with an option that can accomplish the above. I am trying to be a candidate for 2012 (due to my age and funds) that has nothing to hide. I have no dark secrets to cover up. In fact, I welcome any and all investigations into my past. I grew up from nothing, very poor in a New Jersey town. I have also spent 11 years in the military and am now working as a regular joe, getting my hands dirty in the oilfields across America. I am happily married to my beautiful wife of thirteen years (whom I've known since High School), and we have 3 beautiful children. I will delve into all of that stuff as time goes by, as well as my position on things, but please ask any questions you wish. I will answer all questions honestly, whether the answer will be popular or not. It is not my goal to be 15 different people to appeal to everyone, but rather just be myself and see if that's enough to get the job done. No topic will be off limits to me, although it may take me a while to respond due to having to mull over the question and discussing it with my immediate campaign support group.<br /><br />I look forward to sharing my views and ideas with everyone as well as hearing from you all. God bless.<br /><br />RichRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04301994451307615777noreply@blogger.com4