The Power of Words

Descartes has had a bad day and spends the night at his favorite bar drinking a bit too much.
The barkeeper asks him: "Do you want some more, Rene?"
Descartes goes: "I don't think so" and disappears in that very moment.

~unknown

Thoughts on Fish Fry, Newt, & Straw Poll

Quite a turn out for the GOP.  Well over a thousand turned out for the day's event.  The place was packed.  But my commentary is not about the event itself other than it should be viewed for what it is, a fundraiser that gives you food and a game to play called the Straw Poll.

I did work the entrance and I got to meet most of the people attending.  I came away with some impressions.

Ron Paul supporters:
Humorless & full of patchoulie!  Hungry looking too.  I know that the vast majority of them were given tickets and bussed in but what Commune were they recruited from in Atlanta?

To be fair, there were one or two who were quite nice and would actually engage in conversation but the truly faithful did not.  I found that most of them lived in a world separate from the rest of us and they weren't allowed to mingle with the outsiders.  Quite the cult.   If you ever engage in conversation with them (it will be in a group of them), never challenge them, it will hurt their brains.  Be nice, offer brownies.

I asked how Ron Paul was different from Newt.  Most stuttered then finally blurted "End the Fed" and other talking points which I agreed with, then pointed out Newt also was for everything that Ron Paul stood for except for his Foreign Policy (keeping the argument simple and feeling sorry for them so I threw them a bone) and then the howling began.

Needless to say, if you live in Israel or Taiwan or S. Korea or Japan or Poland or Czech Republic prepare to kiss your butts goodbye if Ron Paul gets into power.  Never knew genocide was a virtue but it is to Ron Paul supporters.

If you really want to get lynched then you can always ask, what has Paul accomplished in Congress?

Absolutely nothing, just like Bachmann but I digress.

Herman Cain supporters:
I worry about them.  They are people very much like me who have never become involved in politics yet are being forced to thanks to Socialists.  Not like me, they are idealistic and naive as to what its going to take to change Washington.

Its one thing to surround yourself with yes men in corporate America, its another to get 500+ people to agree upon anything.  Welcome to Washington, its not a corporation.

If Cain wins, he will be an automatic Lame Duck from the start and his supporters will become disillusioned and disaffected citizens like they never would have imagined, making it very very difficult to get anything productive, politics-wise, out of them in the future.

They always go on about his corporate record which always leads me to ask which is bigger, the Corporation or the Nation?

Newt did it for a Nation, Cain did it for a company.  Doesn't go over well but facts are facts.  Besides, haven't met many people who actually like working for a corporation but I digress again.

Michelle Bachmann supporters:
I could cut and paste virtually word for word mix and match from Paul & Cain.  Not worth saying anything more.

Rick Perry supporters:
Didn't see any.  Didn't meet any.  Yet he came in third in the straw pole.  Must have been a miracle!  But I'd be wary as to what power granted him that miracle.

I know he likes to pray on street corners like the Pharisee's of old.  I know he likes to grin and throw out zingers (talking points that everyone else has used) which the media immediately claim as profound!  He's not a thinker but he's hired a bunch of them to do it for him (wait, isn't that what Cain promises to do too?).

The guy looks like Bush, talks like him, acts like him (in life, in politics).  The media is going to have a field day once they stop loving him.

Republicans are going to once again shoot themselves in the foot using one of Perry's toys by making this a popularity contest.  If he somehow wins, he'll be another Lame Duck further alienating the GOP from the people.

Newt Gingrich supporters:
Its no secret, I support Newt but I do so out of Reason.

Everyone (literally) I spoke with thought Newt was the smartest man in the room but.....

... and with each "but" it became clearer it was always about personal feelings.

These people were putting personal feelings ahead of what would be best for the country.

Each acknowledged that he was the smartest.
Each acknowledged he was the best in the debates.
Each acknowledged that the Contract with America was brilliant.  
Each acknowledged that Newt was the only one that had changed Washington.
Each acknowledged how effective his leadership had been.
Each acknowledged that he would be great for America but they wanted something different.

In other words, personal feelings trumping Reason.

I'll say this nicely and then leave it at that but the personal feelings these people have would also have kept them from liking or endorsing any of the Hero's of the Bible.

Thankfully those personal feelings didn't keep the vast majority from loudly applauding Newt's speech or keep them from giving him a standing ovation at the end of it.

So, in the end, there was the Straw Poll.  The game where the one with the most bussed in people wins.  Not surprisingly Cain won with a very close 2nd of Paul.  The biggest surprise was that Perry got 3rd.  I'll admit, I was dismayed that Perry did so well, not for Newt but for the Nation.  Newt did place 4th and the rest were much further behind.  Again, in the end its a game.  A way to raise funds and gives the media something to talk about.

Later in the day I was able to witness the brilliance of Newt Gingrich again at a scheduled meet in a truck stop south of Atlanta.  He met with local officials half the time, the other half with the employees, customers, and truckers.  Watching everyone's faces, listening to each conversation one could tell how surprised they were by the man.

That is the brilliance of Newt.  Its in the meeting of him, speaking with him, listening to him.  People quickly find out what they thought they knew about Newt is either correct (he's smart, cares, and is personable) or that they were wrong (he is personable after all and smart!).

I would highly recommend that Newt's campaign begin seminars with Newt, messages from Newt, updates, package a lecture series of his old speeches, commentaries, etc. all via YouTube on a regular basis.  Once people meet him, they change their hearts and minds.

I also would recommend that Newt not wear white shirts.  Its giving me fits in Photoshop!

Pictures from GA Republican Fish Fry

As I get better with Photoshop the pictures will get better but its a good start.  Later I will blog my thoughts from the event.

Photoshop Templates

I've recently acquired the Master Suite from Adobe and have been learning Photoshop.

Here are some samples of my endeavors in creating templates in order to showcase my work:

More to come as I learn the program.

Thinking vs Feeling or Medicine

"As for Diseases of the Mind, against them Philosophy is provided of Remedies; being, in that respect, justly accounted the Medicine of the Mind."
~ Epicurus

What prompted this is my reading "Plato, not Prozac" by Marinoff.

It is about learning to think as a means to avoid and/or solve your everyday problems.

Time tested wisdom "rather than offering superficial New Age or pathology-oriented pseudo-medical approaches".

What a concept.

Free speech or Sedition?

I've been asking for ages why the concept of free speech allows for that which seeks to destroy it.

Found a powerful quote from Ayn Rand:

[The right to free speech] does not demand that private citizens provide a microphone for the man who advocates their destruction....

Better said than I.  

I've always used the analogy that it is illegal to yell fire in a crowded theater and that preaching Socialism was like screaming fire in a crowded nation.  Both seek to panic and destroy.  Both should be illegal.

Can people have their opinions, sure but Socialism is not an opinion, it is a way of life that is contrary to the American way of life.  If people want to privately practice Socialism that would be fine too but not impose it upon everyone which is again, un-American.

People can even leave, since Socialism runs rampant throughout the worldm there are plenty of Socialist choices out there but only one country that is different (or used to be) and that is America.  

America is the lone candle of Light in this world that is engulfed in the darkness of Socialism.

Let us work to keep that light lit, to show the world there is another way, a better way.

Water- the next Socialist nightmare

Reading through this article (link embedded in title) you quickly find that the do-gooders have started another nature jihad and this time its going to affect our Water.

Wading through their Socialist gibberish, one quickly realizes this is yet another wealth redistribution program on acid (the trippy kind). Here is a sample:

Ultimately, those who use water resources must pay a fair price, said Jacqueline McGlade, the executive director of the European Environment Agency. In the future, she said, the price of food, energy and industrial goods must reflect the costs of water use. McGlade compared the issue of water consumption to the debate over cutting greenhouse gases.

You can always tell when its going to be a (man-made) disaster when they start to throw around the word "Fair".  More wealth redistribution when the REAL problem is not the lack of wealth in these nations but that their leaders enrich themselves with our money while their people starve and thirst.

Yet another example of these delusional (or intentional) do-gooders acts of atrocimercy always comes from a variation of this:

"Our lives are complex, so the policies which we create also need to be complex," he added. "They need to incorporate that way of thinking."

Those who have a vested interest keeping themselves employed use this excuse ad naseum.  Also a great indicator of how well this program will (not) work.

Maybe I can save Europe 10's of Billions of Euros spent on worthless studies or articles like this one with my 10 second study- People need water, business needs water, agriculture needs water, everything else needs water too.  Done, please direct deposit 1 Billion Euro's into my checking account.  Thanks.

For the solution as to how to get people more water another 1 billion will be required.  Seems like alot to pay for one sheet of paper that has the entire solution on it but at least its longer than my first study of 10 seconds.

For free I will tell you that my solution will create millions of jobs with unlimited water for everyone but somehow I don't think thats what the Socialists were looking for in the first place.

America has got to be returned to a nation based on Judeo-Christian principles so that the World has a choice on how they want to live.

As I've said, if you're a Socialist you can move anywhere but if you're not one, right now, there is no where to go.

Divided we stand, divided we fall

Whenever a few individuals do break free, adds La Boétie, it is often because their eyes have been opened by the study of history. Learning of similar past tyrannies, they recognize the pattern in their own society. Instead of accepting what they are born into, they acquire the art of slipping out of it and seeing everything from a different angle—a trick Montaigne, in the Essays, would make his characteristic mode of thinking and writing. Alas, there are usually too few of these free spirits to do any good. They do not work together, but live “alone in their imaginings.”


~from Sarah Bakewell's "How to live life"/Montaigne


More from Sarah/Montaigne:


The populace willingly gives itself up, and this only encourages the tyrant to take away everything they have—even their lives, if he sends them to war to fight for him. Something in human beings drives them to a “deep forgetfulness of freedom.” Everyone, from top to bottom of the system, is mesmerized by their voluntary servitude and by the power of habit, since often they have known nothing else. Yet all they need to do is to wake up and withdraw their cooperation.

Montaigne - why Ordinary is better

Being truly human means behaving in a way that is not merely ordinary, but ordinate, a word the Oxford English Dictionary defines as “ordered, regulated; orderly, regular, moderate.” It means living appropriately, or à propos, so that one estimates things at their right value and behaves in the way correctly suited to each occasion. This is why, as Montaigne puts it, living appropriately is “our great and glorious masterpiece”—grandiose language, but used to describe a quality that is anything but grandiose. Mediocrity, for Montaigne, does not mean the dullness that comes from not bothering to think things through, or from lacking the imagination to see beyond one’s own viewpoint. It means accepting that one is like everyone else, and that one carries the entire form of the human condition. This could not be further removed from Rousseau and his feeling that he is set apart from all humanity. For Montaigne: There is nothing so beautiful and legitimate as to play the man well and properly, no knowledge so hard to acquire as the knowledge of how to live this life well and naturally; and the most barbarous of our maladies is to despise our being.
~ Sarah Bakewell on Montaigne

Declarations if I became President...

... I would:

Declare all Foreign Aid to end within 1 year of when I took office with the exception of Israel, S. Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Poland, and the Czech Republic.  (no favorites here, I was born in Germany)  All others would have that year to come and make a case as to why they should be included.  Those not accepted can re-submit every year with the reasonable hope of changing our minds.

Declare that all spending to be frozen at current levels for one year.  Every year after that reduce everyones (except military & intelligence) budget by 10% for the next 3 years, renewable if I get elected again and then for another 4 years.  Might even push to make that permanent so I wouldn't have to run again.  It would be up to each Department & Program on how to implement the reduction in their budget.

Declare a moratorium on any new regulations immediately.  Then each year task each Department or Program to reduce its regulations by 20% until there is a concise document that covers the essentials and nothing else.

Declare an end to taxes and implement the Fair Tax.  This will save the IRS from having to spend any time or money on the aforementioned Declaration.

Declare the end of fraud and waste in all Departments & Programs through repurposed IRS agents auditing each.

Declare that in 4 years all benefits and salaries would end for Congress & the President.  They are servants and should act accordingly.

Declare that the Supreme Court is not permanent and will limit terms with each successive judge to be chosen by the voting public.

Declare an end to the Federal Reserve, the World Bank, and end support for the UN.  If the UN stays, they can pay us rent.

Declare that the legal system must also reduce all laws and contracts by 50%.  And to institute a "Loser Pays" system.

Declare that fines imposed upon businesses or other such entities to be done away with and replaced with jail time if found guilty.

Of course these are all only generalities, some more specific than others.  Also, this is a living breathing document and will be added or subtracted upon until there is a concise document.

Letter to the Tea Party

There is only one candidate that has done what you want to have done today.

This candidate shrunk government and balanced the budget.

Not on a State level nor for a Corporation but for the entire Nation.

He did all this until a group of self-righteous people, including ME, threw him out.

I realize now that my self-righteousness would also have kept me from liking, definitely not endorsing just about every man, woman, or child that was used in the Bible to further God's will.  The murderers, prostitutes, philanderers, mass murderers, traitors, robbers, and many more.

I've learned that each of our walks are individual.  Some get cancer, some wealth, some both until that changes.  Some get rained on while others get sunshine until that too changes.  Each walk is individually tailored and brings us closer to where we're supposed to be.  To criticize someones individual walk is nothing short of criticizing God.  But I digress.

Then, after he was sent packing, we watched Washington creep back to normal and become the swamp it has always been (how ironic its built on a swamp).

And quite frankly we deserved it.  Now in the vacuum that we created, we've had to create the Tea Party.  A wonderful concept but I for one wish there was no need for it.  I'd rather be watching football or playing with my dog or shopping with my wife (which indicates more than anything else how much I wish there was no need for the Tea Party).

Out of all the candidates, only one did what you want to have done.

He created a Revolution, he wrote the bills, recruited Congressmen, he then passed every bill within 100 days and effectively stopped the Obama of his day.

He also set the Government back on course to be what it is supposed to be.

As they say, he's done it once and will do it again.  This time as President he can do so even more effectively and prevent the return to the swamp.

Like him or not, Newt Gingrich is the only one that has done it and we need to get over our self-righteouseness or else we will end up with another Diet Socialist for President or even the fully leaded one we've seen on vacation the past 3 years.

Like him or not, Newt is the best person for the job.  That is why his (and our) enemies have attacked him so much.

But consider this, if you want a true insight to the man's character then remember the last few days in Iowa.

During the entire debate he was teaching the audience how to reform government.  The rest repeated talking points over and over again til their time was up.  Yes, there were some attacks on each other, like school children will but the Teacher kept on teaching.

In the closing remarks every one of them literally said vote for me. All except Newt.

His entire closing remark was a summation of his lesson on reforming government.

Now thats the type of character we need in power.

I've watched the rallies in Iowa since that debate.  Lots of pep rallies.  Very exciting but still the same phrases over and over again.  And then you watch Newt.  Still teaching.

I ask you to put aside your differences, to use your reason and give good consideration to the man thats done what you continue to hope for but will never get from any other candidate.

Newt has taught it, he's written about it, he's done it.

God bless America.

{Mostly for selfish reasons I admit, I'm tired of moving but then again where else can I move to?  Socialists can move anywhere but where do we go for Freedom?  Hint- thats why America is supposed to be different, better, to give people a choice.}

Ann Coulter on British Welfare

An excerpt from her latest column:

The Daily Mail (London) traced the family's proud Anglo ancestry of stable families back hundreds of years. The Nazi war machine couldn't break the British, but the modern welfare state has.

A year earlier, in 2007, another product of the new order, Fiona MacKeown, took seven of her eight children (by five different fathers) and her then-boyfriend, on a drug-fueled, six-month vacation to the Indian island of Goa. The trip was paid for -- like everything else in her life -- with government benefits.

(When was the last time you had a free, six-month vacation? I'm drawing a blank, too.)

While in Goa, Fiona took her entourage on a side-trip, leaving her 15-year-old daughter, Scarlett Keeling, in the capable hands of a 25-year-old local whom Scarlett had begun sleeping with, perhaps hoping to get a head-start on her own government benefits. A few weeks later, Scarlett turned up dead, full of drugs, raped and murdered.

Scarlett's estranged stepfather later drank himself to death, while her brother Silas announced on his social networking page: "My name is Si, n I spend most my life either out wit mates get drunk or at partys, playing rugby or going to da beach (pretty s**t really)."

My thoughts- yes, yes it is quite sh*t in a very, very sad way, all thanks to Socialism.

As I've said, all the economic problems we and Europe are facing are created by Socialism.

Socialism is the original frog in the pot on the stove.

Yet they refuse to believe in anything else.  They are insane or maybe they know what they are doing and its working out quite well.

Its time for the Christians to begin to speak up.

Newt Gingrich's character shines through

I tweeted this right after his closing statement:


"Newt Gingrich, only candidate that didn't say vote for me during closing speech, too busy trying to save the country instead." 


I think that sums up the entire night for Newt Gingrich.  


The same cannot be said for the other candidates.  Between the Botox, the preening, and the talking points none could match Newt's Sincerity, Intelligence, Experience, or Knowledge.


Like him or not, Newt is the best man for the job.  


This country used to be about giving people a chance, unless it gives one to Newt, this country will not be around very much longer.  


IMHO.

An observation of Newt Gingrich's performance last night

Excerpt from Steve Deace on last nights debate:


If I was from the Planet Mars and didn’t know anything about these candidates other than what I saw on Thursday night, there is no question my first choice for President of the United States would be Newt Gingrich. He was forceful without looking undistinguished, aggressive without losing his self-dignity, informed, informative, and put leadership ahead of policy. This was the Gingrich of the 1994 Republican Revolution. Is it enough to reboot his campaign following the Straw Poll? Who knows, but there’s little doubt it at least reintroduces him as a serious voice in American politics again after a disastrous start to his campaign.


My note- the so-called "disastrous start" is as ridiculous as saying that Pearl Harbor was a "disastrous start" and America could never win after that.  Doesn't say anything about America's capabilities nor Newt's.  Other than that, great observation.

More Dick M. on Newt G.

Another excerpt:

In the first debate, Newt showed his stuff. His answers were a class apart from the rest of the candidates and a notch above them in intellectual insight and information.

Dick Morris on Newt Gingrich

An excerpt from his Debate guide for tonight:

Newt Gingrich is the candidate who should benefit most from the debates. He is unquestionably the brightest and best informed of the candidates and has the most experience by far. His professorial style is well suited to debate, and most Republicans would pay admission to see him take on Obama in debate.

Human Rights Violation - Atlanta Public Schools

Denying children an education is a Human Rights Violation.  It can come in many forms but the one that has been "outed" in the Atlanta Public School system is that of teachers cheating for their students.  I say for them since none of the articles I've read give a hint that the students knew about it.  Which brings up another sordid revelation which is that the teachers lied to the students & to their parents.  But I digress.

Tests are there for a reason.  To test knowledge.  If a student cannot pass a test then either the test is flawed, the student does not have the knowledge, or the teacher did a bad job.

Since these were standardized tests given throughout the state and no where else did teachers have to change answers to "help" the students pass, we can safely say its not the tests "fault".  #sarcasm

Therefore we look to the student.  Maybe the student does not have the knowledge to pass the test.  This leads to the question as to whether or not the student received that knowledge.  If they did not receive it then again the finger is pointed at the teacher.  Why didn't they teach the student?  In the case where the student was not able to retain the knowledge given, then why didn't the teacher notice or care enough to help/teach the student to retain the knowledge? 

Quickly it is becoming apparent that who should be looked at is not the student but the teachers.  If the student did not get the knowledge or learn how to use the knowledge or learn how to retain the knowledge that is a direct reflection upon the teacher.  They are not teaching.  And by erasing questions that were incorrect and making them correct they furthered these atrocious acts by not only cheating on tests but cheating, ergo denying, the student of an education. 

Don't even get me started on the parents who are defending these criminals.   My parents would have stormed the school with torches and pitchforks if a teacher had abused me in this way.  But, again, I digress.

America is truly in a sad, sad state.  And thanks to teachers like this, the people will never notice.

My thoughts in 600 seconds or less!

June Tweets

No brainer ad for #GOP- UK & Canada going bankrupt over Healthcare, Spain going bankrupt over Green energy & Obama wants us to be like them.

Obama says family ok w/ 1 term presidency? Why? because they've visited all the countries on their bucket list already?

I live life with my #Human side crashing through walls with a bulldozer and my #Christian side digging out from the rubble.

Providence comes from God and allows room for free will; Fortune is just the way the cookie crumbles ~ unknown

The learning of many things teacheth not understanding ~ Heraclitus

When Inexperience Is An Advantage http://t.co/Za2noNa Richard Branson beating the Gorilla's of Conventional Wisdom & the process minded.

Watching German news cheerleading the Austiegung, they really need their own #FoxNews to counter the Idiocracy of their leaders. #angsthasen

Came to a country with a melting pot and work, now reinvented to a rainbow, a lottery, and "you may be entitled to compensation" thanks #DNC

Hospitals in northern Germany overwhelmed, struggle to provide enough beds & medical care for patients reports @AP Darkside of #Socialism.

I wonder if Europeans will reconsider irradiation now that their vegetables are killing them.

Berliners play by their own rules http://t.co/sqXWQJP Sums up my experience while there last month. What has America become?

No oppressed people will fight & endure, as our fathers did w/o the promise of something better than a mere change of masters~NewtGingrich

#GOP is being short-sighted when speaking about job plans & anything about Obama, they must think beyond the obvious

Yes, a free health care system that is so superior that Democrats exempt themselves and their friends from being in it ~ Ann Coulter

Perhaps conservatives aren’t looking for a savior on the ballot because they already have one ~ Ann Coulter

#Liberals fault Christians for believing in perfection yet they're the ones who shoot down every idea that isn't perfect.

#Liberals / #Socialists point out others mistakes to prove invalidity of concept or person, if true, then they are the worst choice of all.

Sweet deal for girls' closed lemonade stand | ajc.com

Sweet deal for girls' closed lemonade stand | ajc.com

Great story in so many ways. Jekyll Island to the rescue!

May Tweets (some, not all)

Did the Disciples have the right resume or the right attitude & aptitude? Hiring practices in America befuddle me to say the least.

what is #FF? Fast forward? FireFox? Final Fantasy? Fast food? Foo Fighters? Frequent flyer? Ford Fiesta? Fuzz face? Fein-Fein? Fat free?

Methinks no one that deals w/ foreign policy has relatives overseas, I learned more over coffee with mine than what I'm hearing today.

Campaign is not going to be about ideas. Its going to be about leading people to the ideas.

Those who say that problems are too complicated are those who have a vested interest to keep it so.

Instead of being the adults in the room, lets be more like those children with their faith that the ancient bearded dude spoke about.

The idea, the religion of home ownership for all, turned into a national nightmare, a national apocalypse instead of a religion ~ Altucher

The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism~Marx

Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers ~ Aristotle

Anti-Biz environment due to Capitalistic owners forgetting what Capitalism is & Christian owners forgetting their Christianity.

Laws evolve yet Human Nature does not. Inside the box thinkers only come up w/ more laws while ignoring Human Nature. These are our experts.

For Man to understand & then to decide whether to delight therein or to transcend his human nature mirrors the fate of a society.

In order to improve the mind, we ought less learn than to contemplate ~ Descartes

I do not lead, I point ~ Plutarch (paraphrased)

..the theme of the absurdity of our education: its end has not been to make us good & wise, but learned ~ Montaigne

We ought to find out not who understands most but who understands best ~ Montaigne

We work merely to fill the memory, leaving the understanding & the sense of right & wrong empty ~ Montaigne

Education in America today ~ Learning more while knowing less. Education Industrial Complex

The US should let go of all countries for one year then make them re-apply thereafter but only if they help us and their people.

#GOP thinks if their lips are moving they're communicating, not to be confused with how do you know when #DNC is lying.

It is not about winning an election. It is about winning a country. Business as usual needs to end.

The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it ~ John Locke (not the guy from LOST :-)

Favorite quote from Newt Gingrich

No oppressed people will fight, and endure, as our fathers did, without the promise of something better, than a mere change of masters.

~ "A Nation like No Other" Newt Gingrich


I know I've posted this many times but it just seems appropriate with tonight's "deal" in DC.  

Newt's solutions are based upon knowledge.  An indepth knowledge of past and current events.  An indepth knowledge of all the various ways of Thinking, also known as Philosophy & Religion just like the Founders of this country.

Too many are basing their decisions on emotion, faulty facts, and/or polls.

We need someone that has true knowledge & that would be Newt.

Remember 1994.

If Newt had not created a Revolution, then, all of this would have happened back then.  Faces change but the problem stays the same.  Then it was Hillary & Bill, now Obama.  Same agenda just a different day and face. 

We had Newt then, we need him again.  He did it then, he will do it again.