Maybe the people aren't so stupid after all...

I find it interesting that the US manufacturer's of ammunition and firearms are experiencing record sales.

I went into Wal-Mart the other day to get a couple of things and went over to the Sporting Goods department. Posted there across a section of nearly-empty shelves was this notice: "We apologize for the inconvenience but our suppliers are unable to fill our product orders. We hope to be able to stock these items shortly."

The empty shelves were where the ammunition used to be... At least THOSE manufacturing jobs are still in the US and not China!

When the people hear the rhetoric espoused by the politicians currently in power and respond by purchasing all of the available firearms and ammunition, it should make you wonder what they are hearing. All I heard was that things were changing...and life was going to be good and we would all have jobs and chickens in our pots. All paid for by those evil rich people.

I wish I could say that I found it funny. Instead, I re-joined the NRA.

Something I find interesting is below. If it sounds a lot like the modern Democrat party, give yourself an "A". My comments follow each point to show how we are slouching towards the Communist ideal.

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

Kelo v. New London set the precedent of eminent domain confiscation of private property in order to give it to a use that would generate more revenue for the city. The beginnings of the loss of private property in the land.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

Got it. Was worse under Jimmy Carter, will be bad again under Obama.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

Look for a re-institution of confiscatory inheritance tax rates.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

Got it. Except, we have it under the guise of property seizure when accused of certain types of crimes.

5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

We are about to nationalize the US Banking system openly, instead of doing it privately like happened when the Federal Reserve Act was passed under Wilson.

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.

Fairness Doctrine anyone? And, can anybody honestly say that today's slobbering, fawning media isn't a de facto organ of State right now? At least of the Democrat Party?

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

When Government acquires ownership interests in manufacturing and other production as part of a "bailout", you have achieved this.

8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

If you are not currently gainfully employed, you might just get a shovel and a "request" to go build a school or bridge somewhere under this "economic Stimulus" plan.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.

The US Agricultural industries live and die by whether they get Federal subsidies. Ethanol would not exists as a viable fuel if it had to openly compete on the market, without Federal Mandates to produce it and incorporate it in regular gasoline. All without any proof that it will have a beneficial impact on the environment but with plenty of evidence to the contrary.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.

Not only do we have free "Education" in our public schools, just try to not attend! The Truant Officer will hunt you down, arrest you, and bring you back to school for your indoctrination. Since the school curriculum is dictated by the State, knowledge is parsed, doled, and withheld in order to justify the State's goals.

These 10 items listed above are straight from Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto and are the "Ten Pillars of Communism". Accordingly, we are most of the way there. We might even get to vote in 2010 to change things (although I expect another "Crisis" which might even necessitate martial law or something preventing the elections).

Can you guess why all of the Communist countries name themselves "Peoples Democratic" something-or-other? "One man, one vote, one time." That's why. Also, as we have seen in Minnesota this year, and in New Mexico and Washington State in 2004, it is not who voted that matters, it is who counts them that does. Thank you Josef Stalin.

The only change that I will believe in will come from grass-roots organization of true Libertarians and Conservatives coming together to throw the socialists and communists out once and for all.

In the meantime, I am going to keep tabs on the Wal-Mart store shelves.

Pax,

Newbius

We are either Free or we are not (and it looks like we are not).

< SIGH >
I hate socialism...

Given the direction that our incoming President wishes to take us, I thought it only fair to contrast it with quotes from two people from an earlier time in American history. The quotes are below the narrative.

President-anointed Obama intends to spend upwards of $1,000,000,000,000 ($ONE TRILLION) in make-work jobs programs and "stimulus" next year alone. This amounts to more than $3,000 for every man, woman, and child alive in the US today. He intends to do this wile ALSO giving 95% of the US a "tax-cut" amounting to an average of $1,000 each.

Assuming that 300 million people pay taxes (which they don't), this means that in addition to this proposed stimulus package of $750,000,000,000 in make-work and PORK projects, Obama plans to give away another (follow the math here, 305,000,000*95%=289,750,000 people * $1,000 each) $289,750,000,000 (that's 289 billion 750 million dollars). Soo...that's over a Trillion in giveaways, funded by the 5% of Americans who already pay more than 20% of the Federal Budget right now.

God help you if you ever aspire to be more than a welfare recipient.

God help me, Please! This man and the Democrats in Congress are about to enslave America. They are going to do this by appropriating 1/14th of the entire US Gross Domestic Product for the year. They are going to take 1/14th of the USGDP, IN ADDITION TO the amount that they are ALREADY taking from you to support the current Ponzi Schemes known as Medicare and Social Security, and the Waste, Fraud, and Abuse of the Taxpayer dollars more commonly known as the Federal Bureaucracy.

Every US Citizen and illegal Alien paying taxes is now a slave of the State, admitted or not.

Let's hope that the damage can be reversed in two years.

Now for the quotes:

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in our bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
-Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2004), 40th President of the United States

I do not choose to be a common man, it is my right to be uncommon if I can. I seek opportunity, not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the State look after me. I want to take the calculated risk, to dream and to build, to fail and succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to a guaranteed existence, the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of Utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficence, nor dignity for a handout. It is my heritage to think and to act for myself, to enjoy the benefits of my own creations, and to face the world boldly and say: With God's help, this I have done.
-Ezra Taft Benson

The above quotes represent to me a stark contrast to the proposals of Obama and his Socialist friends in Congress. It is not the duty of the Government to decide winners and losers, to take from some in order to give to others. It is not right, fair, or just for the Government to so baldly and brazenly exceed its authority, just because they have successfully labeled the results of their failed policies a "crisis".

Logic and common sense (two things in critically-short supply in Washington) should dictate that we analyze the consequences of our actions and CHANGE OUR ACTIONS. If mandating that people be allowed to buy a house that they cannot afford, then those people should pay the penalty for their own error in judgement. And, the bank should be held to account for being stupid. Only when Government interfered into this process (by mandating low-income loans to people who didn't qualify, under threat of revocation to the Bank charter if they failed to comply) did we get into this mess.

It is time to stop. Get GOV out of the mortgage mess. Get Barney Frank and Chris Dodd a reservation at a Federal Penitentiary for malfeasance and misappropriation of taxpayer dollars (and a little criminal activity relating to FNMA and FHLMC and Countrywide Mortgage to boot). Let's stop underwriting stupidity and requiring the taxpayer to pay for it. As a taxpayer, I am getting damned tired of footing the bill.

Pax,

Newbius

My Nerd is showing...

Umm...how do I say this?

Way back in the dark ages when I was in 5th or 6th grade, some nerdy kids in my school played this strange thing during lunch called Dungeons and Dragons. Well, that was more than 30 years ago and I thought I had completely avoided being associated with those kinds of people. (I've been a closet nerd all of my life though.)

Recently, my oldest son got into D&D. First with version 3.5, now with version 4. He and his friends (who are suspiciously like those kids in my elementary school - smart, kind of nerdy, slightly socially awkward, killer senses of humor, and, did I mention, SMART?) would come over to our house to run a game. It always sounded like lots of fun. But, you know, that nerd thing again.

I stayed upstairs and kept the pizzas flowing...

< SIGH >

I got invited to play last week. Twice.

Oh. My. God.

Talk about a screaming good time! What an absolute blast! I am now wondering what I have been missing for the last 30+ years. Really. It was that much fun.

So...

Tomorrow the adventuring party has to finally face this BEAST of a Ancient Red Dragon, who is more than a little annoyed about some things in his life and wishes to take it out on us...

Or something like that.

Now I am trying to figure out how to get my other kids interested. I think it would be a blast to have a family adventure once a week to kill beasts and loot the horde's treasure, and basically vent some frustration on some NPC's.

It's FUN. Really!

In the meantime, my Elf Ranger is honing his archery skills...

:)

Peace,

Newbius