Gonna keep this one short and sweet and let you all debate amongst yourselves.

I believe the word "hero" is being used entirely too freely in America today. It is not intended to be used on stupid people who have seen the error of their ways. The cessation of stupidity or stupid behavior does not qualify one to be a hero. It is to be commended, but not given hero status. By including stupid people who have stopped being stupid in the class of heroes we dilute the meaning of the word so much it dishonors those who commit real acts of heroism. Recently, people who have quit smoking after the behavior has caused deformations to their bodies have been labeled heroes. So, next time a firefighter runs into a burning building and carries out a baby while suffering significant damage to his own body, ask yourself this question, is his act of valor and personal sacrifice on the same level as a person who quit smoking? Does the cessation of the stupid behavior of smoking qualify a person to be put in the same classification as a Marine who pulls three of his wounded buddies to safety while taking enemy fire to his own body? Does exposing your deformities that were caused by the stupid behavior of smoking in a public service ad qualify you to be labeled the same as a police officer who uses his own body to shield a child from debris propelled at tremendous speeds from a gas explosion? As much as I admire these people who have the courage to expose themselves and the realities of smoking to the scrutiny of the public, it still remains that they are living with the results of stupidity. Even though they have admirably quit smoking, the fact remains that the cessation of a stupid behavior does not a hero make.

I originally wrote this blog piece February 8, 2013. Many commented to me that the government would not try to do exactly what I said they would in this piece. Yet, it is happening as we speak. Veterans are receiving letters from the government stating that they have been deemed incompetent and are no longer fit to practice their Second Amendment right.

Since Sandy Hook, there has been much debate over the whole gun control issue. This is a healthy debate that we must have from time to time here in America to ensure we remain a free country. So the debate, regardless of which side you fall on, is a good thing. The thing is people are missing the point. People are offering a plethora of band-aids to cover the wound but nobody is offering a real solution to the problem.
Banning weapons is never the answer for a free population. The whole concept of our country is based on the ability of the people to defend themselves from those who would abuse power.
Registering guns is an idea that is supported by some, but will cause more problems in the long run as people don’t believe it is appropriate for our government to know who has guns and what kind or how many. It is akin to your boss telling you the password to the file that has all the corporation’s secrets.
Background checks is a knee jerk response by politicians to get some sort of consensus and agreement from which to show that some progress is being made. However, it is not a response that addresses the problem of preventing the crime from happening in the first place. There are 300 million guns in private hands in the United States right now. Approximately 90 million honest and law abiding citizens own almost all those guns. Criminals obtain their guns through theft or purchasing them through illegal channels. So how is a background check going to stop the criminals from purchasing a gun? In short, it won’t.
Some of the partly outside the box thinkers have determined that there needs to be an overhaul of the mental health system. This needs to be done, of that there can be no doubt. However, it has to be done in a manner that does not violate people’s rights. There also have to be safeguards in place that prevent the process from being abused. As soon as it is determined that mentally ill people cannot have the right to purchase or possess weapons (which is a good thing) the government will immediately figure out a way to ensure that everyone who applies for a background check be determined to be mentally ill. It will become their favorite tool with which to prevent people from obtaining guns. Eventually, it will be determined that the mere desire to purchase a gun is grounds for being declared mentally ill.
Additionally, there has to be sever e restrictions on which mental illnesses are the ones which will disqualify one from obtaining a firearm. All people will occasionally succumb to bouts of depression and need to be treated for it to a degree. Most forms of depression can be managed quite well with some form of medication such as bupropion or something like that. Most people who suffer from depression can even learn to manage their depression without medication. Some cannot, but many can. So it should not be a given that anyone who has ever suffered from a bout of depression should be disqualified from gun ownership.
However, there are cases where people who suffer from a form of depression such as bi-polar disorder should be disqualified. The extreme swings that a bi-polar person can experience can often make it difficult for them to make good decisions especially under pressure. And there are also the very obvious mental illnesses that should be on the list of those that disqualify one from ever obtaining a weapon.
This is an issue that needs MUCH national debate. This is an issue that needs careful consideration. The potential for abuse of this process is too great NOT to have intense and serious national debate.
While all those proposals have their good and bad points, the fact remains that they do little to nothing to solve the problem of violence. The problem of violence needs to be addressed head on and in plain, clear, easy to understand language for all to hear and understand.
Yes, you are correct, this article is an attempt to posit one possible SOLUTION to the problem of violence.
The only way to combat violence is to meet it head on. Violence respects only one thing: strength.
Strength does not necessarily have to come from the barrel of a gun, though. Or from wielding any sort of weapon at all. Violence can be stopped through the strength of courage, integrity and honor: the elimination of fear.
It is understood that fear is necessary. It is what keeps most people from doing stupid things. It is also what allows others to prey upon innocents.
Fear is the tool of choice of terrorists. It is what makes them so effective. I mean, seriously, look at how fear changed America in ONE DAY! On September 11, 2001 the United States received a sucker punch that gave us a black eye and brought us to a knee. It was only the second time in living history that an enemy was able to attack us on our mainland successfully. It was the first time they were able to create massive casualties. It was the first time 70 years that it entered into our collective consciousness that we have become vulnerable to attack.
America sprung into action and immediately began trading in freedom for safety. It is understandable how such a mistake could be made by the people. Most people alive that day didn’t remember the hardships and trials our country experienced during WW2. The war experience of most Americans of that time was limited to pixilated images flashing at them from their television screens or the glorified combat simulations they played on their computers which allow one to die and come back to life again to retry your mission. The bubble of unreality was burst that day and it scared most Americans. Out of fear, they reacted without thinking and gladly handed over their freedom to the government for empty promises of safety. With that done, and the responsibility of their safety now in the hands of someone else, they returned to their television screens and computer games.
This was an eye opener for those in government. This gave them the perfect chance to organize a campaign of fear to unleash on the people. They realized that if they just scared enough people they could get Americans to give up more and more freedom giving the government more and more power.
And it worked. Americans are now the most fearful people in the world. We find something to be afraid of around every corner and behind every bush. As a result, we demand laws be passed to get rid of corners and bushes. Every time we find something to be afraid of, we demand a law to get rid of it. When we have nothing to be afraid of, the government then devises something for us to be afraid of. If they don’t, then we can count on the free enterprise system to make that happen for us. Look at the tremendous success of Alex Jones, for example. This is a man who has cashed in on American’s fear. He creates wild and outrageous conspiracy theories, fabricates evidence and creates false documentation that he conveniently discovers or is given to him by “secret” sources. This man is a multi-millionaire. He has made his money by creating and maintaining a state of fear which he then feeds off. All the way to the bank!
As Americans, we have become weak willed, gutless and cowardly. It used to be that anywhere in the world, if you used the word American it was a word used with respect and awe. It was synonymous with courage, integrity and honor.
How far we have fallen. And the only reason we have fallen this far is because of our fear. We have given into the fear. We define ourselves by our fear. We determine how we conduct our daily activities by our fear. Those with more fear accomplish less. Those with less fear are usually given a position in the government where they can be watched and controlled. And those who aren’t given government positions, are ridiculed by those who were given the government positions in an effort to discredit them. This has created more fear in people thus securing the positions of those now in power.
But, no matter how hard the bad guys have tried, they have been unsuccessful in creating a completely fearful environment. There has been one obstacle in their way. “Truth?” you are asking yourself. No. There is no longer any truth available. It has long since been diluted and convoluted and polluted to the point where it is no longer recognizable. In fact, now, truth is considered to be lie. Lie is considered to be truth. So, no, Truth is no longer the obstacle of the enemies of freedom.
The last obstacle for the enemies of freedom to overcome to successfully create a society completely controlled by their fear mongering is firearms.
Imagine that. We have now come full circle, haven’t we? The cycle begins anew. Now they use fear to attack the firearms and the last remaining obstacle to their total domination over the people will be removed and they will be free to do whatever they want. And if you think this isn’t the plan, you are a fool.

If you listen to the majority of consumers, they complain that the cost of their electricity is too high for the amount they use. Even after changing all their incandescent light bulbs to CFL bulbs and purchasing expensive energy saving refrigerators and washers and driers, they complain that their energy bills continue to skyrocket out of control. So they add another layer of insulation to their attic and wrap their hot water heater in a thermal blanket. Their bill continues to rise in spite of all they are doing to conserve electricity. So now they check the seals around their vinyl, double paned, argon gas filled windows, insulate their hot water pipes and turn down their thermostat in the winter and turn it up more in the summer. Guess what? Their bill still continues to rise. In desperation, they purchase power strips for their computers and turn them off completely at night. Finally, their bill goes down, about ½ of a per cent.

In anger, they complain to the power company only to receive a letter in the mail stating that the power rates are going to increase, yet again. Confusion sets in when the consumer learns that the power companies have developed new, efficient generators that can generate twice the electricity at half the cost, yet their bill continues to rise. They learn of so-called “smart grids” that are supposed to use energy more efficiently thus cutting the cost of power usage, yet their bill continues to rise.

So, why is this happening?

There are a number of reasons for this happening. Primary amongst those reasons is plain old greed. But, since there is very little we can really do about that, we will not waste time discussing it.

Next is politics and regulations. I know what you are thinking right now: “But you just said we weren’t going to discuss greed!” Ordinarily I would agree with you, but in this case simple greed is compounded by politician’s inability to actually do something that is good for the people. Since they are more interested in being re-elected than anything else, they are motivated by whomever fills their campaign fund bank account. Guess who is doing that?

However, there are a lot of regulations currently in place that were good for their time but are now outdated or obsolete because of changing technology. Since the aforementioned politicians are unable or unwilling to work for their constituents, the regulations are very slow to be changed or updated to reflect the new tech. This makes implementing the new tech more costly as it has to be retrofitted to comply with outdated regulations and fit old infrastructure.

So our options are to either scrap the entire existing power grid and replace it with the new smart grid or retrofit the new technology with the equipment to make it work with the old. Unfortunately, it is actually less expensive to retrofit than to build a new grid. So, now you have a power generator that produces twice the power at half the cost pumping out electricity into a grid that can use the power more effectively but less efficiently. The end result is that less electricity is actually making its way out to the grid and demand for that electricity is increasing every day.

This is the problem. I wish to propose a simple, inexpensive solution.

We need to generate more power more effectively and transmit it to the end users more efficiently. WRONG!

We need to stop looking at the problem from that view. The problem doesn’t start with the producer and it doesn’t end with the consumer. The problem is in the transmission and storage of electricity.

So, let’s reverse the problem. Let’s not start looking for solutions from the electric company’s power production plants, whether they be coal, hydro-electric, geothermal, nuclear or whatever. Let’s start looking at it from the end of the problem: the consumer. Rather than have the consumer passively use up all the power that is brought to their house, let them generate a small amount of power to send to the grid. If each and every house in America generated only one kilowatt hour of electricity each day, that would increase America’s energy production by more than 100,000,000 kwh EVERY DAY!

Now, this is a drop in the bucket of the 11 billion kwh America uses each day. It also does not take into consideration businesses, factories, warehouses and other structures that can be utilized to generate power. If we factor those in we can generate 300 million kwh each day. Remember, this is based on each structure generating only one kwh per day. Most structures can be modified to generate from three to 100 kwh per day.

This can be accomplished by utilizing solar power ONLY! Yep, if we put one solar panel on every rooftop in America, we could generate 300 million kwh or more per day.

Now, let’s consider what we could do if we added small wind generators into the mix. A good residential wind generator can generate one kwh per day. While it is not practical to add a wind generator to every structure, it is practical to add them to many locations which have unused potential, such as on top of water towers, sky scrapers, etc.

These solutions aren’t going to revolutionize the world or create abundant free energy for everyone. They aren’t intended to. The point with these ideas is to get people thinking outside the box. Look at the problem from another perspective. There are literally hundreds of millions of structures across America that can be utilized for energy generation. I have only listed two of the myriad methods which can be utilized by these structures for energy generation. We haven’t even discussed enzyme powered electrical generators, atmospheric free electron capture devices, earth batteries and other new and old technology that can be used to generate power.

It really comes down to the people demanding that the government remove the monopoly that power generation companies have over the grid and generating systems and start doing something that will benefit the PEOPLE for a change.

Much of what I have written in this article will be read by blind eyes because of the recent criticism the President has received regarding the epic failures of his misguided attempts to assist companies like Solyndra. While I agree that these failures are certain to be a major setback to the development of efficient solar power generation, they should not be seen as a funeral procession for the industry.

Another issue is the actual method of generating of electricity. It seems that we have developed the idea that the best way to generate electricity is to rip electrons from an atom and send those electrons to the device which needs them. Why does it have to be done that way? Is there not a better way? Is there any research being done on other ways to generate electricity? Is electricity the only power source we can use? Can we not use other things? What are those other things? Where are we with regard to cold fusion?

These are questions which must have answers as we plod ever so slowly into the future. If we do not solve the energy problem, then, quite simply, we will eventually not have any. While this won’t mean the end of mankind, it will mean the end of our lifestyles as we know it to be now.

I don’t know how many of you may remember a little event that happened in 2007. It was the economic downturn that led to the Great Recession (I think this is the third Great Recession we have had in my lifetime). Apparently a combination of some poor policies set in place by Presidents Clinton and Bush allowed for some companies to conduct unscrupulous business. Americans with less than ideal credit and a less than ideal income stream were sought out by these businesses. They convinced these people that they should overextend themselves and accept credit cards they didn’t need and mortgages they could not afford to repay.
The people, knowing that they had not the ability or discipline to repay these loans and credit cards gladly accepted them anyway. They purchased homes they could not afford and toys they did not need. Some, those less inclined to try to keep up with the Jones’, were smart enough not to use all those credit cards which, ironically, only led to their downfall in the end. I will explain that later.
While all this was going on, big banks and other money firms were laundering their ill-gotten gains by selling off their “toxic assets” to other firms, who, in turn, sold them yet again. These toxic assets kept being sold over and over again with firms purchasing some of them three or four times. Eventually, this came back to haunt them and the house of cards that they had built their firms on collapsed bringing down the entire world’s economy with them.
The reason they collapsed is simple: the people whom these predatory companies convinced to take on these economic responsibilities eventually could no longer keep up with the payments on the debts they had no business accepting in the first place. This began the problem. Homes were being foreclosed on in record numbers. Bankruptcies were at an all-time high. People were being forced to begin living within their means which meant credit cards and other loans were not being paid so that families could afford to keep food on the table.
The effect this had on America’s economy was almost immediate. The stock market crashed. Companies whose stock was devaluing were forced to fire workers in order to keep afloat and ensure their stock holders made a profit. As these people were laid off, unemployment claims skyrocketed. Those who had credit cards still, you know, the ones who didn’t abuse their credit, were now forced to live off of those credit cards just to pay the bills. Eventually, their accounts maxed out and, since layoffs and firings were still increasing and hiring was all but non-existent, they could not keep up the payments on those accounts. It was a brief reprieve at best.
America was in a very bad way. The people demanded their pound of flesh. They wanted someone to blame for the economic crisis. Someone other than themselves, that is. Congressional hearings were conducted. New laws making it more difficult to file bankruptcy were passed in an effort to protect the credit card companies. And, in the end, the companies who created the problems in the first place were bailed out by the government at the taxpayer’s expense infuriating the people even more.
However, soon, there was a beacon of Hope and Change on the scene. A new President was elected based on promises he made to make things better. The people were elated that, finally, someone was going to make things right; make things better. The country would heal and we would be back on our collective feet in no time at all.
But it was never to materialize. Things actually got worse. Well, for some it got better. Those who started the whole mess to begin with actually became wealthier and were rewarded for their misbehavior. Meanwhile, the middle class and the poor continued to suffer. And suffer. And suffer.
Slowly, the economy limped along. New laws were passed which made things worse for the common man on Main Street. The rapscallions on Wall Street, made more and more money, though.
So, with the destruction and misery caused by this debacle, Americans learned their lesson: credit is not necessarily a good thing. If you can’t afford to purchase a new car, then don’t. If you buy a house, make sure it is not more house than you need AND make sure you can afford to pay the mortgage. Most importantly, live within your means.
At least, I thought Americans had learned that lesson. Apparently I was wrong. The same rascals who began this problem all those years ago are back at it again. The thing is, they aren’t even trying to make a new scam. They are running the SAME EXACT scam they did before. Offering loans and credit to people with less than ideal credit and less than ideal income streams. “Go to Credi****.com where auto dealers say ‘Yes’ when others have said ‘No!’” claimed an advertisement I heard on the radio today. The offers for credit cards one cannot afford are starting to be mailed out again to those same people who couldn’t make the payments before.
The worst part is that the PEOPLE are taking out these loans and accepting these credit cards knowing full well that they can’t afford them! They are voluntarily enslaving themselves, AGAIN! We have become a nation ruled by corporate greed and corruption. Advertising agencies are hired to convince us that we absolutely must have the latest techno-gadget or other item we really don’t need. It seems that everyone and their brother are offering credit cards. You can get a card from a bank, an airline, a store, a website or a credit card company. I have even seen a credit card offered by a satellite television provider and a telecommunications company.
The same people who couldn’t afford the credit the first time around are taking out these loans and accepting these credit cards. The same companies who offered the credit and loans the first time around are offering them again. And America is sliding further and further down the abyss.
I was one of those who succumbed to the temptation of credit and easy living without the ability to pay for it. It was a hard lesson to learn. I almost lost my house and my credit is totally ruined and will be for years to come. My family struggles to make ends meet each month. But, you know what? Aside from the mortgage we are virtually debt free. We have learned to do without a lot of the things we want but don’t need. Yes, I have a flat screen television. But the difference is that I learned I had to save up for it if I wanted it. I made my monthly payments on it BEFORE I bought it. Instant gratification only leads to problems. Many Americans have learned that but most have not.
I fear that since we did not learn our lesson the first time around, we are doomed to repeat it again. It will not go as well for our country the next time our economy collapses. It will doom our country.

I do not understand the "Violence Insurance" proposals out there. What makes even less sense is that it is something that seems to be supported by Dems and Repubs. Just one more example of how the right is willing to compromise away our freedoms. One more argument in favor of abandoning the two controlling parties in favor of a third party that is more interested in increasing and enhancing our freedoms rather than finding creative ways to hoodwink the people out of their freedoms.

It is WRONG and illegal to force insurance upon lawful gun owners. The argument from the left is that since we must have insurance to drive a car on city, state and federal roads, then why should we not require insurance for those who wish to own a gun?

I have two problems with this. The first is that the argument they are using is the typical use of half truths to make an invalid argument seem to be logical. But, the fact is that we have to have automobile insurance because driving on the roads is not a right, it is a privilege. It is something that is granted to us by the government and can be stripped from us by the same government. We do not, contrary to popular belief, have the Right to drive on the roads regardless of the fact that we paid for them.
Gun ownership is not a privilege, though. It is not something that the government can take away from people. It is something that is considered to be sacrosanct. It is off limits to the government. And for good reason. But I am not discussing that part of the issue. The government cannot require any kind of tax or other imposition which would create a hardship on a person's rights. Forcing people to have insurance on their guns would do just that, create a hardship on lawful gun owners.

The other thing is that the "violence insurance" first creates a mis-characterization of guns as something that are violent in nature when, in fact, they are not and it forces upon one an insurance that covers nothing that isn't already covered by other insurance.

Let me give you an example of what I am saying. Let us assume, for the sake of this argument, that I own some sort of firearm. Since I am a homeowner, my homeowner's insurance already covers any damage that could be caused by the use or misuse of that weapon. By forcing me to have additional insurance on the gun, I am now covered by an insurance I don't need. In other words, I am wasting my money. The "violence insurance" will not cover anything more than my homeowner's insurance already covers. So, what motivation would I have to get additional insurance? None. My gun is already covered.

"But, Robert, you racist, gun toting, ignoramus, not all gun owners are home owners," you are saying. That is true. However, renter's insurance covers gun use and misuse also. Automobile insurance also covers any damage that may be caused by transporting your gun.

Americans all tend to agree that bullying is an action to be discouraged and avoided by out citizenry. However, we seem to believe it is okay for our elected officials to practice this behavior. In fact, the United States bullies other countries every day into submission to our will. Our federal government bullies state governments into submission every day. Our state governments bully county and municipal governments into submission every day. All government bodies in the United States bully our citizens into submission every day.

So my question is, why is it that we allow our public servants to bully but we don't allow our citizens to bully each other?

Many people are going to answer that it isn't acceptable for the government to bully citizens. I would tend to agree with that statement. Yet, for decades now, we have allowed it to happen to us. So, by our own actions we are admitting that we believe it okay for the government to bully but not the private citizenry. If we as a society did not believe this to be the case, we would not continue to elect bullies to office. Yet, decade after decade, we continue to do so.

In fact, it has gotten to the point that we are now ruled by a new class of politicians: the bully class. This is not limited to liberals, though they tend to be the worst offenders. The conservatives are also just as guilty of bullying the citizenry. So why do we do it? Why do we espouse to believe that bullying is wrong yet continue to elect officials whom we know will continue to bully us around?

It has come to pass that the government is snooping on all our emails, cell phone conversations and other forms of electronic communications without obtaining a warrant to do so. This is, to say the least, highly illegal. It is, however, a fact. The government doesn’t even hide it. They have told us they are doing so in the name of “combating terrorism” on American soil. Even though they know that it is illegal for them to conduct such activities, they have passed illegal laws to make their actions appear to be legal. The worst part is that nobody is challenging them. When someone does challenge them, they seem to end up dead by “suicide” or they just seem to disappear from the face of the Earth.
This is unacceptable. There is absolutely no other way to look at it. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all Americans to resist such behavior and actions. The problem is, email, cell phones and such have become such an integral part of our lives that it is next to impossible to expect all Americans to stop using them. So, I suggest, instead, give them what they are looking for. They are looking for certain key words. Words like exercise, bomb, president, terror, action, drill, etc. In other words, any word that can be misconstrued to mean something other than their original intent.
For example, if I were to write in an email, “I went to the store and purchased a new drill,” that communication would be flagged, sent to some computer program for analysis and, if deemed suspicious, sent to a human interpreter for further analysis. If the human interpreter deems the message to be suspicious, the message is then sent to someone who decides what action to take regarding that message. If it isn’t deemed suspicious, the message is tagged and added to a database for storage until they can find a way to use that message against me.
This isn’t supposition. This is fact. In fact, the government has stated outright that is exactly how they treat such messages. Now, I know that many of you are thinking, “Well, Robert, you fear mongering communist, if you aren’t doing anything wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about.” On the surface, that seems to be a reasonable argument. I am, in fact, NOT doing anything wrong. I have absolutely no intention of ever conducting any form of terrorist act against my own people or against the government of the United States. That isn’t the kind of person I am. I love my country and its people and for what the country is SUPPOSED to stand. I would die for my country if necessary. I have already proven that by not only serving my country in the military during peace time but also during war time. So my patriotism is not in doubt.
However, if you look beyond the surface of that argument, you will see all that is wrong with it. The moral value which is wrong with that argument that I am going to deal with is the fact that the government seems to think it is acceptable for them to spy on us even if we aren’t doing anything wrong. They have no reason to believe that I am going to commit any act of terror. Yet, they believe it is okay to conduct a warrantless search on my Free Speech. Without probable cause and without a warrant, they have decided that they can snoop on all of your private communications.
So you think that if you are just careful and don’t use any of the keywords they are looking for in your communications, you have nothing to worry about, right? WRONG. The list of keywords they are looking for is expanding almost daily. It has gotten to the point where it is almost impossible to say or write anything that doesn’t have at least one word on their list.
But, again, that is beside the point. The fact remains that it is ILLEGAL for them to conduct such a seizure of your communications without a warrant signed by a judge. So what can we, as people who do not wish to see our communications spied on by our government, do to resist such actions? That is a good question.
The simplest and most effective way to disrupt their activities is to give them exactly what they are looking for. That’s right. Write communications several times per day with several of the keywords they are looking to find. Email them to yourself or to a friend. When speaking on your cell phone, make sure you use some of those keywords. Overload their computer systems so they don’t have the capacity to analyze all of the communications. It is similar to a computer hacker’s denial of service hack. They overload the server with requests for service to the point that the server cannot handle the requests and it is forced to shut down. If we do this, we can overwhelm their Utah compound in one day. It will not have the ability to handle all the communications it receives with those keywords and will eventually have to stop.
Once they see this happening, they will simply purchase more computing capacity. So we increase our efforts. We have hundreds of millions of people who utilize electronic communication every day. If every person participated in overwhelming their computers two or three times per day, they would NEVER be able to purchase enough computing power to analyze every communication. In other words, their mission will fail and they will be forced to cease operations.
Is this likely to increase the chances of terror activities in the United States if we do this? The answer is NO. The fact is, anyone interested in conducting such operations against the U.S. is going to use proxies, scrambled communications devices and other countermeasures.
Make no mistake about it. The intention of the government is not benign. It has only one purpose with this program: to illegally spy on all Americans all the time. Therefore, we, as Americans, have an obligation and a duty to resist their illegal activities. This form of resistance is designed to be harmless and cause no damage to anyone or any person’s property. Well, maybe not everyone’s. The illegal government use of electronic hardware and software may be damaged. But, that is our right. When the government conducts illegal activities, we have the right to do whatever is necessary to stop them.
Most who read this will think that I am just some whack job who is anti-government. You could not be farther from the truth. I fully support government. I am not an anarchist. Our founding fathers have set up for us an almost perfect governing system. I believe whole heartedly in that system. It is the best formed to date and has worked for us for centuries. There is no reason to change that form of government. Unfortunately, our current form of government doesn’t see things that way. A few decades ago, we saw a fundamental shift in the way government conducts itself. It began expanding at an alarming rate. It began granting itself powers it does not have the Constitutional right to have. It began to terrorize the American people.
My purpose in writing this is to motivate the American People, the rightful rulers of this country, to resist illegal laws. When passive resistance is not enough, then we must actively resist such laws. We have passed the point of passive resistance. The politicians have made it clear that they do not care if we passively resist. Therefore, it is time to actively resist. If active resistance does not work, then it is time to consider one of our last two options: capitulation or revolution. Let us hope it never comes to the point where we have to make that decision. But, as for now, we aren’t there yet. So active resistance is the path we must take at this point.
Challenges in court are an inevitable result of active resistance. If you believe your course to be morally justified and right, then you must be prepared to suffer the indignities and slanders the government will inevitably use against you. You must be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. You must be willing to be disappeared or suicided. For that is the route they have made very clear is the path for all who resist their attempts to overthrow our Constitutional form of government in favor of their tyranny. If you are not willing to make those sacrifices, that is fine. At least don’t get in the way of those who are willing.
It has been said, “When government fears the People, there is Liberty. When the People fear the government, there is tyranny.” You need to ask yourself one simple question to figure out where we as a society are today. Do you fear the government? People who are honest with themselves have no other option than to answer yes. If you don’t fear the government as it exists today, you are a part of the tyranny movement. If you do fear the government as it exists today, you are part of the Liberty movement. Don’t know whether you fear the government or not? While driving down the road minding your own business, a police cruiser pulls up behind you. Do you get nervous? Do you immediately begin to ensure you are doing everything correctly? What is the first thought that comes to your mind? That is a low level fear of your government. If the first thought through your mind isn’t, “Oh, there is a police officer behind me. Good for me, I am lucky they are there,” then you are afraid of your government. If the first thought through your mind is something to the effect of, “Crap, there is a cop behind me! Am I doing everything right? Is there an offensive bumper sticker on my car? Is he running my plates? Is my insurance up to date? Should I slow down so he will pass me?” then you are afraid of your government.
Have you ever thought or said, “I can’t say (or do) that because the government might come down on me?” Have you been told that you can’t protest in a certain area because there is a public official somewhere near by? Have you been told that you can’t say certain things? Are you afraid to say certain things to your neighbors or friends because they might take it the wrong way? Then you are afraid of your government.
Do you worry about the things your pastor, priest, rabbi or other religious leader says because it is controversial? Are you concerned about gun control? If a police officer knocks on your door and asks to come in to look around, do you let him because you think you have nothing to hide so you need to let him in? Then you are afraid of your government.
Are you worried that if a person breaks into your house in the middle of the night and you injure or kill that person that you may be imprisoned? Then you are afraid of your government.
Do you ever take extra measures to ensure your privacy whether in your own home or while walking down the street? Then you are afraid of your government.
The point is, the government has instilled a state of fear in the American population. That is known, by their own definition, as terrorism. Yes, I have said it, our government has become a sponsor of terror in our own country. You know what? We let this happen. We were duped into thinking their intentions were benign so we let them get away with a bunch of little things and now they have a grip on every aspect of our lives. The only thing they don’t have control over, yet, is when we take a shit.
This is not what America stands for. This is not the America I fought for. This is not the America our troops are currently fighting for. Our country stands for Freedom and Liberty for all people at all times. Period. No person should ever have any reason to fear their government. If you fear only one thing about your government, you live in a tyranny. If, on the other hand, the government exists in fear of YOU, then and only then, are you Free.
We currently do not live in a free society. We have done exactly what the founding fathers feared we would do: we traded our Freedoms for the illusion of security. Now, we have to work to retake our government back. We have to work extra hard to re-win our freedoms that we gave up.
One way to do that is to resist illegal actions by the government. Resist until they cry uncle. Then, take those who are guilty of committing or allowing those actions and try them in a court of law. No exceptions. If an FBI agent is conducting a warrantless search, that agent needs to face the music. The age old adage of “I was just following orders” will not be a defense. Every member of every government agency takes an oath to uphold the Constitution and defend it from all enemies foreign and domestic. When they follow orders that are illegal, they are willingly violating that oath. They must be held accountable for their actions. Every member of Congress takes that same oath. If they pass laws that violate the Constitution, they are willingly violating their oath and need to be held accountable. Every member of the Executive branch, including the President, also takes that oath. If they allow unconstitutional laws to be passed, or if they conduct themselves in a manner that violates the Constitution (such as illegally snooping on private citizen’s email) then they must be held accountable. The government and its agencies are NOT above the law, whether they believe so or not.
In conclusion, I would submit to you, dear reader, that it is time for Americans to take action and resist the terrorist state. It is time to go to our ballot boxes and vote for men and women of integrity who will uphold our Constitution.

When I was a teen, my mother and step-father were involved in a dispute with the State of Alabama over the right to home educate their children. This particular issue did not affect me much as I was already over the age of 16 and could legally drop out of high school. However, this issue had a severe impact on my younger siblings. They were of grade school age.
I am not going to go into the details of what happened, let’s suffice it to say they fought the State to a draw. They were jailed pending the surrender of my siblings. My parents were never going to give up their children so they remained in jail. Eventually, a family friend found a creative way for the state to save face and for my parents to get out of jail without having to lose custody of their children and all ended well.
So, why am I telling you about this? That is a good question and I am going to give you a good answer. But, first, I want to discuss something that I hear a lot from people whom I am very close to. I am a person who is very active politically. I see it as my duty to my country to be politically active. This will never change. It is part of who I am and what I am and I have no desire to change it. I love America and always will.
But I get sick and tired of being told, “Robert, who do you think you are? You don’t have the answers.” So who gives a damn if I don’t have the answers? Having the answers is not the point. The point is not that I am right or wrong. The point is not whether my perspective is the one that will save the world or not. Those are, in reality, beside the point.
So what is the point? The point is that at least I am trying to find the answers. I am questioning that which I think is wrong. I am taking a STAND for something. I am not going quietly and meekly into the dark hoping that someone will rescue me if I should find danger. That is not what it means to be an American. Americans stand up for what they believe in. It doesn’t matter who is right or wrong, because in the end, all that matters is that you stood up for something.
My parents instilled this value into me. Not just in theory, but by their actions. When they were faced with standing for what is right or capitulating to corruption, they stood proud and tall. They paid a heavy price for standing for good in the face of racism and corrupt politicians. They may not have won on the issue, but they didn’t lose either. They won, in my book because they could not be corrupted no matter how hard the system tried.
Their adventures aren’t even a footnote in the history of America. What happened to them barely even made a ripple in the fabric of society. But, that isn’t the point. What they did do was create a sense of right and wrong in their children. They created children who know what it means to stand up to corruption. They created children who are unafraid to stand up against tyranny. For one more generation, the idea of standing for what is right is alive and well. That is what they did and that is how they won.
I have many friends on my facebook who disagree with me on just about everything politically. I have more respect for them than I do for anyone who will not take a stand for anything. Those who will not take a stand one way or another on important issues are cowards.
It isn’t that I don’t understand why people are afraid to take a stand. Our government has become so corrupt and completely out of sync with the Constitution that people are afraid of being disappeared or worse. I, on the other hand, am not. If the government wants to suicide me or make me disappear for the remainder of my life, so be it. At least then I will KNOW beyond doubt that I am on the right side. I will KNOW that I have stood for what I believe in and I struck a nerve that scared some corrupt politician. I will know that my voice was heard and my thoughts and opinions are out there for all to read and ponder.
It is better to die for what I believe in than to kneel obediently before a corrupt system. And I will never represent myself to be anything but that.
Does this mean that I am going to go all Dorner on people? Hell no. That is a fool’s choice. Does it mean that if the Gestapo (known in America as the DHS) should come to my door and shoot me dead, that I won’t fight back? No. That is also a fool’s choice.
What it does mean is that I have a sense of right and wrong and I am willing to stand and fight for that. I am willing to make the sacrifice, if needs be, to forward those ideals.
But most importantly, I have a daughter who will know that whether I win or lose, I stand for what I think is right. It is a value that will be instilled in her and I will know that for at least one more generation, there will be at least one more person who will hold that value. And, to me, that makes it all worth while. The fight for right must continue.
It isn’t that I think evil will ever be destroyed. That will never happen. Evil is a necessity. Without it, we would not know what is right or wrong. We would not know the difference between freedom and tyranny. So, it isn’t my goal to eradicate evil. It is my goal to be a righteous warrior who will stand in the face of evil and spit on it.
Sometimes the righteous will gain the upper hand and sometimes evildoers will gain the upper hand. It is a battle as old as time itself. Right now, on planet Earth, evil has the upper hand. It is therefore, incumbent on all the righteous to train their children in the ways of good and instill the value of courage in them. For if we do not, the reign of evil will be prolonged and mankind’s suffering will be increased many fold.

I am not a revolutionary.
Really, I’m not. I would much rather see a peaceful solution to issues than a violent one. I believe most people feel the same way. But that doesn’t mean that I will run from a fight if it comes to my door. I am just saying that if we can find a way to peacefully, through the soapbox and ballot box, for example, solve the very divisive issues facing America right now, I would be very happy. I don’t want to see people engaging SWAT teams or BATF agents. That will only lead to an escalation in violence eventually involving the National Guard or the regular military. I would not want to see what America will become if that happens.
The problem is, we have too many apathetic people in the country right now. As long as the issues don’t directly affect their household, they really don’t care. For example, many of those who own rifles solely for hunting are not engaging in the gun control debate because their particular species of rifles are not on the “endangered guns species” list. So they allow their apathy to overcome their common sense and do nothing. They do not realize that their rifles are next to be banned as they will be labeled “sniper style weapons” by those in power like Senator Feinstein. She has already declared publicly that she would prefer a total gun ban in America (even though she owns a gun herself). It should be noted, in most of the gun ban legislation, she would be exempt from the ban.
The gun control issue is not the only issue where apathy dominates the minds of Americans, it is simply one that I have chosen to use as an example. The point is, people in America have become either incapable of looking into the future or they are unwilling to as it would force them to think for themselves. Most people still believe in journalistic integrity, though that went out with the ‘80’s. There are very few journalists left out there who are willing to tell the truth regardless of the consequences UNLESS that truth is guaranteed to bring huge ratings due to its highly emotionally charged content.
I understand why journalism has devolved into its current state. During the 70’s and 80’s, people became bored with the news. Let’s face it, reporting on only the facts is dry and people lose interest very quickly. News agencies realized that they needed to add emotion and color to their content in order to engage the recipient’s interest. So, they added some color and a bit of emotional impact items to their stories and people responded positively. Ratings improved for broadcast media and subscriptions increased for the print media.
Look, I understand journalistic integrity. I took journalism classes throughout high school and a few in college. A few of the articles I wrote back in those days even won some awards. In addition to journalism classes, I have taken many creative writing classes which I attribute to my award winning poetry and short stories. I am not saying this to brag, but simply to point out that I know the difference between good old fashioned journalism and the current form of journalism that focuses on sensationalism and creativity, whether it be truth or not.
This brings us back to the problem of apathy. As our technology has improved over the decades, we have become increasingly dependent on it. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it definitely has had a negative impact on our society as a whole. Our technology has allowed us to produce more, make more money and dominate the world’s economy. It has also caused us to become more dependent on entertainment and less self-dependent. Too much of our society has become addicted to the forty hour work week rut. They get up at six in the morning, work until four or five in the afternoon then go home to watch television until time for bed again. This is fine to a degree. Americans are a hardworking people. We deserve our entertainment time. The problem that most don’t understand is the entertainment they are watching is designed to tell them what to think, how to behave and even how to vote. It promotes values that are inconsistent with our social views, turning ordinarily thoughtful people into mindless and thoughtless zombies.
As an example, I am going to comment on the show “Continuum” currently showing on television. This show portrays those who are fighting for freedom and liberty as terrorists and the governing system trying to oppress them as the heroes. This is not a show I want my child to see as she needs to know and understand that concepts such as freedom and liberty are worth fighting to promote and protect. But those who are hooked on the show are receiving the message that promotion of freedom is a terrorist act. That concept is then backed up by our own government saying the exact same thing as Janet Napolitano has done on numerous occasions.
They are further given the wrong message when our President is seen bowing to a tyrannical Saudi King and giving hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and military hardware to known terrorist organizations.
But, since their cities and their homes have not been directly affected by terrorism, most Americans are unwilling or unable to consider the consequences of these actions. They don’t understand how their civil liberties have been slowly eroded over time until the government has become all powerful in a country that traditionally mistrusts government and where the power is vested in the PEOPLE and not in the government.
Janet Napolitano has stated publicly that those who love and support the U.S. Constitution are to be considered potential terrorists. Yet there is very little outcry over this. Why? Because people have been subjected to radical left wing extremism for so long they think it is normal to behave in that manner. Many have been bought and paid for by government entitlements. Let’s face it, if you were given free housing, free food and free cell phones, you may be inclined to do as you are told and vote for whomever is giving you these things. If you are unwilling to look at the consequences of these actions, you would fail to see that you are slowly being shackled and enslaved by the very people who are purporting to “help” you.
Politically, I am a right leaning moderate. I support much of the position of the right but I also support many positions of the left. For example, I am pro-choice and I believe college education should be free. I believe that marijuana should be legalized, regulated and taxed. So I cannot be considered a right wing radical just because I support the constitution and support the right of law abiding Americans to keep and bear arms. Yet, many on the left would have you believe that simply because I don’t agree with 100% of their agenda. For the left, it is an all or nothing gambit. You either agree with all of what they believe or you are subject to scorn, ridicule and outright slander.
I believe that America is at a crossroads in its development. We are at a point where we are going to turn right, turn left or keep on the middle way. I fear, though, that if the country turns right, the left will resort to the same terror tactics they claim to want to protect us from. If the country turns left, the right will have a general call to arms and engage the left in bloody combat. I think the only real way to save this country is for moderation to control our political future. The left has some good ideas. The right has some good ideas, too. We need to shake Americans awake and get them to realize, it isn’t an all or nothing prospect. You don’t have to dedicate your lives to either side. You have the right to pick and choose those ideas you think are good from either side and act upon them.
Continuing to do what we have always done will only result in more insanity. It is time to do something different, America.

A boy in Caro, Michigan brought cupcakes to school. He had adorned them with those plastic green WWII soldiers that are popular amongst boys of his age. The school initially decided to call the mother of the boy (she had baked the cupcakes) and tell her that they would not serve the treat. She informed them (rather colorfully) that they should just remove the toys and serve the cupcakes anyway. This is what the school finally did sending the toys back home with the child in a bag.
Afterward, the principal of the school released a press statement in which she (probably inadvertently) put the soldiers who fought in WWII in the same class as murderous psychopaths. She also stated that in a Democracy, we have to respect the opposition’s point of view and because she did, she decided it was inappropriate to allow the toys.
So if we go by her example, any religious adornments should not be allowed. Necklaces with the Star of David or crosses or any other religious icon should not be allowed in the school because there are people of other faiths and people of no faith attending the school. Nobody should be allowed to wear clothes in the school because, chances are, there is a student whose family practices nudism. Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmatic (the three “R’s) should not be taught because there are children who cannot learn these things and it is insensitive to those children to allow others to be smarter than they.
There is a fundamental flaw with the principal’s statement. There is NO opposition. If you are pro-gun rights, the “opposition” is those who are anti-gun rights. If you are anti-gun rights, the “opposition” is anyone who is pro-gun rights. So, by using the concept of respecting the “opposition” this principal has stated to the children that there is only one value to support and the other value is one that should not be supported. She took away the children’s choice. This is the same thing a rapist does to his/her victim: takes away their choice. Yes, I am flat out stating that what she did was as wrong as any rapists behavior.
In my opinion, what the principal should have done is taken the opportunity to use the situation as an educational tool. She could have explained to the children what the soldiers represented. She could have used the opportunity to educate the children on how guns are used properly and how guns are used improperly. These are facts that are appropriate for educators to expose the children to. By removing the toys, the principal censored the children’s education and instilled a negative emotional response to guns. She, again, took away their choices. She raped their minds.
This is, of course, what the anti-gun rights advocates want. But in doing so, the principal violated her own statement by neglecting the views of the “opposition”, in this case, the pro-gun rights advocates. Mind rape!
She cited the insensitivity to the victims of Sandy Hook and other murders. Is this appropriate? Should we shield our children from the realities of life? The fact of the matter is, life is not fair and very often bad things happen to good people. This is not something from which we should shield our children. It is something which they should learn from an early age.
By teaching our children about these things, we do not desensitize them to the results of the actions of a few individuals. Rather, we teach them the realities of life so they are better prepared to deal with things like what happened at Sandy Hook. They are also better prepared to deal with other, more mundane, aspects of life like rejection, loss, failure and other things that are difficult. When we shield our children from these things, they are less able to deal with them and more likely to become one of those who commit the atrocities we hear about in the news.
The principal of this school, unfortunately, did more harm to her charges than good. She taught them that it is appropriate to respect only one point of view rather than multiple points of view. She shielded them from one of life’s realities making those children a little less able to cope. She taught them that truth only comes from an authority figure. She taught them that it is okay to censor some people’s views. She taught them that it is okay to take away people’s choices.
These are not the values I want America’s children to have when they become responsible for this nation. I want our children to respect all people’s opinions and views. They don’t have to agree with those opinions or views but they need to respect them. I want them to be well adjusted and understand that life is not fair, perfect or easy. I want them to understand that it is okay disagree with anyone even if that person is perceived as an authority figure. I want them to understand that Freedom of Speech is one of the most precious of human Rights and should be practiced by anyone and everyone. I want them to understand that opposition is healthy and opens the door for communication and debate.
These are fundamental values that we seem to have forgotten or have decided are no longer appropriate for the future generations who will be responsible for this country. When Bill Clinton was elected President, a radio announcer stated that a new generation has taken over the country. I remember thinking to myself, “He’s right. I am part of that new generation. Am I ready to be responsible for this country?” By this point, though I didn’t realize it at the time, I was already acting responsible for the country. I had served a tour in the Navy and I had served in Desert Shield/Desert Storm as a reservist. But, I still had my doubts about my ability to understand what was going on in the nation and the complexities of the issues my generation is facing. But, I was also young and inexperienced being only in my early twenties. We need to do what we can to help eliminate that uncertainty in our future genrations.
Raping the minds of our children will inevitably lead to further acts of mass murder in the future. More and more children will be confused by what they have been taught in school not matching up with life’s experiences. Life will be teaching them one thing and their teachers will be teaching them that their experiences are not real. The confusion this brings will cause increasing numbers of mentally ill people who cannot cope with the contradictory nature of their lives.
The mind rape of our children must stop. Teachers need to return to teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. It is not the place of the public or private school systems to teach our children moral values. It is the responsibility of the parents to teach these things to their children. If a parent wants to raise their children with a socialist mindset they will raise them as liberals, which is their right. If a parent wants to raise their children to resist change and remain mired in the past they will raise their children with a conservative mindset, which is their right. If a parent wants to raise their children to think for themselves and come to their own conclusions, they will raise their children as moderates, which is their right.
As Americans, we need to stop the attempts by both the left and right to continue raping our children’s minds. We need to put a stop to the eternal war for our children’s minds. My child’s mind belongs to ME and her MOTHER until the day she turns 18. Until then, the left and the right need to keep their hands off my child’s mind. They need to keep out of ALL of our children’s minds publicly.