Property Rights No Longer Exist -- In the United States?!

Illegitimate means illegal. Against the law. Nobody in charge cares, and nobody who cares has the power to do anything about it. This is the most frightening time in my entire life. I have never seen anything like it. 

We Were Being Played

 Trust your instincts.

I Get on My Knees and Pray, We Won't Get Fooled Again

Most of you regular readers know that my mantra for 2020 was, 'we are being played'. We were hoodwinked, lied to, kept in a state of fear and oppression. Things weren't adding up. What I was being told didn't match up with my own lying eyes. I only hope we're older and wiser now, and next time, we'll be ready for the liars.

Meet the new boss... Same as the old boss... Play it loud!

Washington State Income Tax Begins January 1, 2022

My employer announced that it is required to begin withholding Washington State income tax from my paycheck on January 1, 2022. I learned this for the first time from my employer, not the mainstream media. Huh. 

I didn't vote for this. Did you? One of the reasons I moved to this state in 1986 is because there was no income tax. I suppose my residence here is no net positive for Olympia, but I digress.

It's for some kind of long term care insurance policy, like Social Security, which I already resent not having the freedom to invest and plan for myself. I'll be retired before I'll be eligible to collect anything, so basically I'm just paying in. There's no benefit for me at all. What's more, they're already saying this program is underfunded, so look out. Federal income tax and Social Security started out low too. 

The state thinks all my earning are belong to them. I think we need to make a big deal out of this. 

Washington State’s New Long-Term Care Payroll Tax Begins 1-1-2022: What You Need to Know

The Donald: Not Your Father's Ronald

I have heard Donald Trump being compared to Ronald Reagan. Just yesterday, in fact. I'm sorry, but Donald Trump is in no way similar to Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan was principled about freedom and the Constitution. Ronald was humble. Ronald was gentle. Ronald was witty. Ronald could stay on point. Ronald spent many years in the bull pen, warming up for his gig.

But we get the politicians we deserve. Our culture has coarsened considerably since the early 1980s. From defining deviancy down, to the kind of language we tolerate on TV and in public. I still tend not to use words in public that I would not use in front of my parents. How about you?

There's this article by Mychal Massie, making the rounds on Facebook today.

As someone who takes pride in being self-aware and principled, I don’t need endless memos and researched anecdotes to peel back the layers of pretense to expose the real Donald Trump. I know exactly who the man is; he’s an opportunist, a narcissist and borderline megalomaniac, who lives for the thrill of the hunt. However, he’s also a closer, a shark, and a shrewd businessman who embodies America exceptionalism: a concept that forged the most powerful and affluent nation in less than two centuries and an ideal liberals have worked tirelessly to eradicate.

I find it very convincing. I wish I didn't still have this sick feeling about putting up a Trump sign in my yard. It just makes me feel dirty. But I know Trump is probably the only viable choice this November.

People like me and Ted Cruz blathering on about the Constitution don't get any traction. Reagan still had the benefit of civics education in public schools to fall back on. He didn't have to fill in the blanks, to blank stares, like we do. Unfortunately, it is a manifest conflict of interest for government run schools to teach of limited government. What do you expect from them? Go, school choice! Given the recent tyrannical bathroom mandate, school choice might indeed be seeing a revival. 

Meanwhile, we got Trumped. He might not be any less tyrannical than the current tyrant, but at least he's my tyrant. Until civics and the founding constitutional principles are once again taught to our young, we can expect more of the same. 

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." ~ Benjamin Franklin

When All Else Fails, Manipulate the Data

According to the New York Times (of all places), after decades of collecting health insurance statistics, the US Census is going to change the metrics, at exactly the same time a major change in health insurance policy is taking place. What scientist or statistician does that, unless their intent is to hide the true effects of this change? (The vulgar term for hiding the truth is called "fraud", as in "the regime is a fraud", or "the King is a fink!"

This is the lowest our government has ever sunk, the worst regime in my lifetime, and I lived through the Nixon years! Where are the torches and pitchforks?

Government Control vs. Freedom

I believe that control is the opposite of freedom. How can it not? But I am not an anarchist. With no government, it would be up to us to stand at our front door with a shotgun, to ward off all aggressors, leaving no leisure time (and probably little time to mind our own business, in fact). Kind of like Walking Dead, without the zombies. So limited government -- just enough to secure the natural rights we were born with -- is necessary.

But today I find myself spending an inordinate amount of time defending my rights against the very regimes that were supposed to protect them. It is eating up my leisure time, and what goes on while I'm at work goes unmonitored. They steal from my pantry while I'm out plowing my fields. What's more, they use their plunder against me, giving my tax dollars to grant-grubbing special interests whom I oppose, who advocate enacting more policy that further reduces my freedom. The bulk of said plunder doesn't even go to help the people the pandering politicians pretend to want to help.

I attend city and county council meetings. State and federal legislature meetings are too far away and are too full time for me to monitor directly. But I've seen the sausage being made, and I think if you were really aware of what goes on in there, you'd be alarmed as well. Even some of the ones on "our side" (whichever side that happens to be) don't understand the proper role of government.

Don't even get me started on administrative bureaucracies that by definition, aren't responsible to the voters. They enact regulations having the force of law, but we have no recourse. We can't vote them out. That is not government by the consent of the governed! The fact is, the government we have bears no resemblance whatsoever to the mechanisms that were invented to keep us safe. It's Fahrenheit 451, without the fire trucks.

White House to Woodward: You'll 'Regret' Challenging Us

Yeah, Bob, Mr. Woodward is it? You'se goin' to regret challengin' us. You wouldn't wanna wind up like Mr. Breitbart there now, would'ja? Andy wasn't, you know, smart, see? Now lookit 'im. You'se gonna need to shut your pie hole now, get it? I'd hate for for you to suffer, ida know, a heart attack, if'n ya knows wot I mean.

SB 5737 and The Fourth and Second Amendments -- Oops!

Democrat Senators Adam Kline, Jeanne Kohl-Welles, and Ed Murray said in effect, “We just didn't know that Fourth Amendment infringement was right in there next to our Second Amendment infringement – our bad!”

Nice try, Poindexters! So not only can’t you read, but you can’t remember the exact same wording in a bill from three years ago? If you’re going to lie, you need to hire a better fact checker. I know you think we citizens are an inferior breed that are just not capable of self-government, but we were smart enough to catch this one, weren't we?

But while I have your attention, let me lay some natural rights on you. Rights are something we have, not something government grants. My rights, including self-preservation and self-defense exist even without the Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment says, “... the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” It is written with the acknowledgement that the right already exists. It doesn't say, “...the right to keep and bear arms is hereby granted.”

Even if illiberal control freaks in Washington (State or D.C.) manage to decimate the Bill of Rights, I still have all the rights I was born with. To exercise them would merely put me at odds with a tyrannical regime. Sadly, I would not be the first human to suffer that fate. It’s very disquieting to see it gaining momentum in these United States.

Reactionaries in Action

I guess in response to a growing number of skeptics about his claim that he goes skeet shooting all the time, The White House released this photo of the prez blasting away at something near the ground. That would be some low-flying skeetage right there, Mr. President.

President Barack Obama shoots clay targets on the range at Camp David, Md.,
Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

According to The Weekly Standard, The White House admonished,

"This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House."

In part, that's in direct conflict with personality rights for images of well-known figures. Which of course prompted Sondrakistan (Knowledge is Power) to double down on the above warning, with the following image:

President Barack Obama intimidates clay targets on the range at Camp David, Md.,
Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012. (Obvious Photoshop by Reactionary Artist)

This of course also mocks the ridiculous Department of Homeland Security suggestion that scissors may annoy a crazed mass murder bent on mayhem, into not killing everyone in the building. Left implied in the DHS message was the obvious, if you don't have a gun handy, you might try scissors (may God have mercy on your soul).

P.S., Ever notice how, when someone gets too overbearing and oppressive, people go all reactionary?
P.P.S., Can someone explain why there's a second plume of smoke from that shotgun going off to the president's right? I don't shoot enough skeet, ducks or intruders to know firsthand.
P.P.P.S. Then there's this...

Update: Now this is funny, I don't care who you are!

You Have Been Warned

My Dad sent me this:

It's probably photoshopped, because I doubt that any government these days actually supports the Second Amendment. It represents a threat to them (as it was intended). They would never put up a sign like this.

Actually, the Second Amendment was intended as a threat to oppression and tyranny. If our government feels threatened by the Second Amendment, what does that tell you about our government?

Update: What is oppression and tyranny? That is when someone makes you do things you don't want to do, and takes things from you that you don't want to give up. How is that different from violent crime? It isn't! Someone making you hand over your wallet at gunpoint is oppressing you, tyrannizing you. If you had a gun, you could resist this tyranny. And here's the beautiful part: even if they didn't know if you had a gun, you could resist this tyranny. The Second Amendment guarantees your natural right to resist tyranny. A government that infringes on that right is by definition, tyrannical. Don't be fooled.

I Am Not a Tyrant

President Obama made these comments during the unveiling of his Second Amendment infringement yesterday:

There will be pundits and politicians and special interest lobbyists publicly warning of a tyrannical, all-out assault on liberty — not because that’s true, but because they want to gin up fear or higher ratings or revenue for themselves. And behind the scenes, they’ll do everything they can to block any common-sense reform and make sure nothing changes whatsoever... ~  Barack Obama

Not because that's true? Mr. President, of course you don't think you're a tyrant because,

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. ~ C.S. Lewis

The problem that I fear we are facing is the one our founders debated at great length when they were designing the American form of government: Are Americans virtuous enough for self-rule? Or, do we require an elite governing class to make us do the right things, against our baser instincts?

I am sure that some folks will scoff at the suggestion that we need to be "virtuous". What an outmoded concept! It's so... nineteenth century! That’s a problem with our culture, not the concept. With liberty and freedom comes great power -- including the right to keep and bear arms -- dangerous! Yes, but,

With great power comes great responsibility ~ Voltaire, Churchill, Roosevelt, Spider Man

The word "virtue" might be a bit dated, but "responsible" isn't. If there are too many irresponsible people walking the streets these days, we may not be responsible enough as a culture to enjoy freedom anymore, as President Obama seems to be suggesting. 

Sadly, Obama may be right. Our culture selected him (a second time!) in part, because he offered to take responsibility for things that we should be doing for ourselves -- at a great cost to our freedom. I fear we are seeing only the tip of the iceberg.

The Picture Says It All

Thanks to Greg for sending me this.

Operation Hot Mic

"After my election I have more flexibility." ~ Barack Hussein Obama

Caught unawares on a hot microphone, President Obama was recorded talking to a Russian operative about how he would have less responsibility to We the People (i.e., Americans) after his re-election. Considering the un-checked powers he has usurped during his first term, do you think it would be wise to re-elect him? I think we should deny him that.

This isn't the first time a president has been embarrassed by a live microphone (Reagan, Bush), but it is the first time an American president has been recorded scheming so brazenly against American interest, and to a Russian diplomat no less.

We need to vote this despicable tool out of office at our earliest opportunity. He stands for the exact opposite of this:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. ~ Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

In fact, he rejects it. And this:

When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors - when you see that men get richer by graft than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you - when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice - you may know that your society is doomed. ~ Ayn Rand

Someone told me that conservatives and evangelical Christians don't vote, and they don't vote in high percentages. According to several sources, 'progressives' make up less than 30% of the American population. (It used to be 25%, but I digress.) If that is true, then all we need to do to end tyranny in this country is show up on election day! Holy socks, Batman! This isn't Dancing With The Stars, or American Idol. Our liberty and prosperity -- and future generations' -- depends on us getting this right next time. Show up and vote!

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

The Quote of the Decade:

The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America 's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. ~ Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006

Americans deserve better, indeed! Let's make it so this November.

Corruption: Lake Whatcom Reconveyance

I presented this in open session to the Whatcom County Council two weeks ago. 

Honorable council members, 

It has come to my attention that the Lake Whatcom Reconveyance has once again wormed its way onto the Tuesday agenda – this time without a hearing – at the behest of narrow special interests attempting to create the illusion of broad support.  

This effort has already removed a large amount of land from future private use and/or private ownership. This land is already “protected” inasmuch as proponents desired that. Therefore, the matter before you now is the final reckoning. Do We the People of Whatcom County really need an additional 8,700 acres of park? Does this amalgam of DNR land and trust parcels represent the correct  8,700  acres? Is this really the most pressing need at this time? 

What say the county meet all of its fundamental responsibilities of legitimate services to its citizens (e.g., a new jail) before it takes on any more responsibility for land ownership and management?!  You already have the land tied up in trusts; why not just leave it that way? If Bellinghamsters want a playground or a nature preserve, let them make a private park, on their own dime. Please do not saddle the rest of the county with that expense. Further, the justifications for this “preserve” or park for wildlife management, transportation, and watershed protection are a distortion of roles that do not apply to the Parks department.  

 A safe jail is a legitimate and essential function of government. Parks are nice to have, but they are not essential government functions, even if someone could objectively prove they would “help the environment”. Please direct your efforts to the far more urgent needs of Whatcom County citizens.   

Karl Uppiano, etc.

Cyber Warfare -- Governments Developing Computer Viruses

Two articles caught my eye in the last week:

• 'Proof' Links Flame, Stuxnet Super Cyber Weapons: Researchers

Researchers say they have uncovered "proof" linking the authors of the Flame cyber espionage program to Stuxnet, the most powerful offensive cyber weapon ever developed -- both of which are believed to have targeted Iran.

• Obama’s data advantage

CHICAGO — On the sixth floor of a sleek office building here, more than 150 techies are quietly peeling back the layers of your life. They know what you read and where you shop, what kind of work you do and who you count as friends. They also know who your mother voted for in the last election.

I write software for a living. In recent years, most software vendors have become much more pro-active about hardening their software against security threats. If word of a vulnerability gets out, it is corporate suicide not to address the problem immediately. But this takes lots of time away from doing our primary job of developing programs that address what our customers really want: Programs that make them more productive or provide entertainment. It isn't that they don't want security, but addressing security concerns slows development and increases cost.

I just discovered our job got a lot more difficult and expensive. Until recently, most malware (i.e., computer viruses) was written by "hackers" who want to vandalize your machine, or by organized crime, which wants to steal your identity, and thus, your money. But now, two very sophisticated computer viruses have been discovered in the middle east that are so destructive, and so complex that they could only be developed by a nation-state: a government with the ability to print money or leverage its tax base for seemingly unlimited resources. But my employer doesn't have  unlimited resources. Not by a long shot.

So far, these weapons have been directed at Iran. Stuxnet successfully sabotaged Iran's nuclear program, by making computerized centrifuges spin out of control and fly apart. Flame is a spy tool. Suppose that a government wanted to aim its weapons at its own citizens, or at citizens in another country. We already have political candidates using computer data mining to get themselves re-elected. Who could stop it? Not the private sector.

Both Stuxnet and Flame have leaked out into the wild, which means everyday hackers and "script kiddies" will be able to use these powerful tools for their own nefarious purposes. Think of the dysfunctional computer nerd living in his parents' basement  -- or a crime ring -- with a pile of hand grenades. With these apps, it's essentially the same thing, only much harder to track. How much longer do you suppose the private sector will be allowed to develop software, when software is a military asset?

We're entering a brave new world, my friends.

Free Stuff

This has been going around the internet as a perpetually forwarded email.

The folks who are getting the free stuff don't like the folks who are paying for the free stuff, because the folks who are paying for the free stuff can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuff and their own stuff.

And, the folks who are paying for the free stuff want the free stuff to stop.

And the folks who are getting the free stuff want even more free stuff on top of the free stuff they are already getting!

Now... the people who are forcing the people who pay for the free stuff have told the people who are RECEIVING the free stuff that the people who are paying for the free stuff are being mean, prejudiced, and racist.

So... the people who are getting the free stuff have been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free stuff by the people who are forcing some people to pay for their free stuff and giving them the free stuff in the first place. We have let the free stuff giving go on for so long that there are now more people getting free stuff than paying for the free stuff.

Now understand this. All great democracies have committed financial suicide somewhere between 200 and 250 years after being founded.

The reason?

The voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them.

The United States officially became a Republic in 1776, 236 years ago. The number of people now getting free stuff outnumbers the people paying for the free stuff.

We have one chance to change that in 2012. Failure to change that spells the end of the United States as we know it.

Thanks to Dave for forwarding this one to me.

Actually, last I heard, the US still has 49% receiving free stuff, and 51% paying for free stuff. So we're still barely above break-even, although I suppose it depends on how you account for it all.

A Great Society does not create a helpless, dependent class (The 99 Percent) with only a few producers (The One Percent -- slaves, essentially) to provide for them. That's not a Great Society, it's a Pathetic Society. A Great Society has no classes; it is simply a collection of self-sufficient individuals working at whatever level each is capable of, and who voluntarily help the less fortunate, while keeping them responsible for themselves, and guarding against malingerers and unscrupulous opportunists.

Democrats Boycott Coke, Walmart over Voter ID Laws

According to the Washington Examiner,

Democratic officials Wednesday launched a two-pronged attack on states with new laws requiring identification before voting, the highlight being a call to boycott Coke, Walmart and others that back a leading organization pushing for voter ID laws. (Continue reading...)

Voter fraud should not be a partisan issue. If it is, then that speaks volumes about the parties, doesn’t it now?

I think we should instigate an inverse-boycott – we could call it an apricott – to show our appreciation of Wal*Mart and Coke. I'm feeling a bit thirsty, and I could use some more ammo... Annoy an illiberal control freak: buy Coke and ammo at Wal*Mart! Win-Win-Win!

President Obama Suggests SCOTUS "Activist"

President Obama has said that it would be "activist" for the United States Supreme Court to find ObamaCare unconstitutional. He knows that conservatives dislike activist supreme court justices. He is trying to flip the definition on its head. The Supreme Court is supposed to provide checks and balances on the other two branches and vice-versa. President Obama knows that; he is demagogue-ing his head off.

The Constitution of the United States is still the official specification for the US government; the binding contract between the United States and We the People: Any regime that distorts or disregards it is untrustworthy and dangerous.

Obama noted that for years, conservatives had been arguing that the "unelected" Supreme Court should not adopt an activist approach by making rather than interpreting law, and held up the health legislation as an example. (Continue reading...)

For Emperor Algae Solyndra to suggest that the Supreme Court would be “activist” to declare a law unconstitutional when said law violates the most basic constitutional principles is ludicrous on its face. But a nation of unprincipled* voters, who would elect a poseur such as Barackula Hussein Ogabe would have no understanding of that. They would believe The One. Dangerous times indeed.

*Unprincipled doesn’t mean unscrupulous. An unprincipled person is simply someone who doesn’t understand how something is supposed to work. It would be like automobile drivers who don’t know the rules of the road. They’re a menace to everybody – including the ones who do understand the principles.