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

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.

Make My Election Day

In honor of Empty Chair Day (not Labor Day, which I most assuredly do not celebrate), I made this sculpture in my front yard.

Make My Election Day

Eine Kleine Obamusic

Some good song parodies about Barack Hussein Obama are going viral on the interweb:

(Thanks to Dave and Maddie)

There are some good original tunes, too. This might not be your cup o' tea, but I think these guys are good (the hard rock starts about 1/3 of the way in):

(Thanks to Denny at Grouchy Old Cripple)

I might not look like it today, but I am a huge rock & roll fan. Like Paul Ryan's, my iPod goes from AC/DC to Zepplin, with a lot of Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Moody Blues in between.

Barack Obama's Weird Socialism -- The Movie

Last night, I went to see 2016: Obama's America. It's the first time I've set foot in a movie theater since I became disgusted by the high cost to view the overt left wing propaganda and gratuitous culture rot that Hollywood passes off as entertainment.

Within days of first listening to Barack Obama speak, and watching his presidential campaign unfold, I diagnosed him as a self-serving socialist sociopath. That brings us pretty close to having him figured out, but not entirely.

During Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, and early in his first term, many people were puzzled by his "apology tour", and with his apparent obsession with taking America down a notch on the world stage. Even while most socialist nations are quite nationalistic (e.g., Nazi Germany -- "Nazi" is the German-language diminutive for "National Socialist"), and the USSR (The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) was certainly aggressively nationalistic, Obama seems to want to implement a kind of meek socialism for the United States. It seems weird until you see the movie, 2016: Obama's America. I have read Dinesh D'Souza's articles about Barack Obama's dreams from his father before, so this wasn't news to me, but many people are getting this information for the first time.

Barack Obama senior was a rabid Kenyan anti-colonialist. He may have been justified to some degree. As Dinesh points out, our founders were also anti-colonialists. Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and others resented British colonialism in America. The dominant (some may say "hip") political ideology at the time was The Enlightenment, a.k.a., Classical Liberalism, which is where we got our founding principles of natural law, freedom and individual liberty, as most elegantly expressed in The Declaration of Independence and embodied in The Constitution of the United States.

The big difference with modern anti-colonialists is that the current hip political ideology is collectivism, a.k.a., communism, a.k.a., socialism. Once you understand that Barack Obama is attempting to fulfill his father's obsession, on which Obama has doubled down by obsessing over his father, then you understand Obama's agenda. The odd thing is, the United States was not founded on principles that would promote colonialism. Naturally as a world power, we do sometimes have to exert more influence worldwide than we might like, but as Colin Powell noted in 2003,

We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and we've done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home ... to live our own lives in peace.

For Barack Obama though, it doesn't help that he was mentored by communist, anti-colonialist, anti-American tutors, radical friends, radical ministers and radical professors. It isn't surprising that we have the most radical, most anti-American, anti-capitalist president in US history. What is stunning is that the media has so far downplayed these influences.

Fortunately, the movie 2016: Obama’s America has stunned Hollywood, opening at #1 in theaters on Friday. People will see it, and get the information that the mainstream media has strenuously attempted to suppress.

The Picture Says It All

Thanks to Greg for sending me this.

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.

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.

Demi-God, or Demagogue?

I imagine a hypothesis in which Man releases a miniscule percentage of trapped CO2 into the atmosphere, which causes runaway climate change.

And everyone believes me without any verification.

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog's Tails

If I had a dog, he'd look like this.

Mitt Romney's family takes dog on vacation. Barack Obama eats dog. Which one do you suppose the media are all excited about? Oh, sure they have some way to rationalize it. I'm sure there's a good story for both of them. The difference is, the Romney's dog survived the trip (and maybe even enjoyed it -- safely), whereas Obama's dog got eaten. Which one had the better outcome?

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.

Forget Bread and Circuses, How About Sex?

Patty Murray sent me an email about this, in which she says:

 (Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released a new video urging Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to drop his pledge to continue the fight against contraception in the U.S. House of Representatives. On the same day an amendment offered by Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) to allow employers to cut off preventive coverage for their employees was defeated in the U.S. Senate, Speaker Boehner told reporters, “I think it’s important to win this issue.” 

 I sent her this email in response:

Dear Senator Murray,

Since you contacted me, I decided to reply. Characterizing this as an attack on women’s health is ludicrous. Since when are taxpayers required to purchase contraceptives for people? I’m opposed to taxpayer-funded condoms as well. I just don’t think the enumerated powers of The Constitution authorize government to force taxpayers to pay for people's sex accessories. 

In the very unusual event that some woman needs the pill for her physical health (beyond sex), and assuming that the enumerated powers gave government the authority to provide that (they don’t), then I would have no problem with it. 

This is a very pathetic ruse to change the argument from religious freedom, and the non-existent authority of government to control health care, into divisive class warfare. But that is what you illiberals always do, isn’t it? 

Regards,

Karl Uppiano 

Which article of The Constitution gives government the authority to do that?

Are You Kidding Me? We're Mad as Hell...

Now here's a guy who can Rage Against the Kakistocracy with the best of them (and I think I know who I am):

Yeah, what he said.

On Being Governed By Scientific Frauds

This article over at American Thinker is a tad hyperbolic, but this paragraph makes it all worthwhile:

Nothing is as toxic as a really bad idea. Hundreds of millions of dollars are still being spent in "scientific" pursuit of disaster scenarios about the earth, fiddling with infinitely variable computer models. This isn't science; the burden of proof has flipped to the skeptics, which does not happen in real science. Albert Einstein had to predict observable outcomes before his ideas were accepted. Watson and Crick had to prove the helical structure of DNA before anybody took them seriously. But in Global Frauding it's the skeptics who are supposed to prove that the latest computer model is not true. If they manage that, the crooks just make up a new computer model. It's a sort of card sharper trick. A con artist can always move faster than the suckers.

(Continue reading...)

Gore: Global warming skeptics are this generation’s racists

I don't know if Al Gore truly believes the junk science, or if he is deliberately trying to pull the wool over people's eyes:

One day climate change skeptics will be seen in the same negative light as racists, or so says former Vice President Al Gore.

(Read more...)

“This is an organized effort to attack the reputation of the scientific community as a whole, to attack their integrity, and to slander them with the lie that they are making up the science in order to make money,” Gore said.

No, Mr. Gore, it isn't. It is about watermelons subverting the scientific method for political reasons!

The Pessimistic Thomas Jefferson

I was thinking about current events, and the extreme divergence of our government from The Constitution, and the dramatic infringement on private property rights at all levels of government, and it made me think of a couple of quotes from Thomas Jefferson:

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground. ~ Thomas Jefferson

For whatever reasons, the government that Jefferson helped to design, is no longer working the way he and Madison, et. al., intended. I don't think he would be surprised, but I don't think he would be happy with the current situation either. I do think he would be surprised that what they created, lasted as long as it did.

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I think this describes our present situation. I wonder what kind of government the founders would have devised to counteract that, if any. Given that the founders believed that a virtuous populace and honest politicians were essential to self-government, I wonder if the necessary conditions for their constitutional republic still exist.