Thoughts Aloud

I often write articles predicting the end of the United States of America. I realize that, taken in the wrong context, this sounds a bit extreme. Therefore this attempt to give the intended context.

First, if asked whether the physical entity the United States of America is going to disappear from our maps in the foreseeable future, my response would be no. Then, you may well ask, why all the predictions of doom and gloom? This requires a far more detailed explanation.
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The detailed investigation held post 9/11 clearly indicated that the information needed to prevent that attack was in hand. The problem, we were told, was that the appropriate government agencies “failed to connect the dots”.

Now, just a few days after the Boston Marathon bombing, initial investigations suggest that the information needed to prevent the bombing was in hand. The problem, we are again being told, was that the appropriate government agencies “failed to connect the dots”.

Indeed, reviewing want we think we know today, the only time the information “dots” seem to have been accurately “connected” was with those supposed “near misses” which, on deeper investigation, seem usually to have been orchestrated (and financed) by government agencies – particularly by the FBI.

For sure, there is a secondary problem at work here and that is that the various government agencies refuse to cooperate and communicate effectively. This is true, and will always be true, of political agencies led by people whose first priority is to perpetuate their agency, its prerogatives, and, most especially, its funding.

From all of this, I have reached several (to me) obvious conclusions:
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I will begin this by repeating one of my favorite notions… I am only one religion removed from the most fanatic believer. I say this because, inevitably, the truly fanatic are certain that every religious dogma, except their own, is fatally flawed. In a word, they are all wrong. All I do is take this idea one religion further and accept the obvious – that ALL religions are fatally flawed, ergo the one religion difference.

There are several very simple principles that convince me I am correct. The simplest of all is this: the root of all religions is nothing more or less than an attempt to explain the relationship between humanity and the unknowable. Unknowable. Think about this a moment. If something is truly unknowable, are not any and all attempts to find an explanation automatically flawed? None can be any better than wild guesses. Possibly, one or more of these wild guesses may be near some form of truth but we cannot know that with any certainty because that is the very nature of unknowable.

It follows (to my mind) that, given the absolute uncertainty of any dogma based on wild guesses, any attempt to use such dogma as justification for interfering in the free exercise of their natural rights by others can only be wrong. Very wrong. As wrong as wrong can get.

How could anything be simpler to comprehend? Yet, by the billions, we humans cling to belief systems that were not even convincing back in the dark ages when they were conceived. Belief systems that would be both silly and comical were it not for the damage they have done and continue to do.

Which brings us to marathon day in Boston. Once again, we are forced to see the result of a belief system that, by its own tenents, cannot, and will not peacefully coexist with any other system of belief or governance. Yet, we refuse to see that the problem is not a few over zealous practitioners of Islam. Instead, the problem is obviously in the core beliefs upon which the religion is based.

Why such a refusal? Simple. Once we, via our institutions, openly admit that the very tenents of a religion can be dangerous to humanity, we open the door to the next obvious question: “can this conclusion apply to all religions?”

At some level of our being, I think all of us know the answer to that question. That is why we do not dare allow it to be asked in any meaningful forum.

Think about it.

Troy L Robinson

We are just arrived in Manchester, NH, home town of saint J9. One of the reasons we came at this particular time is that my son-in-law ran in the Boston marathon today — with my daughter and two granddaughters in the stands cheering him on (and we planned to hook up with them in Boston tomorrow). Thankfully, they left the bomb site about 30 minutes before the explosions. Still, we had a tense time of it while flying in, disconnected from any media after having seen early reports of the blasts on monitors in the Philadelphia airport.

While all the pertinent data is not in yet, we can all make a fairly accurate guess as to the underlying cause of this crap. To that end, I have a suggestion that I am certain would have some level of effectiveness. The government of the US should instruct our ambassador to the UN to make a very simple statement to the entire world that says — as of the next terrorist attack on the US, that can be reliably linked to Islam — the city of Mecca, holiest site in Islam, will be promptly turned into a sheet of glass, by a nuclear blast that will render the entire area uninhabitable for centuries to come. Then, follow through and actually do it. If, like Japan in WWII, they do not learn after the first strike, then Medina should be next. Etc. with other Islamic sites until the message gets through to them — that we are not weak, we are not decadent and we have had enough.
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You are right, of course, Troy; but I am not so sure a war on 'us' is such a bad idea. 'I' for one, am sick and tired of 'us' and all of the perpetual wars, real and phony, used to keep American sheeple bunched up in collective herds, bleating for wise and kindly shepherds to protect them from rumored wolves.

Without an external enemy, there would be no need of a Federal government. Without natural enemies, they have to create them to justify their existence. Without a Federal government, there would be very little use for competing State governments.

The only reason folks in Texas give a damn about how the folks in New York organize their lives, and visa versa, is our predisposition to consider each other fellow Americans. That, and the propensity of each, to desire the establishment of their own societal preferences, as universal for all Americans.

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After a 45 minute wait in the security line at the Miami airport, I once again realized that the terrorists in the so-called “war on terror” have won this phoney war.

Our “leaders” seem to have no idea what terrorism is really all about. They act as though this is a traditional form of war with pitched battles and conquest of territory rather than a technique intended to cause the targeted society to lose faith in its institutions, in its culture, indeed, in every aspect of its existence.

Clearly, this has worked. Why else would a once free people willingly surrender a major part of its traditional and constitutional liberty in exchange for a phoney “security” system that treats them like a bunch of criminals who simply have not yet been caught in the act?

Or, could it be that our government has itself become the primary threat to our liberty rather than the so-called “terrorists”? Do you consider this an irresponsible or misleading question? Read the rest of this entry »

The Obamanation has issued yet another Imperial Decree (sorry – I meant Executive Order), this time taking control of the election process. The order title is Executive Order — Establishment of the Presidential Commission of Election Administration and the details are on the White House web site at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/03/28/executive-order-establishment-presidential-commission-election-administr

My friends, if you have somehow resisted the urge to get angry over the past power grabs by this pseudo dictator who pretends to be president, surely this will push you over the edge.

Those of you who have bothered to study our Constitution know that the election process is one power the States did not delegate to the Federal Government. Yet, here is a power mad narcissist claiming to himself – and to a “commission” appointed solely by himself, with no congressional consent or oversight, the power to manage the election processes of the entire nation.

As I have tried to explain in other articles, we are only a declaration of martial law away from a full-fledged dictatorship and the time and the means to change the present course both grow thin.

Look around you and realize that our liberty is now under assault from every angle.

While I realize that our national legislature is dysfunctional – and obviously scared out of whatever wits it once may have had by the actions of this tyrant and his thugs, I nevertheless ask each of you to help start a telephone and email barrage to our senators and congresspeople, demanding they override this outrage. It may not help but it surely will not hurt.

And stock up on whatever guns, gold and ammo you can afford.

Good old Adolph would have been proud of this guy!!

Troy L Robinson

Among other prohibitions, the first amendment to our Constitution prohibits infringing on the freedom of the press.

I understand this to mean that the government is not supposed to tell journalists what they can or cannot convey via whatever medium they work in. All well and good. But, does this “freedom” include the freedom to knowingly misinform and/or confuse?

By “ knowingly misinform and/or confuse”, I mean such things as: intentionally lying; intentionally omitting salient facts so as to distort; not reporting events that are of concern to the general public and the like.

For sure, I have no concern with the notion of an expressed opinion (especially since I express so many of my own). But, at the same time, I think that an “opinion” should be clearly that, whether so indicated by the medium in which it is expressed (such as a blog, a letter to the editor of a newspaper or a byline that is clearly for the expression of opinion. Where I do have a concern is when either an opinion or an intentional distortion of truth are offered as ”news coverage”, something that happens with increasing frequency in our republic.
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I just stumbled across an incredibly lucid post, by the ‘Administrator’ of a blog I had never heard of called, “The Burning Platform,” which I look forward to perusing further. It is simply entitled, “Available,” and I would implore anyone with the slightest interest in (and ability to handle) the stark truth, regarding the condition and future of our economy, to read it. Although lengthy and chock full of facts, figures, and charts, it is easy reading, and anything but boring. The author (I couldn’t find his name) uses some quotes that are keepers, starting the article with:

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” – Aldous Huxley

He then proceeds to offer them in abundance, during his sobering analysis. Along the way, he injects another keeper:

The mainstream corporate media that is dominated by six mega-corporations (Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch’s News Corporation, Comcast, Viacom, and Bertelsmann), has one purpose as described by the master of propaganda – Edward Bernays:

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”

More hard cold facts and cogent analysis follow, leading to his closing quote, by one of my favorite sages:

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According to recent news, the DHS (Department of Homeland Subjugation) is planning to extend ”trusted Traveler” status to Saudi Arabians.

No, I am not joking. Agents from an extremist nation that funds international Islamic terrorism, that supplied 15 of the 19 terrorists who planned and executed the massive attack on September 11, 2001, will soon be allowed to put their citizens on a “fast track” for entering the United States.

Per the cited report: ”Foreign nationals enrolled in the program can enter the country with almost no effort. When they arrive at an international airport, so long as they provide a passport and fingerprints, they can bypass customs entirely.”
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Watching the repeated attempts by progressives to exploit each and every tragedy, particularly those involving the slaughter of children – purely for whatever political advantage they might milk from them – has been nothing short of disgusting. But, the performance put on by Senator Harry Reid, on the floor of the U. S. Senate, was truly sickening.

Senator Reid, while ostensibly honoring several U. S. Marines who were killed in what was clearly an accident, made clear and repeated attempts to link this tragedy to the sequester.

It is a pity that the limbo has gone out of style because Senator Reid (and all his kind) could slither under a limbo stick as it lay flat on the floor. One simply cannot sink lower than that!
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I have long been a frequent and vocal critic of what passes for an education system in our nation. Sometimes, when stewing over the human tragedy resulting from the substitution of indoctrination for true education, I ask myself – were I empowered to determine one thing to stress in our attempts to educate, what would that be?

Certainly we must try to instill and build the basic skills – the traditional “3 R’s”. But, this alone is not enough. Then I think that teaching the discipline of “critical thinking” (the skill of taking in unfiltered information then using it to make rational decisions) would be an obvious benefit. While it surely would, this too is not enough (nor is it about to happen in the foreseeable future). So, I once again consult with myself, asking what other thing, preferably a simple thing, do our people need to help them better navigate the endless stream of choices that constitute human life?

Amazingly, myself somehow suggested an answer; It occurred to myself that, in general, our people do not know or understand what I call “The Reality Of Choice”.

What do I mean by this? Several different but intertwined things:
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The most recent edition of Imprimis, a monthly pamphlet published by Hillsdale College is well worth the few minutes needed to read it. The title is Calvin Coolidge and the Moral Case for Economy written by Amity Shlaes.

In this article, Ms. Shlaes describes the discipline and the rationale President Coolidge used in managing the federal budget during his presidency. And, manage it he did!

Many in the GOP of today yearn for another Ronald Reagan when what we really need is another Calvin Coolidge. While it is true that Mr. Reagan’s economic policies did lower the overall tax burden, generating one of the longest periods of growth in our history, most seem to have forgotten that his policies also allowed for almost uncontrolled growth of government spending and the corresponding expansion of government. Looking back from our present condition, it is reasonable to ask whether the temporary rise in prosperity was worth the permanent damage of government growth.

Troy L Robinson

In a number of recent articles, I have repeated my prediction that the Obamanation intends to declare martial law in the United States. What I don’t know is when or under what pretext.

1) Many of the preparations are obvious:

→ Over 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition stockpiled by the Department of Homeland Security with more on order. Some speculate that all this ammunition buying is merely to keep the ammunition off the shelves of firearms dealers but I suspect otherwise.

→ The purchase of 2,700 Mine Resistant Armor Protected Vehicles (MRAP) by the Department of Homeland Security. Are we to suppose that these are intended to protect FEMA personnel during hurricanes? Hardly.

→ The myriad emerging plans to control and/or confiscate firearms in civilian ownership.

→ The growing number of drone aircraft in use within our borders.

→ The growing and pervasive invasions of personal privacy – GPS tracking, telephone monitoring, cameras everywhere, email monitoring, etc.

→ The Obamanation granting himself the authority to order the execution of United States citizens, of his own choice, without even a hint of due process.
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Much is made in conservative political discussions, of our inalienable natural rights to Life, Liberty, and Property. The right to Property is central to our conflict with the Politically Correct altruists on the Left, over their egalitarian ‘social justice’ agenda. They claim the moral authority to employ coercive government agents, to confiscate what they regard as ‘excessive’ earnings of producers, for redistribution among their celebrated victim class mooches. The right to Life, of course, underpins and defines the anti-abortion issue, central to the Piously Correct altruists on the Right. They regard the unborn as the more compelling class of victimhood, and claim the moral authority to employ coercive government agents, to compel a woman to give birth to an unwanted child.

Yet, in the strident Left/Right culture war raging across our land, one finds little discussion of our natural right to Liberty. Is this because few among these authoritarian-minded combatants understand what Liberty actually means, or because it so fundamentally conflicts with their political agendas? Either way, they effectively reject the premise that Liberty is an inalienable natural right, common sense and our Founders assertion notwithstanding. One cannot coherently, at the same time champion Liberty, and advocate employing the coercive powers of government, to regulate the wealth OR social mores of its individual citizens.

Liberty is essentially the antithesis of coercive government. To our arguably libertarian Founders, the primary purpose of our experiment with self-government, was to defend the natural rights of free sovereign individuals, from the threat of tyranny of any sort. They dismissed as incompatible with their thesis of individual sovereignty, any statist form of government lacking the consent of the governed. Not just despotic monarchy, dictatorship, oligarchy, et al, failed that test; they also specifically rejected the tyranny of what they called ‘mob rule’ democracy. Read the rest of this entry »

For the first time in months, I am encouraged by something that happened in our Capital. Whatever your opinion of the drone program, the filibuster is having the effect of making various politicians show their true colors. I was very heartened to see that other Senators and a few Congressmen openly supported Senator Paul, some going so far as to help with the filibuster. I am especially proud of our newest Texas Senator, Ted Cruz. Electing him was the best thing we have done in years.

On the other side, John McCain and Lindsay Graham in particular have shown us that they have been in the Senate far too long. Their net opinion seems to be that it is an outrage for anyone, especially an elected official, to stand in the way of increased government power and its concentration in the Executive branch. As prime examples of the GOP “establishment”, they have also shown us how rotten said establishment is – to its very core. The establishment’s only “cause” is its own continued power and position. Any service or benefit to the nation and its citizens is purely coincidental.

Predictably, most of the Lame-Stream Media are condemning Senator Paul and his helpers just as they condemn anyone who dares question the Obamanation and his quest to destroy the United States of. America. And, equally predictably, most of that condemnation comes in the form of ridicule and attempts to trivialize.
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According to a recent poll, the Obamanation enjoys a job approval rating of about 54%. How on earth can this be so? This is especially amazing given all the recent noise concerning the so-called sequestration.

Consider the obvious facts:

→ The idea of a sequester came originally from the administration, probably from the Obamanation himself.

→ Until just a few weeks ago, the Obamanation publicly and vocally argued in favor of the sequester.

→ Suddenly, and inexplicably, the Obamanation began to publicly and vocally argue against the sequester.

→ Even more inexplicably, the Obamanation now tries to place the blame for the sequester (or, at least, for letting it take effect) on the GOP.

→ Then, the Obamanation promises to implement the sequester in a manner calculated to cause the maximum pain to the very citizens he claims to want to help.

Add to this the obvious power grabs, the rule by edict (aka executive orders), the insane spending, the constant lying, the outlandish costs associated with unnecessary travel and entertainment while the citizenry suffer economically, etc., etc.

And We-The-Sheeple respond with a positive job approval rating for this egomaniac? It simply makes no sense.
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What would it take to convert a virtual POTUS into the real thing?

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Jim Geraghty, over at National Review, makes a powerful argument in a piece entitled, “The Demonization of the Iraq War Ensures No Syria Intervention,” which deserves international attention:

No, World, We’re Never Going to Militarily Intervene in Syria.

…

Everybody knows we’re not going to intervene in Syria, right?

Part of this is because we have Obama as president, part of this is because Americans consumed with our own domestic issues right now — a consistently floundering economy, immigration — but mostly it’s because of Iraq.

Dear world . . . do you remember how you greeted the invasion of Iraq?

The invasion of Iraq was treated as the greatest crime against humanity in the history of the world, denounced far more frequently and loudly than any act by Saddam Hussein, Bashir Assad, the Iranian regime, or North Korea.

Giant protests in lots of American cities. Giant protests in every foreign capital. The 2004 Guinness Book of Records described the anti-war movement around the globe as the largest mass protest movement in history — eclipsing any popular opposition to any act of the Soviet Union or any other totalitarian regime around the globe, ever. Among the elites in Paris, Berlin, and most corners of London, the Iraq War was the single-most important issue, and denouncing the evil of George W. Bush was the most important goal, not building a stable and peaceful Iraq. You recall Kofi Annan denouncing it, and the United Nations delegates scoffing when Hugo Chavez called our president the devil. Read the rest of this entry »

As I have made clear in several past articles, I have no doubt whatever that we are headed directly into a socialist dictatorship. Sadly, a majority of those of us who bother to vote do not seem very bothered by the prospect. In fact, many, including academia and the mainstream media seem to welcome it. As to how allegedly intelligent people could welcome such a thing, I haven’t a sure answer. My guess is that they suppose that THEY will be among the chosen elite who are allowed to make decisions for the rest of us. I further guess that the less intelligent see dictatorship as some manner of extended childhood where they are forever relieved from taking responsibility for anything other than the pursuit of pleasure.

I have also opined in those past articles that the declaration of martial law will be our signal that the dictatorship in firmly in place.

Lately, as a result of numerous conversations, articles and books read, etc., it occurs to me that many people think that the declaration of martial law will signal the beginning of the implementation of dictatorship rather than signaling its completion. Therefore, that the declaration of martial law will be their signal to start defensive actions.

My friends, I wish there were adequate words to express to you have tragic a mistake such thinking is. The signal to start defensive actions has long since come. Indeed, at this point in the process, it may well be far too late to do anything effective to prevent total dictatorship.
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