Thoughts Aloud

Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

I wish to highly recommend the book “NULLIFICATION – How To Resist Federal Tyranny In The 21st Century” by Thomas E Woods, Jr.

In this book, Mr. Woods discusses the notion of Nullification which stems from the little-realized fact that the States are the creators, therefore the masters of our Constitution, not its slaves. As such, they retain both the right and the responsibility to nullify any federal law that exceeds the federal authority granted by that Constitution.

Lest any doubt the truth of the preceding statement, I ask you simply to recall that at least 3/4 of the state governments must agree in writing to any alteration of our Constitution for such alteration to become valid. Were the federal government the master, no such agreement would be required.

Amendment I of the United States Constitution states, in part “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;…”

What this literally means is that the Federal Government is to stay strictly out of the sphere of religion – with no clue what the various states might decide to do (or not do) in this regard. Since the Founding, most Americans have interpreted this to mean we have freedom of religion. I do not disagree.

However, this freedom does beg the question “ freedom of religion in what regard and to what extent?”. If it merely means one has the right to believe and to worship as one chooses, there would seem to be no problem, even if some, if not all, of the beliefs in question are nebulous at best.

But, what happens when “ the free exercise” of one’s religion brings one in direct conflict with the laws of the state, indeed of the Constitution itself? Did the Framers intend to be this accommodating? I think not. So, the problem with religious freedom begins with one’s religious beliefs compel one to take action that could be harmful to one’s fellow citizens.

Thus we encounter a problem that has at least once existed in every major religion… the religion-driven compulsion to force one’s fellows to conform to the practices of our own religious beliefs. This is the problem we face with Islam today.

In the first place, it is a mistake to consider Islam merely a religion. Instead, it is an all-encompassing system of life, encompassing elements of religion, of what would otherwise be secular law, of economics, down to rules for every element of personal behavior. And, inherent in the Islamist belief system is the documented command that Islam MUST eventually dominate the entire world. This means that Islam, by definition, cannot peacefully coexist with any other system. Instead, it must do everything in its power to subdue then dominate any other system in which it takes root. This process includes horrible acts of terrorism, and when performed, these truly get our attention. Yet, this is the least part of the problem. The truly insidious process employed by Islam is to constantly chip away at the laws and values of whatever society they are trying to subdue. In the US, they leverage our traditions of religious freedom to help this process along.

They object to the orientation of toilets in restrooms. They object to having to sell pork or alcohol when employed by retailers. They demand a workplace break schedule that accommodates their prayer schedule. Lately, they have gone so far as to demand that US law become more “Sharia compliant”, evidently so they can practice honor killing and stoning with impunity. On and on it will go until we have been subdued. If you doubt this, look at the record of several European countries that are being invaded by Islam.

I offer as evidence, the following adaptation from Dr. Peter Hammond’s book:
Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat
“Islamization begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their religious privileges.

When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other components tend to creep in as well.
Here’s how it works:

As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in:

United States — Muslim 0.6%
Australia — Muslim 1.5%
Canada — Muslim 1.9%
China — Muslim 1.8%
Italy — Muslim 1.5%
Norway — Muslim 1.8%
At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs. This is happening in:

Denmark — Muslim 2%
Germany — Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom — Muslim 2.7%
Spain — Muslim 4%
Thailand — Muslim 4.6%

From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves — along with threats for failure to comply. This is occurring in:

France — Muslim 8%
Philippines — 5%
Sweden — Muslim 5%
Switzerland — Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands — Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad & Tobago — Muslim 5.8%
At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islam is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.
When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris , we are already seeing car-burnings. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam, with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in:
Guyana — Muslim 10%
India — Muslim 13.4%
Israel — Muslim 16%
Kenya — Muslim 10%
Russia — Muslim 15%
After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in:
Ethiopia — Muslim 32.8%

At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in:
Bosnia — Muslim 40%
Chad — Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon — Muslim 59.7%

From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of nonbelievers of all other religions (including nonconforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in:
Albania — Muslim 70%
Malaysia — Muslim 60.4%
Qatar — Muslim 77.5%
Sudan — Muslim 70%

After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is ongoing in:

Bangladesh — Muslim 83%
Egypt — Muslim 90%
Gaza — Muslim 98.7%
Indonesia — Muslim 86.1%
Iran — Muslim 98%
Iraq — Muslim 97%
Jordan — Muslim 92%
Morocco — Muslim 98.7%
Pakistan — Muslim 97%
Palestine — Muslim 99%
Syria — Muslim 90%
Tajikistan — Muslim 90%
Turkey — Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates — Muslim 96%

100% will usher in the peace of ‘Dar-es-Salaam’ — the Islamic House of Peace. Here there’s supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, the Madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word, such as in:

Afghanistan — Muslim 100%
Saudi Arabia — Muslim 100%
Somalia — Muslim 100%
Yemen — Muslim 100%

Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons.”

Dr. Hammond obviously goes on but this bit should suffice to make the point.

I ask again, do we really want that Mosque at/near ground 0? Indeed, do we need Mosques anywhere in America? In a word, is Islam an abuse of “freedom of religion” as intended by the Founders?

I say that it is.

There may well be many “peaceful” Muslims in America but their very identification as Muslims still gives weight to the international Islamic movement and its intended subversion of America – even if they, themselves, never lift a hand or a weapon.

Troy L Robinson

I have observed the debate over the mosque at/near/ ground 0 with great amusement.

Let us begin by being absolutely clear what my own humble opinion is:

Some children of Islam, cheered on by most children of Islam, brought down a high-rise complex in September 2001, killing several thousand Americans in the process. No doubt a great victory for Islam, one that many in Islam seem to think was worthy of a trophy at/near the spot to commemorate the great event. Clearly, using this criteria, building this mosque at that particular place is an insult to all Americans, and, IMHO it is meant to be.

Then there is the fact that I, like most Libertarians, treasure private property rights for all. Clearly, using this criteria, building this mosque at that particular place is well within the rights of the property owner.

However, neither of these criteria amuse me. What does amuse me is watching a bunch of “adults” from all sides of the issue try to come to the point while avoiding the real point altogether.

This “real point”, as I see it, is that we were viciously attacked in direct accordance with a religious belief. To be more precise, we were attacked by Islam, per the documented beliefs of Islam. Yet, no person in any position of power in America dare even allow the possibility that religious belief could be the focal point for such hatred, despite the evidence that such has long been the case. This is true for Islam, it has been true for Christianity (and, to a lesser degree still is) it is true for Judaism and so on and so forth.

It seems to me that it is long past time for mankind to outgrown silly notions about divine guidance and start taking credit and responsibility for their own failures. Until that happens, please at least admit to yourselves that we are at war with Islam. Not with a few extremists but with everything that is Islam. Using this criteria, I now ask – during the Cold War, would we have let the USSR build a military HQ at/near ground 0?

Troy L Robinson

Like most of you, I was taught in school that the American Civil War ended in 1865. For years, I accepted this at face value. Only in the last few years, when retirement has afforded me the time to really study and think about the issue have I begun to realize that 1865 saw the end of organized military activity but not the real end of the war. Yes, the conflagration had been smothered down to a few glowing embers — but, those embers have continued to glow and are not yet past the point of re-igniting into a conflagration.

Most Americans think the Civil War was fought to preserve slavery. One some levels, this may even be true – even though fewer than 10% of the citizens of the Confederacy owned slaves at the time the war began. Others, myself included, think the war was actually the culmination of a contest between those who wanted to preserve the States Rights guaranteed by our Constitution and those who favored an all powerful federal government. The tragedy, for both the Confederacy and the Republic is that slavery was allowed to become the issue which brought the contest to the point of war. By allowing that to happen, the Confederacy guaranteed it would have little or no support from the civilized world because supporting the Confederacy became tantamount to supporting slavery.

Let us acknowledge several undisputed facts:
-Slavery did exist.
- Slavery is always wrong.
- Slavery does endless damage to both the slave and the master.

Let us also acknowledge that many of the slaveholders in the America of the mid 1800′s knew that slavery MUST end. The problem they had was that too much of what passed for “property” among these people was the supposed market value of salable human beings. And it is not the nature of most humans to voluntarily impoverish themselves.

Looking back, there were several approaches that might have ended slavery in a way that would let the country recover very quickly from its effects. The various levels of government might have set the slaves free by compensating the owners for their release. Or, once the Civil War was a certainty, the emancipation proclamation might have come from the president of the Confederacy rather than the president of the Union. Further, the Confederacy could have taken the advice of people like General Patrick Cleburne and armed the slaves in addition to merely freeing them, giving them a shared stake in the outcome of the war along with a chance to demonstrate their humanity. But, none of this happened and, at any rate, we can never really know what really lies down the path not taken.

So, we opted instead for a futile contest that did little more than cause endless damage and inflict wounds that, to this day, have not healed. And, we allowed that contest to end in a fashion that left most of the ex slaves in situations almost as bad as slavery itself. It is no wonder that racial animosity was one result of this bungled mess. Even so, things got better, albeit at a glacial rate of progress, until the 1960′s when many of the descendents of the freed slaves were cast back into a new kind of slavery. This time, they were not confined to plantations — instead, they were encouraged to migrate to inner-city ghettos, all over the country, and there placed in a state of dependence on the federal government that was (and still is) in its way, more viscous than plantation slavery. This time, rather than being used to produce cotton, sugar cane and rice, they are used to advance the power of the progressive movement. To help keep them “in their place”, they have been made to live in broken families in crime ridden neighborhoods and they have been intentionally convinced that there is little or nothing they personally can do to escape their plight. All they can do is take the handouts and cast the votes required to keep those handouts coming, somehow never seeming to realize that they are forever casting a “yes” vote for their own continued enslavement.

Fast forward to the current. Now we have what the Lie-Stream-Media never tires of telling us is the “first Black president”. Now we all know this is not really true. What we actually have is the first half Black/half White president who chooses to identify more with his Black half than his White half. OK, fine, that is his choice. The tragedy is that this president has turned out to be a severe disappointment to almost everyone in the nation — including me.

I am not so much disappointed in his policies. Appalled and alarmed, yes, but not disappointed because anyone who paid the slightest attention during the campaign knew what his policies would be. No, the major disappoint for me, and for myriad others, is the missed opportunity to begin the end of racism in America — to finally put out those glowing embers from the Civil War. But, to our collective dismay, exactly the opposite is happening. This administration is shaping up to be the most blatantly racist in the history of the Republic. What a tragedy for us all.

Worse yet, those near dead embers are being fanned back into life and, if we continue on our current path, could actually re-ignite into another round of Civil War.

Is this what we really want? If not, then why can’t “we the people” stand up for those things that we all know are right? Why can’t we focus on the many things that make us all the same rather than the few things that make us seem slightly different?

Whatever your political leanings, your race or your ethnicity, quit making excuses for what we all know are outright failure and incompetence coupled with criminal malfeasance. Demand better, before it is too late!

To my Black friends, I offer this final thought – you will know when you are truly free in America. That will be the day when you are as free to fail as any member of any other group and when the main reason for your failure is placed squarely in your own hands. If you find this offensive, I am sorry. I am not a racist. I actually want freedom and prosperity for everyone with no group being disadvantaged for the supposed benefit of another.

Troy L Robinson

I am currently reading what may turn out to be one of the most enlightening books ever written. The name is “Intellectuals And Society” by Dr. Thomas Sowell. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to better understand what is happening to our nation.

When taking office, a president must swear the following oath:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

This is a direct quote from our Constitution, Article II, Section 1. Note that the prescribed wording does not contain any words suggesting that “ignore” or “violate” might be part of the oath.

In Article II, Section 4, our Constitution goes on to say “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

President Obama and Attorney General Holder are clearly guilty of repeated refusals to abide by our Constitution. If this does not rise to the level of “high Crimes and Misdemeanors”, it is hard to imagine what could.

I have already asked my representative in Congress to offer a bill of Impeachment against both of these criminals and I am asking each of you to do the same. Just a simple telephone call. Will this get them impeached? Probably not. But it will let the Congress and the Executive know that increasing numbers of citizens have had enough and want change. Change the government can believe in.

Whenever an opening occurs, I try to talk to people about what is happening to our nation. When I find they are in general agreement with me, I often ask “so, what are you doing about it?”. The most frequent response I get is “Well, what can we do?”.

This got me thinking that I would generate a simple list of things the ordinary guy/gal on the street can do. Once I have such a list, I will then print it on a “card” that I can easily carry about and hand to those I am trying to influence. I am amazed at the things that simply don’t occur to people.

So, I will offer a starter list with the sincere request that anyone who happens on this will help me improve this list until it is something any of us would be proud to hand to others.

My starting liust:

- Communicate with those who represent you – by letter, by email and by telephone. There is no chance they will do as you wish if you don’t tell them.

- Attend any Tea Party within reasonable distance from where you are. You do not need a fancy sign — just be there and be polite.

- Contribute your time and/or money to political candidates who share your point of view. It need not be a large amount of time or money — everything helps.

- Contribute to organizations that work to get the truth out to people. Chose whatever pleases you — I like the Media Research Center and the Heritage Foundation.

- Go to the polls and cast an INFORMED vote. Voting your emotions is never a good idea.

- Consider supporting independents and/or 3rd party candidates. The 2 major parties both tend to put party above country.

- Talk to your family, friends and neighbors. Perhaps offer them a copy of this list?

- If you can’t do all of the above, do whatever you can.

It is time to repeat my recurring question — have you had enough yet? Are you angry enough to actually do something yet?

I submit to you that, were a foreign government doing to us what our own so-called government is doing, we would be demanding a declaration of war.

Yet, here we sit while our government allows our gulf coast region to be devastated;

While they actually encourage an invasion via our southern border;

While they destroy the best health-care system in the world;

While they insult long-time allies at the same time they allow some of our worst enemies to arm and scheme against us and our few remaining allies;

While they do everything in their power to destroy our economy;

While, while, and so on.

Just what does it take to spur you folks to action? Yes, a number of us gather in so-called Tea Parties, wave a few signs, and otherwise preach to the choir. But, to what end?

On yes, we are going to put a bunch of Republicans in office to shore up the sorry bunch already there, and already contributing almost as much to the problem as the liberal Democrats.

Let me know how that works out for you — assuming we are still allowed to communicate with each other by then.

Troy L Robinson

Seems like I hear endless complaints from people who are apparently unsatisfied with their current position in life. For all of you, I offer a simple suggestion: If you don’t like your current position, then move to a new one! However, should you choose to take my advice, I offer two more things for you to consider:

First, the only reliable way to move to where you want to be is under your own power. Thinking someone else will do it for you is simply silly and the mere promise is probably given to get you to vote for someone or thing that is not in your own interest.

The second thing to consider that you can only move from where you now are. Not from where you wish you were. Not from where you might have been if only (add your excuse here).

Sounds simple enough — why do so few actually try it??

The ongoing oil leak in the Gulf Of Mexico is a tragedy by any and all definitions of the word; to the ecology of the area, to the economy of the entire region, to the oil industry in general, and, not least, to the people.

Yet, like all tragedies, this one too may have some beneficial side effects (make no mistake, by no means do I mean to suggest they necessarily justify the price being paid). The ones that come immediately to mind are these:

EXPOSING BIG GOVERNMENT FOR THE FAILURE IT WILL ALWAYS BE
To say that our federal government has fallen short in every aspect of its lawful responsibility in this disaster would be a gross understatement. Not only is it obviously unprepared and totally incompetent, it has (and still does) stand in the way of many groups and individuals that are ready and able to actually help. In a word, our government has demonstrated the literal inability to get out of its own way!

But, you can rest assured that our government will investigate its own shortcomings, once others have resolved the crisis, and the inevitable conclusion will be that they (the government) simply need more power to prevent this sort of thing from happening again. And, if we continue to be the fools we have been, we will give it to them!

In a word, the American people are being given as clear an insight into the folly of big government as has occurred in most of our lifetimes. We can only hope that sufficient of our fellow citizens are watching and learning and will react accordingly.

EXPOSING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FOR WHAT IT IS
Clearly, our president has shown a remarkable lack of leadership capabilities in this crisis. Whether he has also shown gross incompetence is a matter of conjecture.

If one supposes that his primary task is to stop the leak ASAP and to minimize the collateral damage, then he, and most of his administration, are most surely incompetent beyond belief.

If, on the other hand, one supposes that he is willing to let this disaster play out in the most damaging way possible, then maybe he is more of a schemer than an incompetent.

Why, you ask, would he and his administration do such a thing? (I can’t believe any of you really need to ask.) Simple. Their clear aim, from before day 1 of this administration, is the conversion of our economy to a socialist base. They have made significant inroads into nationalization of the financial and automotive industries. But what is the biggest prize of all? Of course, it is the energy companies — those demons commonly known as “big oil”. What better opening than the chance to bankrupt one of the biggest of them while crippling the others with various mandates, calculated to hamper the conduct of their business? Lest you think this line of thinking a bit too extreme, simply consider the offer, by the Dutch, to send equipment and expertise in spill recovery, 3 days after the event, long before the oil had even started toward the coast. How else could refusal of this offer be explained? Indeed, were I not so much against conspiracy theories, I might even question the perfect timing of this blowout and the various non-actions that have followed.

HELPING REMIND US OF THINGS THAT REALLY MATTER
We all remember how, in the shadow of 9/11, the reputedly indifferent typical New Yorker was instantly converted into a creature full of compassion for its fellows. This is as it should be because, the fact of the matter is that civilized existence is, in many very real ways, nothing more than the assumption of shared risk. That is to say, we jointly understand that we are fallible humans and that even while doing our best we make dreadful mistakes, and that forward progress always requires venturing into the unknown, into that poorly understood region where many lessons are learned “the hard way”.

I urge my fellow citizens to keep this thought in mind today as we (hopefully) come together to solve this crisis then to try to learn enough to make it less likely in the future. And, yes, oil production must have a future. For all the feel-good rhetoric about renewable, clean, risk free energy, the actual fact is that no such thing exists in the harsh light of reality. There is not a one of the pie-in-the-sky green energy schemes that is not totally dependent on fossil fuels at some level and many of them use more fossil fuel on the way to becoming “green” than the amount of fossil fuel that is offset when the green stuff is actually used. This is not even to mention the unintended side effects such as the increase of food costs, the decrease in food production, and the slash-and-burn damage caused by the phoney ethanol programs. Programs that simply could not exist if they had to stand on their own economic viability.

My point here is that BP bashing and blame placing serves no good purpose. If any of the companies involved in this knowingly and willingly violated the law, they should be punished. If government officials failed to do their jobs, they should be fired. The time for both is after the crisis is over.

But, if this was, as I suspect, nothing more than a tragic accident caused primarily by our very human limitations, then no good can come from such things as: boycotting the BP station down the road (that is owned by one of your neighbors), by trying to cause the downfall of the company (which is owned partly by your own retirement plan), or by simply wasting time and energy placing blame when both could be better used attacking the ongoing problem.

REMINDING US OF OUR OWN INGENUITY
I am absolutely amazed by the myriad ideas, literally pouring forth from companies, large and small, and from individuals. Many of them are quite simple, inexpensive, and could be started yesterday if the government would get its worthless carcass our of our way. Indeed, I encourage the states, local governments, companies, civic groups and individuals to simply ignore the federal government and start to do whatever you can to help — as I know many of already are, especially in trying to save our wildlife. Please remember that the environment and the economy being damaged are both YOURS. True, the current federal government might have you believe they are theirs, but this is because they have forgotten that they are merely the help and that they work for us. It is far past time to remind them. The Tea Parties are a start but much more is required.

THEREFORE
Let us grieve for all the living things along our Gulf Coast that are being harmed. But let us do it as a people united, with renewed respect for what free individuals can accomplish, and with renewed rejection of and over-reaching government.

There is still a small chance that We, The People can take back control of our bloated governments, at all levels, and force them back into the confines described in our Constitution. But, this chance comes as the result of an accident that will be soon forgotten as the next big story hits the Lie-Stream-Media. Let is take a cue from Rham Emmanuel and not “let a good crisis go to waste”.

Troy L Robinson