Stay Tuned, Just Change The Channel

In three or four weeks I will be starting a video blog on YouTube.  Search for phlunkman's channel and you'll more than likely find it.  That is all.

Grover Cleveland: The United States Long Before Communism

In 1887, Congress wanted to spend.  And what better excuse can you think of than farmers who were suffering a catastrophic drought, right?  I mean, personally I'm very sympathetic to farmers.  I fully appreciate that bumper-sticker; "NO FARMS -- NO FOOD."  I get it.
So naturally when farmers are suffering, I'd want the government to step in and give them tax-funded assistance...right?
WRONG.  But that's because I'm a bit too circumspect to be so foolishly hasty.  Thankfully Grover Cleveland thought like me when he said to Congress:
"I feel obliged to withhold my approval of the plan, as proposed by this bill, to indulge a benevolent and charitable sentiment through the appropriation of funds for that purpose.  I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, [anyone remember the Constitution-?] and I do not believe that the power and duty of the General Government ought to be exended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit.  A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that though the people support the Government the Government should not support the people."
Amen! Just look at the mess we're in because for so many years the people (most notably as of late) have used the government as their own personal ATM!  Ultimately, the reinforcement of the 'government saftey-net' has led to our decay, particularly in the area of morals...which leads me to the rest of Grover Cleveland's brilliant response:
"The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow citizens in misfortune. [At least it could be back before people expected the government to take care of everything...but I digress...] "This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated.  Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood."
Ol' 'GC' was proved correct when those 'fellow citizens' (in whom he confidently bestowed his utmost trust) put their money where his mouth was by donating ten times the amount Congress had appropriated.
Grover Cleveland had it right.  When WE THE PEOPLE help each other out, the result is a total win-win.  We become better neighbors because we're helping each other instead of depending on a bipartisan government as our go-between -- which only leads to bitter disagreement, division and strife.  It has lead to out-of-control spending, corruption, and neighbors who often speak unctuously to each other just in case they are political polar opposites.
The "United States of America" has become the divided States of America especially since the government has exploited the ignorance of the masses and pitted us against each other while they've enjoyed the power and the spoils.  It is a foolish game which began especially with progressives like FDR.
Historically, FDR's "New Deal" is viewed as the action which "saved America."  Poppycock, I say.  It was little more than a wolf in sheep's clothing.  It set us up for a fall.  We became dependent on the government...the "expectation of paternal care" as Grover Cleveland so eloquently called it.
Today we have a president doing exactly the same thing, but to an unprecedented degree.  Barack Obama is only dividing this country more than it's ever been divided.  Does anyone remember what happens to a house divided?  Yeah.  And I'm afraid to tell you that we are sure to fall.  You'd better get to know the Lord your God if you are thus far unfamiliar.  The only parachute for us at this point is the one freely given through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Coping Pagans In Copenhagen

     It's a stifling fourteen degrees--just a smidge' over two feet away from my left hand--at this moment.  Yesterday it was arctic as well.  December (2009) has proved to be quite an unusually cold month for much of the country -- including regions which usually don't see much cold weather.

     There's also been several reports of snow falling in states (or parts of states) which never get snow; like Texas, for example.

     True, Bolivia's once ample glaciers are dissipating faster than America's moral values.  But is it possible that the earth's homeostatic climate is basically just 'rearranging the furniture' (so-to-speak)-?

     I'm angering some people who once thought me to be in Al Gore's camp.  There was a time when I thought I was in Al Gore's camp--until I found myself repeatedly arguing with 'the other side.'  The 'global warming is a myth' camp is typically made up of conservatives.  But I think to bandy about statements like "humans have no affect on the climate whatsoever" is not only irrational, but downright retarded.

     Our very presence within the climate affects it -- that's not --(nor should it be)--the argument.  The question should be phrased precisely this way; "What is the measure of human impact on the earth's climate?"

     In Copenhagen this week, there are a bunch of well-meaning (but ultimately self-serving & self-righteous) individuals proclaiming some very foolish ideas, such as the 'fact' that carbon dioxide is a 'pollutant.'  So their collective exhale at the summit is having quite a negative impact on the climate, I'm afraid.  We'll have to kill them all (and ourselves) to save the planet from making a bad old movie starring Kevin Costner into cinematic prophesy!

     Carbon emissions feed the trees, lest we forget our sophomore biology classes.  Green plants consume carbon dioxide (the so-called 'pollutant' according to the Al Gore camp) and 'poop-out' (if you will) breathable oxygen.  So it would most certainly be fair to say that without carbon dioxide, we'd have a very difficult time breathing.

     It's not the carbon from the smoke-stacks (etc.) which is the problem.  It's the sulfur, arsenic, methane, and myriad other real pollutants which do not occur naturally in our atmosphere; and those are the real enemies.

     And whether this is just one big charade contrived by world leaders to confuse us or not, we should treat it as such.  Because they're wasting our time.

     What we should be working on is a more common sense approach.  Look around; particularly in this popped balloon that is our economy, there are thousands of long-vacant buildings in this country.  Yet there are still esurient developers out there constructing new buildings sure to have "going out of business" signs in their windows within a year or two.  If we had any damn common sense at all in this country, the focus would shift and the effort would be to halt such over-development so that we could instead plant some damn trees on these precious parcels of land.

     Hollywood is the biggest bunch of hypocrites in the entire world on this issue.  They're trying to seize a huge parcel of land in Plymouth, Massachusetts to construct a 'new Hollywood,' dubbed "Hollywood East."  The land in question has long been the Waverly Oaks golf course; and all of that green, green grass has been munching on carbon dioxide for years now.  If Hollywood East finds the funding it's looking for (the funding they had recently fell through to my delight) it will destroy the pristine land, and replace it with movie studios which are sure to film plenty of action sequences involving explosions (are those 'eco-friendly?') and other exercises sure to have more of a negative impact on the planet than anything else.

     Despite the fact that I find most of the Hollywood ilk to be hypocritical, vain, shallow and evil, I applaud people like Cameron Diaz who has been instrumental in promoting hydrogen cars.  She and Edward Norton have been seen driving the BMW-7, which is a vehicle which can run on either gasoline or hydrogen.

     You can bet that Exxon/Mobil has been responsible for disseminating the myths about hydrogen vehicles.  "What about the Hindenburg?"  -- The flames we've all seen in that infamous piece of film were from the skin of the zeppelin -- not the hydrogen.  Hydrogen flames are very small and burn very cool -- emitting very little heat.  Not to mention the fact that we've come light years in the technology.  Plus the 'duh' factor when trying to pit gasoline against hydrogen -- anyone remember the Ford Pinto-?  Gee, gasoline isn't volatile at all...now is it? [sarcasm]

     Hydrogen cars could be part of rebuilding America and creating enough jobs to end this recession outright.  Clean energy technologies in general could collectively be exactly what we need to mitigate some of the heavier burdens on America's (and the world's) shoulders.  But make no mistake; I DO NOT include either nuclear or coal in the category.  Never has there been a bigger oxymoron than 'clean coal.'  It's about the same as 'pure poison.'

Anesthetize Yourself To The Facts And Trust The Government?

Yesterday, a responder (bless her heart) to my commentary on one of the many reasons I think universal health care is a terrible idea told me that she has "faith" (in people).

In case you didn't read it, I was making the point that Medicare is already so rife with corruption that adding this so-called "public option" (I think we should call it what it is--the government option) would only be inviting even more.  Imagine cashing your paycheck (or withdrawing cash from the bank for you direct-depositors) and proceeding to the nearest big hospital where you would find a balcony or some other high place, and then just jettisoning 80% of your earnings for the esurient doctors below to quickly snatch up.

[Fine if you roll your eyes, liberals...but please refrain from taking the Lord's name in vain]

--But what about the facts?  It seems that proponents of the government option don't want to actually face those.  ...Which facts?

How about the Senate report released last year which revealed that in the previous seven years, our current government-run health care program, Medicare, had paid $92.8 million for about half-a-million claims submitted in the names of doctors who had already shuffled off this mortal coil?  Let me get down to brass tacks: that's HALF-A-MILLION THIEVES STEALING FROM GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE.  That's a pretty large number of people who proved themselves to be unworthy of my 'faith.'  Faith in total strangers in this day and age is blind, I'm very sorry to say.

How many of you leave your houses or cars unlocked?  How many of you with children leave your youngest outside by themselves in an area where you can't see them?  How many of you don't first look over your shoulder at the ATM to ensure yourself that nobody is watching as you type in your pin #?  How many of you wouldn't feel a twinge of fear if you found yourself on the side of the highway with a broken-down car and a dead cell-phone battery?

I'm sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but to trust people you don't even know in this day & age is just plain foolish.  It would be wonderful if things were more like the way the were in the 1950's--but they ain't.

Heck, I remember just 30-35 years ago ("just 30-35 years ago?" Did I 'just' say that-?) when I was just a little boy, I roamed my neighborhood in and out of people's houses with utmost insouciance.  In fact, one time I walked right into a stranger's house and just sat down next to a guy who was watching cartoons.  He just kind-of looked at me, nonplussed, like "who the heck is this kid?"  My parents couldn't find me, but the level of their worry was nowhere near what it would have been if the year was 2009.  They eventually found me and everybody had a good laugh.  There was no real 'panic.'

But this is a very different time.  As we've yielded our morals at the behest of Hollywood; MTV, 'Girls Gone Wild,' pornography on the web, and a cavalier attitude towards standards of morality, we've done quite a number on the way things once were.  We worry that our kids might be the next Jaycee Dugard, and yet that's far from the worst fear.  Jaycee Dugard is alive and wears a smile on her pretty little face...how many times are kidnapped children found alive?

I think it's quite clear that we're jaded.  It's as if it's a plan; to get us to a point where we're so inundated with examples of untrustworthy behavior that we cannot properly assess the gravity of the modern-day situation we're in.  Who among us can recall every news-story we've seen in recent months or years telling of our elected officials involved in some scandal or another?  But how do we respond-?  Usually by voting the bums back in.

We want to trust people...of course we do.  But we can't always get what we want.  Reality compels us to respond to the ubiquity of untrustworthy behavior correctly; by using proper discernment and implementing the proper cautions to safeguard ourselves and our children.

I contend that a large chunk of what has caused the modern-day environment of mistrust is the inflation and intrusion of government in our lives.  But I'll have to get into that in a future entry...

Ladies & Gentlemen...Many Blogs Have Been Written, And This Is One Of Them.

I really don't think much of most blogs for one reason; oftentimes I feel each is one of thousands expressing the exact same things. There really aren't many unique viewpoints out there. So label me with the 'narcissistic' adjective if you would like, but I honestly feel I'm very different. What makes me so different?  Simple: I cling to my values and don't let one "herd" or another dictate what I should say on a particular subject.  Too often conservatives and liberals alike will check with their respective 'herd' before expressing their opinion.  I feel that instead of simply asking what is right, too many people ask what is the most widely accepted (conservative/liberal) point of view and go with that.  There will be no pundit with whom I'll need to check before dispensing my honest opinion.  I've already alienated many conservatives because I strongly condemn the inane protesters at town-hall meetings on the topic of health care.  You can be angry with a righteous indignation without losing your civility.

Conservatives are very angry. (I know--"how many more obvious statements will he make?") It's because we're being backed into a corner. It's also because that as America slides further and further down the spiral of (im)morality, we're pushing conservative values to the ground and kicking dirt onto them like a dog burying a turd. It's not a good thing. Our quest to become the most immoral nation in the world is directly commensurate with the quantity of calamity we invite. Floods, droughts, fires, economic woes, crime, drugs, poverty...all rising in direct proportion with our love for ourselves, our booze and partying, our pornography, our intellectual gymnastics, and our liberal social "values." (...Talk about your oxymoron...)  The Bible calls it reaping what you've sown, others call it Karma.  Whatever you call it, there aren't too many people out there who would disagree that "what goes around, comes around!"

Now, already I've been labeled an "idiot" by many liberals (even those who have dared to call me their "friend") out there. I've caused many to say "Gee-zus!" as they roll their eyes. Yet, conservatives are alleged to be the "narrow-minded" ones exclusively. Liberals are so often so full of themselves; so elitist, and so closed-minded that they have established an automatic "hall-pass" for themselves. They are 'excused' from listening further when they have deemed one to be unworthy of their attention. And because they are liberal, they have decided that they are superior and smarter than the rest of us--equipping them with special powers which excuse them from such perfunctory hypocrisies.

But I hope liberals and conservatives alike have made it to this paragraph and can hang on until the very end. Because although I just gave an honest rebuke of typical liberal rationale, they are all my brothers and sisters under God; we all share the light of the same sun, and we're all (presumably) Americans. Hopefully you don't have so much hatred in your heart that you will shun me for my beliefs and opinions.

Besides, you will find that I do not dis-include myself in my many criticisms. And if ever you see me make a self-effacing remark followed up by a lame excuse; please call me out on it. I want to learn and grow; something it's really hard to do without a regular glance in the mirror. I encourage any and all of you reading these words to do the same with fearless honesty...which means that you look at yourself with enough courage to tell yourself the truth about yourself no matter how much it may hurt to do so.

People in general--liberals & conservatives alike--are very insecure. It's maddening. I can't tell you how many times I thought I was merely having an amicable disagreement with someone only to find out (too late) that the other person's ass was becoming increasingly chapped as the discussion went along. Why can't we disagree without hating the other person for having opposite beliefs? Frustration is one thing; bitterness and hatred is another.

It's like the (now infamous) town hall meetings which even caused Starbucks to jape conservatives in one of their commercials. I can understand the anger, but the incivility and pointless insults I can neither defend nor excuse. Granted, the media focused like a laser on the most idiotic conservatives they could find, but such behavior is inexcusable to me nonetheless. It made me embarrassed to call myself a conservative to some degree.

The town hall meetings were especially sad because I didn't hear too many of the facts--which would have been much more effective than acting like a bunch of apes who just had too many lattes (perhaps from Starbucks...but I digress...)

How about mentioning the fact that there's a microcosm of universal health-care right here in my home state of Massachusetts? It's been the bane of the past couple of years. We can't pay for it! Not to mention the quality of care is rapidly disintegrating back to the 1700's.

My dad happens to work at a hospital where he's been a respiratory therapist for about 30+ years. He's always telling me about how badly things have become...how people are rushed through with no real scrutiny given to underlying problems...some of those get missed. It's as if people think doctors are superhuman and should be able to handle tenfold the patient-load they had to handle during the previous year with no problems or fatigue whatsoever. Guess what? They can't.

When you mandate that everyone get healthcare, some conspicuous things occur. Doctors start seeing people who are convinced they've got Hodgkin's when all they really have is hangnails. And doctor's offices and emergency-rooms alike are flooded with these people, making it difficult to maintain any level of diagnostic acuity.

Also, there's plenty of room for corruption. I recently heard about a local phony who had learned that if he raised his blood-sugar level just enough, he'd get a hospital room for five days and $75/a day for his troubles. He'd been doing it on a regular basis and using the money for his gambling habit at Foxwoods casino--on our dime. ...And that's just one example of thousands. The government can never correctly assess an accurate projection of what one of their programs will cost the taxpayer because they never put human greed and thievery into the mix. It makes me wonder if liberals are among the guilty...why would they not mind their tax dollars contributing unless they were going to take part in the manipulation?

I'm not a heartless bastard. ...Far from it, in fact. I'd love to make every sick person well. But I despise the idea of the government taking my money and just handing over to a bunch of thieves while diminishing the quality of my medical care in the process. It's called common sense. It's too bad that so many people aren't using any. I don't hate people who don't use it, I just disagree with them. If you disagree with me, I hope you can appreciate the fact that I'm just a loving human being who is merely standing up for his beliefs just like you do. I hope you can even say that you love me as a fellow child of God. If you can't...