Deep Thoughts Daily

George Washington on the Greater Good

2012-02-21T16:48:00.001-08:00

George Washington to a nephew—a delegate for the Virginia State Ratifying Convention on the importance stronger central government as laid out in the Constitution vice the Articles of Confederation, and the need for all parties to compromise to achieve the greater good.

"...[I]s it best for the States to unite, or not to unite? If there are men who prefer the latter, then, unquestionably, the Constitution which is offered, must, in their estimation, be inadmissible from the first Word to the last signature, inclusively. But those who may think differently, and yet object to parts of it, would do well to consider, that it does not lye with one State, nor with a minority of the States, to superstruct a Constitution for the whole. The seperate interests, as far as it is practicable, must be consolidated—and local views as far as the general good will admit, must be attended to. Hence it is that every state has some objection to the proposed form; and that these objections are directed to different points. That which is most pleasing to one, is obnoxious to another, and vice versa. If then the Union of the whole is a desirable object, the parts which compose it, must yield a little in order to accomplish it; for without the latter, the former is unattainable."

Two Ears, One Mouth

2011-12-19T17:39:00.000-08:00

I was raised with the notion God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen twice as much as you speak. We spend a lot of time talking about freedom of speech and press in the U.S.; but we hardly speak about the last part of the first amendment which gives "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." In the Internet age I am less worried about speaking freely as I am worried about being heard. They are not the same thing. And while individuals can freely tune me out, as I certainly do, government officials acting in official capacity should not. We've tackled the speech part pretty well, but now how to we make sure we're heard?

So much of what happens in government occurs with lots of money exchanging hands from lobbyist to politicians in backroom deals. The only chance we have as the People (you know real individuals with SSNs) is to be as public with our voice as corporations are private with theirs.

Same or Efficient?

2011-10-28T20:33:00.001-07:00

When managing people don't confuse "We must all do it the same" with "We must all be efficient". Fatal flaw for actually being efficient.

Freedom of Speech

2011-10-28T20:32:00.001-07:00

"If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter." ~ George Washington

Here's To The Crazy Ones

2011-10-07T22:03:00.001-07:00

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world - are the ones who do."

~ Apple

Think different.

Community isn't Socialism

2011-09-23T11:37:00.001-07:00

To those who complain about taxes please do the rest of us a favor. Quit driving on our roads, stop visiting our national landmarks and malls, do not seek medical attention at a hospital, don't call 911 when you need police or ambulance support, pay 100% of the cost of supporting your parent and grandparents as they become frail, don't complain when prisoners must be let go, don't seek help when natural disasters strike your town, stop sending your children to public schools, forget relying on the military to defend you, stop relying on technologies that were upfront funded by the government such as GPS and the Internet, don't seek assistance from the courts when you unjustly wronged, have the courage to tell your neighbors that are civil servants to their face that they lazy and stupid; and give generously to charity so that children, who through not fault of their own were born into poverty, may at least survive.

Shame on us for becoming a culture that looks out only for one's self. The preamble to our Constitution, whom many claim to cherish dearly but never actually want to live up to, clearly states:

"WE the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect UNION, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the COMMON defence, promote the GENERAL WELFARE, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

So unless we are prepared to give up those things that quite clearly insure domestic Tranquility and promote the general Welfare, I suggest we stop acting like selfish children and accept that a civilized society of democratic ideals is built upon the bedrock of shared community interests and that we must all chip in to do our part. Not just for ourselves but for future generations of Americans so that they may inherit a nation that is better off than the one we inherited.

Jobs, Regulations, and Social Security...Oh my!

2011-09-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

I should point out that this is some rather random excerpts from a Google+ thread from Tim O'Reilly. You can read it all here.

I'd rather pay taxes to support a program that eventually gets people off welfare than a program that is simply a handout. I also find it downright disgusting that people can be against helping their neighbor but support corporate welfare. And they will shout from the rooftops that they want "Under God" kept in the Pledge of Allegiance yet never lift a finger to practice the charity that Jesus preached. I would call them hypocritical, but that would give hypocrites a bad name. No system is 100% perfect unless we want to hire a crap ton of regulators to enforce the rules, oh wait, can't grow government. There are a lot of people in this country that need to stop and take a good long look at themselves and figure out what they really stand for. Because simply being contrarian and standing in opposition for the sake of in being opposition is the surest path to a race to the bottom for us all. To summarize what I hear from the fringe is "Government programs that help individuals are filled with fraud, but I don't support government regulations or hiring civil servant to enforce the laws; but corporate hand outs are okay because they create jobs except they don't because the Bush tax cuts have been in place for how long? And what was unemployment with higher tax rates when Clinton left office?" This childish whining by the fringe elements of our country has got to stop.

Hahaha! Less regulation!? Really!?!? Even though every economist under the sun says that non-existent regulation is PRECISELY what caused this financial mess. Sure, let's do that again. The very definition of insanity! I know, it is easier to repeat talking points instead of examining the facts for yourself.

When you having nothing to lose is the BEST time to take bigger risks.

That's a load of crock, there was no gun to anyone companies head to make loans that they knew would turn south. Should the people who took out the loans have known better!? Sure. But an individual looking out for his/her family is far less culpable than a company that should take upon itself an ethical obligation above the regulatory obligations to do what is in everyone's best interests (theirs, the loan applicant, and society at large) and deny loans to people who can't afford it. Instead, they knew darn well they could ride the bubble and make money hand over fist and not care knowing full well their paid for politicians on both side of the aisle would be there to bail them out when the fit hit the shan. Professionals (engineers, doctors, lawyers, etc.) must have ethical obligations that supercede legal obligations. But greed of corporate America trumped ethics.

Also, we allowed the regulators to dwindle away. Sorry, but in any properly working system you need enforcers of the rules. Why do professional sports have umpires and referees? The rules for professional sports are all well-documented and known by both parties, errr teams, so why pay for referees? Every should know the rules and play accordingly. Except that's not reality. We need referees in sports, we need regulators in key functions of society.

Anyways, to get back on topic. If I understand correctly, laying the foundation for a program that could let people become entrepreneurs of small business which is the backbone of our country; and in turn hire others is a bad idea because it COULD be abused! Aghast! Never! Yes, I am sure 99% of the people who would take advantage of the program would be simply deadbeat freeloaders. Waste is a byproduct of any system, and trying to reduce waste to 0% is an exponential task with diminishing returns. Case in point, the otherwise noble goal of Florida to remove drug addicts from the rolls of social help. I firmly believe that those who use illegal drugs should not get a taxpayer funded social security. And if drug screening is good for our military it should be good for those "sucking at the teet of the taxpayer" as many see it. However, if it ends up costing us more money than it saves is it really sound to continue? I suspect for many the answer is yes, but that proves it's less about financial stewardship and more about giving someone else their comeuppance. Typically it is directed as someone as they see inferior to themselves. I'll tell you what, why not walk a month in their shoes and see if they are really living a taxpayer funded "highlife".

I understand. But I guess the major point, again to tie this back to the original topic, is that what is done is done. Both parties for decades have abused the system. But the future is ours and we can make it how we want. And isn't a program that encourages the most basic of American ideals, self-determination, worth a shot? Or do we continue with simple handouts that lead nowhere?

Agreed! So where the hell has the Congress been for the last 9 months? GOP ran on jobs, job, jobs. And....still nothing. All we got from the GOP was one hostage situation to the next. First FY11 budget, then debt ceiling. But at least we can agree that the blame falls on Congress and the House GOP majority for not enacting legislation to do the #1 platform promise....you know, create jobs.

No we have 3 branches of federal government. The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The Legislative branch is bicameral with a House of Representatives and Senate. The House is elected every 2 years and is suppose to be the body closest to the hearts and minds of the people, thus the two-year term. Per wikipedia "The Constitution grants the House several exclusive powers: the power to initiate revenue bills, to impeach officials, and to elect the President in case of an Electoral College deadlock." So my question is, if the GOP as the majority in the House campaigned so vigorously on jobs as mission #1, why has the House not presented their own plan. They should have presented a reasonable jobs plans day 1 and forced the Senate and President to either public debate or passage. But they haven't presented anything cause they were too damn worried about making a political statement through shutting down the government anyway they could. For a group of people who are supposedly so "results driven" they don't have much to show.

Agreed, the checks and balance is essential. And the Democrats should have been on this a hell of a lot sooner as well. My point is that both sides have been playing politics rather than doing what's best for the country; however I believe the game the GOP has been playing is far more dangerous. At the end of the day taking care of people is a moral imperative of a civilized society; free markets should take care of corporations.

At the end of the day, we will get through this. The world will look a lot different in 25 years and we would be wise to seize the opportunity to be then generation that initiated long-term changes. We don't have men filling up oil in street lamps anymore; things change and we will be much better off the sooner we embrace that and create a society and economy based upon that. Anything that can be easily digitized such as newspaper, movies, music, magazines, etc. Sorry your time is up in traditional media formats. Lop off the dead parts holding you back and embrace the future. This should have already happened. Next will be the buying of many consumer goods. With the advent of 3D printers lots of stuff people buy in stores today will be manufactured at home. Buy the designs online much like you buy an App for your iPhone today. This is going to displace lots of traditional jobs such as sales clerks, machinists, etc. but will also create a whole new set of careers.

Ruled By Idiots

2011-08-31T21:21:00.001-07:00

"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber." ~ Plato

The Problem With Congress

2011-08-29T19:59:00.001-07:00

Reading an article from 2009 about the U.S. Congress that gave me something to ponder. Ideally Congress should be a microcosm of the United States, that is our representatives should be representative of the population. This report from the Center for Responsive Politics stated there were 237 millionaires in Congress or 44% of that esteemed body. Methinks this is not an accurate representation of the population. So we have a group of mostly first-world rich dudes worrying about things first-world rich dudes worry about. While the majority of us worry about eeking out this paycheck until the next.

This has led me to wonder what other demographics are skewed in our Congress. What are the percentages based on race? On religion? On sexuality? On career backgrounds? I wouldn't be surprised if we have a crap ton of lawyers and "businessmen". Where are the artists, engineers, doctors, scientists, researchers, designers, builders, craftsmen? You know those who actually create things instead of simply peddling wares and litigating vice innovating. I think that this is the fundamental problem with Congress. We have a bunch of dudes whose definition of problem-solving is suing you or paying you off. What we need is those who understand problem-solving is about rational debate, examination of the truth, and compromise to realize the best solution.

Mark of a Great Man

2011-08-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

When faced with fact, a great man can cast aside his prejudices and preconceived notions and adopt the truth even if it flies in the face of popular belief.

The Final Frontier; The Great Solution

2011-08-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

The era of showboat politics must end. To those who think complex national policy can be accomplished with bumper sticker thinking, I say, if you are not going to be part of the solution kindly quit being part of the problem. Specifically, the so called Tea Party whose idea of leadership is holding a gun to the country's head while demanding concessions that any true fiscal conservative would deem as dangerous is akin to my 6 year old whining about not getting dessert before dinner. Their failure to understand complex interactions between the various facets of society and their consequences to the global stage is a very real threat to our national well-being. Their singular focus on rewarding the rich under the guise of looking out for "everyday Americans" verges on the border of being a clear and present danger to the American Dream. They have become infatuated with a race to the bottom. Whereas socialist want to equalize everyone by raising everyone up to the highest standards, the Tea Party wants to equalize everyone by lowering everyone to the cheapest and lowest standard. We face very serious problems.

These very real problems will not be solved with fanatical adherence to political theology. The very real problems we face today echo the very real problems our ancestors have faced throughout the relatively short American history. It is time for everyone to put down their sticks and stones and pickup their proud tradition of innovation, compromise and dreaming for a better tomorrow. I am convinced that the majority of our current ailments stem from a lack of clear national goals and a dangerous addiction to sticking to our past. We would do ourselves a great disservice if we did not seize this rare once in a generation opportunity to once again redefine American greatness. Instead of bickering over what we can't or shouldn't do, we should recast the debate into what should we do as a nation of explorers, dreamers, and builders. To that end I propose the following possibility.

Spacefaring: just as Manifest Destiny drove us to become a nation from sea to shining sea, our New Manifest Destiny shall take us from shining sea to the shining lights in the heavens. First, immediately begin the permanent colonization of the moon. No other goals in space will be possible without the permanent habitation of the moon. Secondly, the exploitation of asteroids through mining. Just as the Gold Rush brought great wealth to America, the minerals found in great quantity will usher in a new era of mineral wealth. Third, the colonization of Mars. Mankind has always expanded beyond his existing confines to great effect. Habitation of a second planet is an insurance policy for the survival of our species. Lastly, the exploration within and then beyond our solar system through the use of long distance, long endurance manned spacecraft.

The journey will be as, if not more important, than the destination. Just as our goal of landing a man on the moon ushered in unfathomable advances in computing, engineering, and medicine; just imagine the advances that will be made that will make everyday life better for future generations. The goal I have laid is out is not a simple one that will reward next quarter profits, but one that will take decades to accomplish and will reward our civilization for eternity.

We have real problems facing us stemming from failures of both parties over many decades. But we can come up with even bigger solutions. These are the times when we have risen to our best in the past. So, what say you America? Are we up for the challenge? If not this goal, then what? Because honestly this is the debate we need to have. Not these petty quarrels. America has always burned the brightest while striving for the unattainable and when our reach exceeds our grasp.

My Thoughts on the Debt Ceiling

2011-07-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a snapshot of a Facebook comment chain that I recently posted regarding the debt ceiling...

So let me get this straight ... Reagan raised the debt ceiling 18 times, Clinton raised it 4 times, Bush raised it 7 times, and Obama has raised it 2 times so far. Now all of a sudden it's end of the world issue!? And coincidentally, the"conservative" Presidents of my lifetime have raised it more than the "liberal" presidents. wtf, can you say hypocrisy? How about we stop screwing around with people's livelihoods, put away politics, and raise the ceiling and move on. We have the start of FY12 in 2 MONTHS! Plenty of time to bicker more then.

And by the way, as one of those "kids" that will undoubtedly be paying for the baby boomer spending binges... if the debt ceiling isn't increased and interest rates soar I don't have the nice fat nest egg that is built up over a lifetime to tap into should I need to buy a car or get a mortgage. Hello 1980s interest rates! So while I appreciate the sentiment of looking out for kids and grandkids, not raising the ceiling NOW and NOT cutting spending over time and NOT raising taxes on the richest 1% will do the worst harm to us kiddos.

Not sure if you have heard of this group, they are from a long time ago, they were called "The Beatles"... they sang a great song that reminds me a lot about this faux "conservative" movement that seems to be sweeping up my parents and grandparents generation...

"You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right"

Love, Gen Y

Treaty of Tripoli

2011-07-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting excerpt from the Treaty of Tripoli which was unanimously ratified by the U.S. Senate and signed in 1797 by American Founding Father and President, John Adams:

"Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen,—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

Jefferson on False Christians

2011-07-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

"The truth is that the greatest enemies to the doctrines of Jesus are those calling themselves the expositors of them, who have perverted them for the structure of a system of fancy absolutely incomprehensible, and without any foundation in his genuine words. And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter. But we may hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with all this artificial scaffolding, and restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this the most venerated reformer of human errors." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Professional Studies

2011-06-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

"Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics." ~ Gen. Omar Bradley

Effective or Efficient

2011-06-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

In high school I wasn't allowed to use a calculator in my calculus courses. It hurt, but I managed to eek out decent grades. Then I got to college, and guess what? Calculator were allowed! Sweet! I got to my first exam and cranked it out in no time! Man this calculator (A fancy schmancy TI-92 Plus) really makes one efficient!

You can probably guess what is coming next. I failed that exam, though failing was an understatement. I bombed. I made a simple mistake and it carried through the exam, but I was efficient because I was the second person out of about 90 engineering undergrads to turn in the exam. Effective though? I was not. The calculator, though it made me efficient, did not make me effective.

Now after a decade of practical technical management under my belt I have learned that effectiveness trumps efficiency any day. Efficiency is about "pay me now", it is also internally focused. How well am I doing? Whereas effectiveness is about the long-term and is very much externally focused. Is my customer happy in 10, 20, 50 years? I guarantee you that a customer does not care that you could do 15 drawings per day. What he will care about was did the design meet requirements when the rubber meets the road. So my advice, always be effective even if it means you aren't always efficient.

Demons Run When a Good Man Goes To War

2011-06-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

Demons run when a good man goes to war. Night will fall and drown the sun. When a good man goes to war.

Friendship dies and true love lies. Night will fall and the dark will rise. When a good man goes to war

Demons run, but count the cost. The battle’s won, but the child is lost.

~Dr. Who

An Excerpt from Facebook on Governments Role

2010-08-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

So a friend of mine recently posed a question about the potential for a mosque to be built by Ground Zero of the 9/11 attacks in NYC. Of course, such a controversial topic set off a flame war that eventually led to a discussion on the limits of government power.

My first response was sarcastic:

"I have to disagree with you completely. I don't understand why this is so hard to understand? In this country, you get to have your Constitutional rights so long as your demographic and perspective perfectly matches my own...because let's be honest anyone who is different is obviously is a cojone-less, flag burning, homosexual, socialist terrorist with fascist tendencies and hates America. Besides I didn't spend 9 years on active duty to protect your freedoms, just my own."

The next response...dealing with using the Constitution as a convenient catch-all argument when it suits your needs...

I have grown fond of initiating flame wars. I find myself growing increasingly frustrated by those who hide convenietly behind "the Constitution" when it suits their politics and then all but abandons it when faced with an opposing point of view.

With that said, how awesome would it be to turn this into a positive and build not only a mosque but also a church and a synagogue in one spot. No better way to send a little old "F U" to extremists then turning the other cheek and showing that we are the "bigger" people.

This led to some banter about why I don't want to be a politician as they tend to be in the business of trampling our rights...to which a friend asked if the state should step into a family unit when abuse occurs. This led to this rant...

I hope that I didn't come across as a complete laissez-faire Libertarian. Of course, I do believe government has a significant role to perform, roles that should be performed within the strictest letter of the law and not the whims or political leanings of any government official, elected or otherwise. And people from both political parties are guilty of violating this principle, to believe it is solely a Democrat or Republican problem is asinine.

But to answer your specific question. Without a doubt, the government has a role in criminal prosecution of those who commit abuses within the confines of the law. Should the government (e.g. social services) always be relied on to care for the abused, well, I would hope that extended family would step in first. If not family, then who else but the government? Perhaps the community, but if children are involved, I am certain there would have to be some legal hurdles (not insurmountable) to give third party custody of a child.

Another point to show I am not completely hands off is government regulation, or at least intervention, of certain industries under certain circumstances is warranted. Churchill once said something along the lines "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried." So too is true for capitalism as an economic system. I like to think of everything in life as pendulum and swinging to far one way or the other is bad, and the best answer is a point of equilibrium in the middle. Net neutrality and alternative energy sources are two examples where the government, at least in this country, needs to be involved to ensure the citizenry, not corporations, are the focus of where we head as a nation. Side note, I think it is only necessary because lawyers and MBAs have too much control in this country and hold us back because they succeed when the status quo is kept. I firmly believe that engineers, scientists, researchers, hell, even artists (people who create new, who look forward, who dream of what could be) need to have more influence in the political and social discourse with respect to this countrys future. I wish government intervention weren't required, but human nature always prevails. My two cents, you are welcomed to disagree.

Lastly, somehow we drifted on to the topic of oil..well, here you go...

Only what I can find on Wikipedia. Want to know my problem with oil?

The world's first semiconductor transistor was created in 1947, as of 2010 the modern microprocessor contains 2.3 BILLION transistors. A difference of only 63 years! And think about how much more powerful you're newest PC is compared to your last. In 1903 man first took flight in a powered aircraft. A mere 66 years later, man first set foot on the moon using rockets!

In 1862 a man named Alphonse Bear de Rochas figured out how to compress gas in the same cylinder in which it was to burn, thus creating an internal combustion engine. Fundamentally, this is the way we still do it in modern automobiles and it is now 2010, a difference of 148 years!!!

Fossil fuel powered automobiles is inefficient and dirty...bottom line. We can do better, we must do better for our children and future generations. Like I said, Americas future needs to be ripped from the hands of lawyers and MBAs whose sole focus is on patent trolling and next quarters profits; and placed firmly in the hands of innovators and entrepreneurs who are looking 10, 20, 50, 100 years into the future.

Greater Good versus Personal Liberty

2010-05-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

In case you were asleep during civics class, the above is the Preamble to the United States Constitution. There has been a lot of debate lately over constitutionality of certain government actions. So I thought it would be interesting to read the Constitution itself. The Preamble seemed to be good start. Researching the Preamble over at usconstitution.net, this paragraph is considered by many scholars to lay out the raison d'etre for the rest of the Constitution. It captured the "hopes and dreams" of the delegates. The Preamble itself was written by the "Committee of Stile and Arrangement" whose members included Alexander Hamilton, William Johnson, Rufus King, James Madison, and Gouverneur Morris who is attributed as to doing the most work on the Preamble itself.

My specific reason for researching this topic was the intense debate over the invasion of state rights and personal liberties. Not being a Constitutional scholar, but not being an idiot either, the Preamble seemed to be a good place to understand the "spirit of the Constitution". So what is missing? Well for one, where is the talk about personal liberty? Certainly there was a desire to ensure liberties of the individual as pointed out in the other famous document from American history, the Declaration of Independence.

The second paragraph begins...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Of course, the Declaration of Independence, though important from a historical perspective, does not form the basis of Constitutional law. But even if we could attribute such weight to this document, it is important to point out the sentence immediately following the above sentence, and that is

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

In other words, to secure those inalienable rights of all individuals, there is a need for a Government based on the will of the people for the greater good. So what is the lesson learned, at least for me it is this. Founding Fathers sought to "promote the general Welfare" and I do believe those men choose their words very wisely. I do not see their desire as promoting the "welfare of all". If that were the case they would have chosen a true democracy over the republic that America truly is. But the Founding Fathers were pragmatic if nothing else, and in their wisdom, set out to serve the general welfare through a representative democracy over a direct democracy. Imperfect for sure, but far better than other forms of government. So long as the "General Welfare" is being served (as opposed to the "Welfare of All") than the government actions, in my humble opinion, seem to be in line with the vision the Founding Father presented in the Constitution.

Strategic Plan

2010-04-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

"We have a strategic plan. It's called 'Doing Things' ".

~ Herb Kelleher

The Right of Freedom

2010-03-10T05:44:00.001-08:00

"Freedom is not the right to do what we want, but what we ought. Let us have faith that right makes might and in that faith let us; to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."

~ Abraham Lincoln

Judging A Politician's Character

2010-01-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

Next time you get to meet a politician or a candidate ask them the following.:

1) Have them name a bill they have voted for/supported that was presented by the opposing political party.

2) Have them name a bill they have voted against/did not support that was presented by a member of their political party.

If they can't give an honest answer to both of those questions I would suggest you look for someone else to vote for.

The Watchers

2009-09-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes - Who will guard the guards themselves?"

Long-Term Patriotism

2009-08-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

"Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."

~Adlai E. Stevenson

Play The Game

2009-08-03T03:16:00.000-07:00

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."

~ Randy Pausch