Have you ever had one of those moments that just struck a cord with you? I had one of those yesterday evening. My brother told me that he and his friend were going to check out the Westboro Baptist Church protesters... mainly just curious as to whether or not these people lived up to the hype. Although they were small in numbers, they did not disappoint. Of the 5-6 protesters present, each one of these extremist nut jobs was walking around carrying a sign of similar nature. While my brother did not feel inclined to stop and take pictures, given the violent history of these screwballs, he did read a few. Some read "God hates fags", "God hates Obama", "Fags doom nations", and so on.
Folks... these Westboro people are extremist... but they are not alone. Many people in this nation believe just as they do. Many people on the left support their belief of "God hates soldiers" and many on the right support their belief of "God hates fags". Many people have asked me what I support when it comes to homosexuality. After all, not only am I a very vocal Libertarian, but I'm also an ordained minister who follows the Christian faith... I think now is a good time to share that with you.
I, Matthew Q. Llewellyn, do not support gay rights... I do not support straight rights... I support human rights. I do not support government endorsed gay marriage... I do not support government endorsed straight marriage... I support non-government oppression of private marriage rights. I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them Sam I am. ... Sorry... I got off track. Moving on.
People have to realize that this debate, when speaking of "rights", is not one that belongs in the religious arena. This is a political debate because currently, it is governed by political figures... It shouldn't be, but it is.
Many on the right argue that gay marriages destroy the institute or marriage. I, being the wise one that I am, argue that the current debauchery, adultery and sky rocketing divorce rates among straight christian couples has already destroyed the institute or marriage. I believe Jesus put it best when He said "Before you can tell your brother to remove the speck of dust from his eye, you must first remove the plank from your own." (some interpretations of the bible say "splinter" instead of "speck of dust")
This nation... our nation... the United States... if we are ever going to take it back... must become a nation united for a single purpose... and that purpose is the original purpose... freedom. In particular, freedom not regulated by religion.
The founding fathers were very clear about not legislating from the pulpit. Benjamin Franklin, a devout believer in Jesus Christ, understood and frequently spoke of the need to separate the fundamental law of the land from the prevailing religious doctrine of the time. He also understood that he, and the other founding fathers, were fighting for a republic form of government, not a democracy. Democracy, which is what our nation has become, is a farce form of government which serves only to conceal socialist and tyrannical government. Democracy is the form of government which oppresses the few to appease the many. While 1st Officer Spock may have been noble when he said "The needs of the many out weight the needs of the few", he wasn't referring to government policy.
We, and I am speaking now to my fellow Christians, must come to understand that gay rights, regardless of how much you disagree with them in a theological format, are rights that are protected by the Constitution... you may not immediately see it... but it is there.
The Constitution states that no one may be denied the right to life, liberty or property without the due process of law. The right to marry, without any argument, is a matter of personal liberty. While you may quickly argue that gays have been denied marriage rights through the due process of law, I will remind you that while this is true, it was done illegally, as it was done because of Christian ideology and not by criminal action. The violation of criminal law is what allows, with due process of law, the denial of life, liberty or property. While being gay may be a religious crime, it is not a crime in a free nation.
So when did all of this begin? Were gays being denied marriage rights in the early United States? Some may say no... I would say, "who knows?". Certainly men and women have been gay since the days of the bible... they just weren't as open with it as the are today. To define this problem and where it began, you need to understand when and why the government took control of marriage in the first place. Marriage, for all intents and purposes, has always been a private institution. While certificates of marriage were granted by the governments standing at the time, they were not controlled. It was not until the early 20th century in the U.S. that our dear government seized control of who could and could not receive a marriage license in an attempt to stop blacks from marrying whites. Back then it was considered as evil for a black to marry a white as it is today for a man to marry a man. Funny how with time, freedom prevailed in that arena... let's hope freedom prevails here as well.
Gay marriage is not a matter of gay rights. Hell, gay rights are not a matter of gay rights. In our nation, in this experiment of freedom, we must realize that this debate is a matter of individual human rights... period.
In a free nation, our government should have no control over who can and can not marry. That control should be with the individuals who have the legal authority to officiate weddings. The only hand government should be allowed to have in all of this is issuing, without question, a marriage license for the purpose of collecting and analyzing data. I promise you... without any doubt in my mind... gay marriage poses no risk to your life whatsoever. As such, in a free nation, it can not be criminalized.
Should government now legalize gay marriage? No... government should be removed from the game of marriage permanently, both gay and straight.
And just a little side note before I go for the day...
Gay people... those of us who support freedom, support your rights. Does that mean we agree with your lifestyle? For some yes, for others no. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that we support your rights as free citizens, just as we expect you to support ours. However... those of you marching in some of the more colorful gay rights parades are not making it any easier on yourselves. If you are going to be taken seriously, please, please, please, take a look at the gay republicans and take notice of their suits and ties. I assure you, the ass-less chaps, flamingo suits and cross-dressing clowns on stilts are not adding any level of legitimacy to your argument. And frankly, just as no one wants to see my fat ass in ass-less chaps... we don't want to see your ass in ass-less chaps.
I think that about sums everything up.
I bid you good day folks.
Matthew Q. Llewellyn
Copyright 2009 Matthew Q. Llewellyn
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
A Swing and a Miss For Tulsa
It's a swing and a miss for business owners in Tulsa this last week. You've all been reading my rantings long enough to know my feelings on this whole downtown assessment district to build the Tulsa Drillers a new stadium... but... if you haven't read long enough, let me fill you in. It's cow excrement.
This is getting more and more ridiculous folks... not to mention harder and harder to believe it's actually happening.
Let me catch you up on the details here.
The city council passed what can only be called a completely unconstitutional district assessment fee in the amount of 6.5 cents per square foot on land and structures. This district is located in what is known as the inner-dispersal loop around the downtown area. This fee is supposed to raise $25,000,000.00 to help build a new stadium for the Tulsa Drillers Baseball team. As soon as this happened business owners were outraged... and quite rightfully so.
P.J. Bacon, who before, would have been assessed $100.00 a year will now pay $6,346.00 annually.
Just sit and think about that for a minute. You're a small business owner who just so happens to be located within the inner-dispersal loop. For years and years you have ran your business and budgeted around everything so you always come out on top... or at the very least break even. Now, instead of paying $100.00, you'll be paying $6,346.00.
Let's not forget that the county and state are expected to pay this as well. Naming just the State Department of Central Services, their fee will go from $5,700.00 per year to $50,000.00 per year. That's a tax supported agency ... that means we, the tax payers, are paying for this expense.
Moving on...
As this has all unfolded over the last few months, 20+ business owners got together and had a temporary injunction filed to stop the City of Tulsa from placing liens on their property if they did not pay the fee. Go figure... it was overturned last week.
I told you so... I told you so... I told you so. I hate to be right here... but I was right.
I stressed it over and over folks... if we didn't stop this thing... if we... the citizens... did not unite in a large enough voice to stop this, then it would begin the end of small business in downtown Tulsa. And now it has.
The businesses who refuse to pay the outrageous and very wrong fee will now have liens placed on their property.
I have to ask you folks... When did this happen?
Since when did we live in a country where our government steals money to build privately owned baseball teams a new stadium? Since when did we live in a state, city or county that this happens? It is not the responsibility of other business owners or individual tax payers to provide building expenses to private entities folks and that's exactly what is happening here.
And don't try to tell me it's not effecting the tax payer because it does. It effects the consumer... which, by default, is the tax payer. I assure you businesses who try to remain will pass this new found expense along to you.
Perhaps it's time that we re-educate our leaders in the inner workings of capitalism.
Private individual(s) (investors) invest money into a product which they believe consumers will purchase.
If the product is of interest or benefit to consumers, the business, if ran properly and competitively, will succeed. If the product is of no interest, or not enough interest, then the plan fails and the investor suffers the loss.
When speaking of the benefit of capitalism to the economy and how it works, the list is nearly endless, but that's the basic gist of how it works.
Capitalism... all on its own... with no help from the government... built this entire country. Capitalism is what forged leaps in technology. Capitalism is what made the U.S. the richest country in the world. Capitalism is what provided jobs and made men wealthy. Capitalism is what fed the country. Capitalism is what provided the huge industrial factories, which, during both world wars, through dedicated military development, enabled the U.S. to defeat some of the worst evil and atrocity this world has ever seen. It's what enabled the U.S. to stop the slaughtering of millions of Jews. Capitalism built the United States and dammit... it works.
What does socialism do? Socialism destroys. Period.
What is socialism doing right now? Destroying. Destroying what? Years of hard work by investors who placed small businesses in downtown Tulsa. Small businesses which indeed are the backbone of our entire economy.
This business owners invested their entire lives and fortunes (be those small or large) to take a risk and try to market a product they believed in. Since they are still there, we know they were successful. But now... now it's all changed. All their hard work... their blood... their sweat... and certainly during the hardest of times, their tears... are all for nothing. Our city government... because it wants to build a stadium for a privately owned company... is going to destroy their hopes and dreams. If they refuse to pay a fee that is quite wrongfully being forced upon them, then our city will place a lien and essentially take their property. Guess what that means folks? More burden to the tax payer. How? So glad you asked.
Employees and owners folks... employees and owners. These folks are going to have to get out there and find a way to obtain an income. For many, I can assure you, following current trends, this means the unemployment and welfare lines.
This is not a socialist nation... yet. We're getting there though and I promise you... you mark my words... If we do not stop this from occurring, if our leaders do not overturn it, then we will only be a step closer to losing the freedom we hold so dearly.
What's going to ultimately come of this? Who knows. However, I can provide predictions.
If business owners are willing to fight this to the State Supreme Court, then it may be overturned. In that case... we, the taxpayers, are screwed. Why? Because we will be the only means of providing that $25,000,000.00.
If it stands... we're still screwed. Businesses will have liens placed against their properties which may lead them to file bankruptcy and just be done with it. As I stated back in April... we will find ourselves... by my prediction... having vacant buildings throughout downtown being used by homeless seeking shelter and vandals seeking thrills. I'm sure that will help attract all the new consumers we're told this will bring.
You might be thinking the same thing many people are, "If we're screwed either way, then what is the answer?". Well.. there is an answer after all... and I... your beloved and esteemed writer... will now tell you what that is.
The Tulsa Drillers Baseball team needs to do the right thing. They need to stand up and refuse to take the money. If they want a new stadium... great, grand, wonderful. That's all good and well. But if they want a new stadium, then they need a build a new stadium through private means... not by taking money which is being stolen from their fellow citizens and fellow business owners. I wonder how they would feel if the city told them they would now be responsible for fully providing the wages of law enforcement for the entire district on the night of their games. (the logic behind that statement is in the purpose of the borders of the district, as it is said the stadium will effect that area directly)
I fully understand that our city leaders are expected to provide incentives to companies to bring them to a certain location, or relocate them to the town entirely... but this... forcibly stealing money from private business... this is not the answer and is not how it should be done. Offer them tax incentives...
Or... offer the tax payers the option... offer the business owners the option. And I don't mean putting it to a vote, although, you could do that. It could be placed to a yes or no vote, and all those voting yes would pay higher taxes, and those voting no would not. But... I still don't believe that's the answer. I believe Benjamin Franklin put it best when he said "The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy. An equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy". If small business owners and/or citizens want to get together and invest $25,000,000.00 into a new stadium, then let them do so. Let the company ownership become split and have as many part-owners as it takes to bring in the bacon. That's how capitalism is supposed to work.
To conclude... Tulsa Drillers Baseball... you have brought me, and perhaps millions, enjoyment beyond words and some of the most exciting times of our lives. You have provided futures to many who have become leaders in our community, including me. You've always done the right thing... so do the right thing here. Decline to receive any of this money. I love freedom... as I am sure you do as well. Don't contribute to the pathway of destruction, contribute to the road of freedom, liberty and republic government.
I bid you good day.
Matthew Q. Llewellyn
Copyright 2009 Matthew Q. Llewellyn
This is getting more and more ridiculous folks... not to mention harder and harder to believe it's actually happening.
Let me catch you up on the details here.
The city council passed what can only be called a completely unconstitutional district assessment fee in the amount of 6.5 cents per square foot on land and structures. This district is located in what is known as the inner-dispersal loop around the downtown area. This fee is supposed to raise $25,000,000.00 to help build a new stadium for the Tulsa Drillers Baseball team. As soon as this happened business owners were outraged... and quite rightfully so.
P.J. Bacon, who before, would have been assessed $100.00 a year will now pay $6,346.00 annually.
Just sit and think about that for a minute. You're a small business owner who just so happens to be located within the inner-dispersal loop. For years and years you have ran your business and budgeted around everything so you always come out on top... or at the very least break even. Now, instead of paying $100.00, you'll be paying $6,346.00.
Let's not forget that the county and state are expected to pay this as well. Naming just the State Department of Central Services, their fee will go from $5,700.00 per year to $50,000.00 per year. That's a tax supported agency ... that means we, the tax payers, are paying for this expense.
Moving on...
As this has all unfolded over the last few months, 20+ business owners got together and had a temporary injunction filed to stop the City of Tulsa from placing liens on their property if they did not pay the fee. Go figure... it was overturned last week.
I told you so... I told you so... I told you so. I hate to be right here... but I was right.
I stressed it over and over folks... if we didn't stop this thing... if we... the citizens... did not unite in a large enough voice to stop this, then it would begin the end of small business in downtown Tulsa. And now it has.
The businesses who refuse to pay the outrageous and very wrong fee will now have liens placed on their property.
I have to ask you folks... When did this happen?
Since when did we live in a country where our government steals money to build privately owned baseball teams a new stadium? Since when did we live in a state, city or county that this happens? It is not the responsibility of other business owners or individual tax payers to provide building expenses to private entities folks and that's exactly what is happening here.
And don't try to tell me it's not effecting the tax payer because it does. It effects the consumer... which, by default, is the tax payer. I assure you businesses who try to remain will pass this new found expense along to you.
Perhaps it's time that we re-educate our leaders in the inner workings of capitalism.
Private individual(s) (investors) invest money into a product which they believe consumers will purchase.
If the product is of interest or benefit to consumers, the business, if ran properly and competitively, will succeed. If the product is of no interest, or not enough interest, then the plan fails and the investor suffers the loss.
When speaking of the benefit of capitalism to the economy and how it works, the list is nearly endless, but that's the basic gist of how it works.
Capitalism... all on its own... with no help from the government... built this entire country. Capitalism is what forged leaps in technology. Capitalism is what made the U.S. the richest country in the world. Capitalism is what provided jobs and made men wealthy. Capitalism is what fed the country. Capitalism is what provided the huge industrial factories, which, during both world wars, through dedicated military development, enabled the U.S. to defeat some of the worst evil and atrocity this world has ever seen. It's what enabled the U.S. to stop the slaughtering of millions of Jews. Capitalism built the United States and dammit... it works.
What does socialism do? Socialism destroys. Period.
What is socialism doing right now? Destroying. Destroying what? Years of hard work by investors who placed small businesses in downtown Tulsa. Small businesses which indeed are the backbone of our entire economy.
This business owners invested their entire lives and fortunes (be those small or large) to take a risk and try to market a product they believed in. Since they are still there, we know they were successful. But now... now it's all changed. All their hard work... their blood... their sweat... and certainly during the hardest of times, their tears... are all for nothing. Our city government... because it wants to build a stadium for a privately owned company... is going to destroy their hopes and dreams. If they refuse to pay a fee that is quite wrongfully being forced upon them, then our city will place a lien and essentially take their property. Guess what that means folks? More burden to the tax payer. How? So glad you asked.
Employees and owners folks... employees and owners. These folks are going to have to get out there and find a way to obtain an income. For many, I can assure you, following current trends, this means the unemployment and welfare lines.
This is not a socialist nation... yet. We're getting there though and I promise you... you mark my words... If we do not stop this from occurring, if our leaders do not overturn it, then we will only be a step closer to losing the freedom we hold so dearly.
What's going to ultimately come of this? Who knows. However, I can provide predictions.
If business owners are willing to fight this to the State Supreme Court, then it may be overturned. In that case... we, the taxpayers, are screwed. Why? Because we will be the only means of providing that $25,000,000.00.
If it stands... we're still screwed. Businesses will have liens placed against their properties which may lead them to file bankruptcy and just be done with it. As I stated back in April... we will find ourselves... by my prediction... having vacant buildings throughout downtown being used by homeless seeking shelter and vandals seeking thrills. I'm sure that will help attract all the new consumers we're told this will bring.
You might be thinking the same thing many people are, "If we're screwed either way, then what is the answer?". Well.. there is an answer after all... and I... your beloved and esteemed writer... will now tell you what that is.
The Tulsa Drillers Baseball team needs to do the right thing. They need to stand up and refuse to take the money. If they want a new stadium... great, grand, wonderful. That's all good and well. But if they want a new stadium, then they need a build a new stadium through private means... not by taking money which is being stolen from their fellow citizens and fellow business owners. I wonder how they would feel if the city told them they would now be responsible for fully providing the wages of law enforcement for the entire district on the night of their games. (the logic behind that statement is in the purpose of the borders of the district, as it is said the stadium will effect that area directly)
I fully understand that our city leaders are expected to provide incentives to companies to bring them to a certain location, or relocate them to the town entirely... but this... forcibly stealing money from private business... this is not the answer and is not how it should be done. Offer them tax incentives...
Or... offer the tax payers the option... offer the business owners the option. And I don't mean putting it to a vote, although, you could do that. It could be placed to a yes or no vote, and all those voting yes would pay higher taxes, and those voting no would not. But... I still don't believe that's the answer. I believe Benjamin Franklin put it best when he said "The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy. An equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy". If small business owners and/or citizens want to get together and invest $25,000,000.00 into a new stadium, then let them do so. Let the company ownership become split and have as many part-owners as it takes to bring in the bacon. That's how capitalism is supposed to work.
To conclude... Tulsa Drillers Baseball... you have brought me, and perhaps millions, enjoyment beyond words and some of the most exciting times of our lives. You have provided futures to many who have become leaders in our community, including me. You've always done the right thing... so do the right thing here. Decline to receive any of this money. I love freedom... as I am sure you do as well. Don't contribute to the pathway of destruction, contribute to the road of freedom, liberty and republic government.
I bid you good day.
Matthew Q. Llewellyn
Copyright 2009 Matthew Q. Llewellyn
Friday, October 9, 2009
Today's Solar System News with Matthew Llewellyn
Hello everyone I'm Matthew Q. Llewellyn and this is today's solar system news.
On planet earth, American President Barack Obama won a number of awards, some of which were very close calls. They included, but are not limited to, Miss Teen USA 2010, Country Musician of the year 2012 and for his epic performance in a movie that will come out later in his career, an Emmy for Male Actor of the Year.
In non-planetary news, Earth began many offensives today but not without discontent from neighboring alliances. After the Earth Solar Command at NASA launched an attack against the moon, Venus released a press statement suggesting that if such attacks did not immediately cease, it would take aggressive action to defend the Moon. The attack on the Moon has come after thousands of years of conflict between the Moon and planet Earth. The Earth has long held its desire for the Moon to become a permanent fixture in its daily life. The Moon has rejected Earth's request and still leaves Earth high and dry every 10-14 hours. An official at Earth Solar Command who wished to remain anonymous said NASA intends to begin preparing a missile defense shield to protect it from Venusian launched attacks, and that NASA would strike in full force if Venus officials acted on hostile threats towards Earth.
Nearly two years have passed and Mars still refuses to turn over information about the mysterious face that some have come to call "Mars Man". Earth intelligence believes Martian leaders are using the face to cover up a clandestine factory which may be manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. In a press release prepared by Earth Solar Command officials at NASA, top administrations officials say they have placed Mars on economic restrictions and have officially put them on notice.
In other news, a forgotten planet is not happy about its solar status, and it seems it's not alone. Pluto has announced that it will apply to the Intrasolar Alliance and demand its full planetary status be restored. Pluto, which was a planet long before the Alliance was formed, lost its status as a planet after its rising surface temperature was found to be caused by Plutonian abuse of SUV's, and not solar flares. Coming to the defense of Pluto were Callisto and Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moons. Both Callisto and Ganymede, being similar is size to Pluto, believe they should also receive full planetary status, despite their obvious Jupiterian rotation.
That's all for tonight's... I'm sorry... just a moment please... I'm receiving a breaking news update.
.
.
.
.
This just in from the Intrasolar Alliance, Earth's American President, Barack Obama has just won the Man of the Solar System Award for 2009.
That's all for tonight's news folks. From all of us here at Inside The Mind Of Matt, I'm Matthew Q. Llewellyn, and I bid you good day.
On planet earth, American President Barack Obama won a number of awards, some of which were very close calls. They included, but are not limited to, Miss Teen USA 2010, Country Musician of the year 2012 and for his epic performance in a movie that will come out later in his career, an Emmy for Male Actor of the Year.
In non-planetary news, Earth began many offensives today but not without discontent from neighboring alliances. After the Earth Solar Command at NASA launched an attack against the moon, Venus released a press statement suggesting that if such attacks did not immediately cease, it would take aggressive action to defend the Moon. The attack on the Moon has come after thousands of years of conflict between the Moon and planet Earth. The Earth has long held its desire for the Moon to become a permanent fixture in its daily life. The Moon has rejected Earth's request and still leaves Earth high and dry every 10-14 hours. An official at Earth Solar Command who wished to remain anonymous said NASA intends to begin preparing a missile defense shield to protect it from Venusian launched attacks, and that NASA would strike in full force if Venus officials acted on hostile threats towards Earth.
Nearly two years have passed and Mars still refuses to turn over information about the mysterious face that some have come to call "Mars Man". Earth intelligence believes Martian leaders are using the face to cover up a clandestine factory which may be manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. In a press release prepared by Earth Solar Command officials at NASA, top administrations officials say they have placed Mars on economic restrictions and have officially put them on notice.
In other news, a forgotten planet is not happy about its solar status, and it seems it's not alone. Pluto has announced that it will apply to the Intrasolar Alliance and demand its full planetary status be restored. Pluto, which was a planet long before the Alliance was formed, lost its status as a planet after its rising surface temperature was found to be caused by Plutonian abuse of SUV's, and not solar flares. Coming to the defense of Pluto were Callisto and Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moons. Both Callisto and Ganymede, being similar is size to Pluto, believe they should also receive full planetary status, despite their obvious Jupiterian rotation.
That's all for tonight's... I'm sorry... just a moment please... I'm receiving a breaking news update.
.
.
.
.
This just in from the Intrasolar Alliance, Earth's American President, Barack Obama has just won the Man of the Solar System Award for 2009.
That's all for tonight's news folks. From all of us here at Inside The Mind Of Matt, I'm Matthew Q. Llewellyn, and I bid you good day.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Weekly Local Dose ... Oct 2, 2009.
Some people need a shot of penicillin, others need an angioplasty... but that's not why you're here. So place your tray tables up and your seats in an upright position. It's time for your local dose of...
Inside The Mind Of Matt
Hi there Tulsa... let's skip right past the formalities and get this party started folks.
What's going on in the news? Oh boy... lots of stuff. What's good in the news? Oh here's something good folks... 14 Marines from Broken Arrow came home this week... if that's not good news I don't know what is. Here's some news that you first wouldn't think of as good, but, it is. This weekend, our elected officials and the Tulsa Fire Department will pay respects to 16 retired firefighters who have died since retiring. Why is that good news? Because our Tulsa firefighters have not lost a man in the line of duty in many decades. I'm glad to know these heroes survived to and beyond retirement. Let's pray we continue celebrating the lives of retired firefighters, and not those lost in the line of duty. Marines... we welcome you home. Fallen firefighters, we remember your service.
What else do we have in the news this week? Oh... this is interesting...
It would seem that 19 government employees in Oklahoma District 2 are receiving some disciplinary action for misusing tax payer owned equipment. It would seem they were taking our equipment to their homes and using it for some time. While I commend the district 2 commissioner for taking action, I have to say that I'm less than pleased with it. Although these numbers don't add up, this is what we know so far. 2 have been terminated, 1 demoted, 1 suspected, 6 have taken retirement and 7 others haven't decided if they will retire or be fired.
Wait... what? 7 people, who have committed acts which justify being fired, get to decide if they want to be fired or retire? Let me get this straight... perhaps I'm confused. They have a choice to be fired and get nothing, or to retire on the tax payers dime... I think the choice they are going to make is pretty obvious. 6 others have already taken the retirement option and I'm sure these other 7 will as well.
This is ridiculous folks... this is no different than the deal going on with Tulsa Fire. Someone needs to explain this to us tax payers because I frankly don't think any of us can understand this kind of stupidity.
Since when does committing acts worthy of termination buy you a free ticket to retirement? These people are trusted with our tax dollars. If they violate that to the point of justifying termination then they just need to be terminated. We shouldn't be paying for these people to retire folks. I'm not saying throw them in jail for misappropriating the use of equipment... that would be stupid as well... I'm saying fire them. It should not be an option. If the action is only worthy of suspension or demotion then so be it. But if this is worthy of termination then termination needs to occur.
Folks... these types of actions set standards which will occur again in the future. Employees will learn exactly what they can and can't get away with. They'll take advantage of our hard earned tax dollars and they'll learn how to do it just far enough that they won't get fired, but will instead receive a tax payer supplied salary for the rest of their lives. Stupid... just plain stupid.
Let's move on.
It looks like the religious sect is up in arms over Senate Bill 1725... it seems I'm going to have to take them to school on the Constitution. SB 1725 will require the property owner of a church to have their name clearly listed on the deed. Religious zealots who probably couldn't understand staying in the lines of a children's coloring book also seem to have misinterpreted the Constitution. They are making a big fuss about this because they say it violates their rights and infringes upon their liberties. No it doesn't folks. Concerning religion, the 1st amendment states, and I quote, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion; or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". Requiring the actual land owners name to be on a deed in no way prohibits anyone from exercising their religion. Furthermore, by requiring them to play by the same rules as the general public, they are playing by the first part, "no law respecting an establishment of religion". This means no playing favorites, no special treatment and no recognition folks. If we really want to get technical about things, the tax shelter a church affords is unconstitutional. Perhaps it is in their best interests to learn what their rights actually are, because truly, if we followed the 1st amendment here, they would not receive a tax exempt status. Just imagine what those tax dollars could pay for folks. Maybe I'll ask my Senator to start looking into this.
Oh... hey... I found more good news folks.
The Tulsa Stadium Trust voted to spend $2.2 million more dollars of that $25 million dollars it may or may not receive from the illegal downtown property assessment fee. This $2.2 million dollars is going to pay for streetscaping. Interesting... we can't afford police or firefighters and have to furlough them, but we can afford streetscaping for a baseball park.
This just keeps getting better. This thing still hasn't played itself out through the State Supreme Court (unless it happened and I didn't know it) yet our city is still spending money that it doesn't know it will have. Interestingly enough, even if this stays in the favor of the assessment fee, they still won't have the money. Small business owners shagged hind end when it went through and more will follow in suit. No one can afford increases from a few hundred or thousand dollars to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. This money will ultimately come out of the pocket of us tax paying citizens folks. You watch... it will.
What else, what else, what else....
So today, I've had a slow, but busy day at work. Ultimately, it gave me a lot of time to think about things and come up with some pretty darn good ideas that I believe will solve some problems for our city and state.
It seems the city has a little issue to handle. Not too long ago Mayor Taylor decided she wanted a big pretty building for City Hall. After exhaustive debate, the City Council agreed to purchase One Technology Center. For those of you who are unfamiliar, I'll catch you up really fast.
The old City of Tulsa City Hall was a little ran down... paid for... but ran down. One Technology Center, nearly vacant at the time and just around the corner, was available for purchase. Our City Council designed a model that allowed them to purchase this building. The idea proposed that keeping up with repairs on the old building would ultimately be more expensive than getting a nicely polished new one. Their idea included renting out the space not used by the city for $16 and $18 per square foot, and using that to make up the cost, thus breaking even.
Problem...
It's an open floor building folks... 48,000 square foot open floors at that. No one wants that much space. The amount of space used, on average, is about 22,000 feet. This is leaving the city, AKA, the tax payer, with a $1.2 million dollar operating cost this year. And it's not going to get better. One City Councilor said the city, at this rate, can only support this type of deficit through 2012. And let's be honest, energy prices are not going down. You would have to be a fool to not expect this price tag to continually rise.
So what's the answer? Well...here's a start. Turn the lights off at night... seriously. While I don't know what the electric bill for this building is on a monthly basis, I'm willing to bet we could cut 60% of it, if not more, by turning all those lights off at night and on weekends.
(Photo found here.)
Moving on...
While I completely agree with the need to beef up the Tulsa Police Department, I don't believe this moment in time was the best choice. The City Councilors voted 7-2 to accept $3.5 million from the C.O.P.S. Grant. This federal dough will provide 18 officers for 3 years, less training expenses which are a little under $400,000.00. Here's the problem folks...
The grant requires the City of Tulsa to pay for the 4th year, which will cost about $1.3 million dollars. Does anyone want to take a wild guess when the 4th year is? Mayor Taylor announced, just after approvel, that the new officers would begin an academy in January. (I assume that's this coming January of 2010.) This means the grant will pay for 2010, 2011 and 2012, leaving the tax payer with the burden of providing the $1.3 million in 2013.
WAIT!
Didn't we JUST have a big discussion with our City Councilors about a big deficit problem after 2012. As noted above, the extra $1.2 million operating cost for the new City Hall can only be supported until 2012... which means... come on... put it together with me... After 2012, not only will we be trying to figure out how to meet the $1.2 million we can't afford for the City Hall, but we'll be trying to come up with another $1.3 million to comply with the C.O.P.S. Grant.
Folks... the City of Tulsa needs more Officers... I won't argue this. But this way, in this period of time, is not the way to do it. I commend our Tulsa Cops for doing what they are able to do with the man power they have. Many people blame high crime rates on our cops. I blame it on citizens who waste their time with issues they should have never called the police for in the first place. I blame it on law makers who force our cops to handle issues that shouldn't even be matters of law to begin with. I blame it on a lot of things... but I do not blame it on our cops. I've seen them in action and I know what they do. For the man power they have, believe me, they do a fantastic job.
However, there must come a realization and a truth here which everyone thinks, but no one wants to say... and that is this. Police do not stop crime, police investigate crime and lock up the people who commit crime. Don't get me wrong, police do detour, and indeed, do stop some crimes. But for the most part, crime is going to occur whether you have one cop or a thousand cops. So what's the answer?
City Counsilors say the answer is more cops. One of them actually said people will move to the subarbs and quit shopping in town if crime continues to go up. I've got news for you sir, Chicago, New York and Washington D.C. have more cops than you can shake a stick at and their crime rates are through the roof.
Let me ask each of you a question... Do you organize your daily planner based on the current crime rates in the area you will be traveling to? Do you go to the bank based on statistical data of when banks are least likely to be robbed? Do you go shopping at the grocery store based on whether or not a crime is going to be committed?
I know a lot of people who try to use banks and grocery stores in either very early or very late hours. Their plan is to go when the largest amount of consumers don't frequent the destination, thus reducing the overall time spent in line. The funny thing about doing that is that most crimes occur during those times. Criminals don't like confrontation. Less people present means decreased chance for confrontation.
While some people do choose to visit a particular area based on the appearance and what they assume must be a high crime area, this is not going to effect the City of Tulsa at large. The big money makers will still be frequented and the city will still bring in the bacon. So again I ask... what's the answer to this crime problem?
You are... the citizen... the business owner... the employee. You... the individual, are the answer.
I've said it before and I'll say it again... no amount of law has ever stopped a crime from being committed. If a criminal wants to break a law, no amount of laws or possible jail time is going to detour him (or her... have to be politically correct). The only true detourant to crime is what? Fear.
Criminals are cowards folks... You may fear them... but they are cowards. Criminals do not prey on someone who can play at the same level. Criminals focus their attention on easy targets. What, or rather, who, are easy targets? The unarmed... period. It doesn't matter your skin color, gender, age or place of business... if you're unarmed, you are their target. What's the solution? Arm yourself.
If the city wants to reduce crime then the city needs to take a proactive approach to doing so by reducing the target area. Think of it like an antihistamine. The antihistamine doesn't stop what's going on, it attaches itself to the targeted receptors and blocks the histamine from doing what it's trying to do. Armed citizens are no different. When you place a gun between the criminal and their target, you stop what they are trying to do. How many of these cowardly characters are going to rob a bank if they know the tellers are armed? How many people rob a night clerk at the 24 hour corner store if they know the tellers are armed? And how many people are going to walk up and attempt to commit acts of violence against you if they know you are armed?
We need an open carry law in this state folks... it already exist... it's just being unconstitutionally blocked.
I want you to think about this for a minute folks... and I mean really think about it.
Has any law maker ever wrote a law to protect free speech? Have they ever wrote a law to protect the press? Have they ever wrote a law pertaining to any of the rights of the people, exluding the 2nd? The answer is no. Many states have adopted the Constitution and expanded upon it, but nothing has ever been devised to improve or restrict. If the media was messed with, they simply claim their 1st amendment rights.
So tell me... why is it, when it comes to our right to keep and bear arms, are there literally thousands of restrictions and pieces of red tape regulating how, when, where and what we can carry? Should we not be able to just as easily claim our 2nd amendment right and be allowed to go on our way? Should we even have to remind our government that we have it in the first place? Why is it being questioned to begin with? Honestly... that's an issue for another day...
Getting back on track...
We, the people, not the government, but us, are responsible for protecting ourselves and we need to demand our lawmakers make this easier for us. The city can't figure out how to reduce crime... the state can't figure it out... so here it is elected officials... let us put those antihistamines between the histamine and the target... let us, the people, do what we did so well for over 200 years... before the government began restricting our rights. You can reduce crime without a single tax increase, a need to hire more cops, a need for more laws or any other effect on the budget... other than helping it of course. You folks have to get on board and call your city leaders. The City of Tulsa is not exactly a small part of Oklahoma... it does have influence. You need to tell your elected city officials to get on the phone and start demanding the State Legislature write and pass open carry laws. And don't stop there... turn around and call the State Legislators... you pay to put them there... at least make them put up with your phone calls.
Well folks... I hope you have enjoyed reading this very first edition of the weekly local dose as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I'll see you next week and I'll see you midweek with the national dose. This is Matthew Q. Llewellyn saying, "I bid you good day".
Inside The Mind Of Matt
Hi there Tulsa... let's skip right past the formalities and get this party started folks.
What's going on in the news? Oh boy... lots of stuff. What's good in the news? Oh here's something good folks... 14 Marines from Broken Arrow came home this week... if that's not good news I don't know what is. Here's some news that you first wouldn't think of as good, but, it is. This weekend, our elected officials and the Tulsa Fire Department will pay respects to 16 retired firefighters who have died since retiring. Why is that good news? Because our Tulsa firefighters have not lost a man in the line of duty in many decades. I'm glad to know these heroes survived to and beyond retirement. Let's pray we continue celebrating the lives of retired firefighters, and not those lost in the line of duty. Marines... we welcome you home. Fallen firefighters, we remember your service.
What else do we have in the news this week? Oh... this is interesting...
It would seem that 19 government employees in Oklahoma District 2 are receiving some disciplinary action for misusing tax payer owned equipment. It would seem they were taking our equipment to their homes and using it for some time. While I commend the district 2 commissioner for taking action, I have to say that I'm less than pleased with it. Although these numbers don't add up, this is what we know so far. 2 have been terminated, 1 demoted, 1 suspected, 6 have taken retirement and 7 others haven't decided if they will retire or be fired.
Wait... what? 7 people, who have committed acts which justify being fired, get to decide if they want to be fired or retire? Let me get this straight... perhaps I'm confused. They have a choice to be fired and get nothing, or to retire on the tax payers dime... I think the choice they are going to make is pretty obvious. 6 others have already taken the retirement option and I'm sure these other 7 will as well.
This is ridiculous folks... this is no different than the deal going on with Tulsa Fire. Someone needs to explain this to us tax payers because I frankly don't think any of us can understand this kind of stupidity.
Since when does committing acts worthy of termination buy you a free ticket to retirement? These people are trusted with our tax dollars. If they violate that to the point of justifying termination then they just need to be terminated. We shouldn't be paying for these people to retire folks. I'm not saying throw them in jail for misappropriating the use of equipment... that would be stupid as well... I'm saying fire them. It should not be an option. If the action is only worthy of suspension or demotion then so be it. But if this is worthy of termination then termination needs to occur.
Folks... these types of actions set standards which will occur again in the future. Employees will learn exactly what they can and can't get away with. They'll take advantage of our hard earned tax dollars and they'll learn how to do it just far enough that they won't get fired, but will instead receive a tax payer supplied salary for the rest of their lives. Stupid... just plain stupid.
Let's move on.
It looks like the religious sect is up in arms over Senate Bill 1725... it seems I'm going to have to take them to school on the Constitution. SB 1725 will require the property owner of a church to have their name clearly listed on the deed. Religious zealots who probably couldn't understand staying in the lines of a children's coloring book also seem to have misinterpreted the Constitution. They are making a big fuss about this because they say it violates their rights and infringes upon their liberties. No it doesn't folks. Concerning religion, the 1st amendment states, and I quote, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion; or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". Requiring the actual land owners name to be on a deed in no way prohibits anyone from exercising their religion. Furthermore, by requiring them to play by the same rules as the general public, they are playing by the first part, "no law respecting an establishment of religion". This means no playing favorites, no special treatment and no recognition folks. If we really want to get technical about things, the tax shelter a church affords is unconstitutional. Perhaps it is in their best interests to learn what their rights actually are, because truly, if we followed the 1st amendment here, they would not receive a tax exempt status. Just imagine what those tax dollars could pay for folks. Maybe I'll ask my Senator to start looking into this.
Oh... hey... I found more good news folks.
The Tulsa Stadium Trust voted to spend $2.2 million more dollars of that $25 million dollars it may or may not receive from the illegal downtown property assessment fee. This $2.2 million dollars is going to pay for streetscaping. Interesting... we can't afford police or firefighters and have to furlough them, but we can afford streetscaping for a baseball park.
This just keeps getting better. This thing still hasn't played itself out through the State Supreme Court (unless it happened and I didn't know it) yet our city is still spending money that it doesn't know it will have. Interestingly enough, even if this stays in the favor of the assessment fee, they still won't have the money. Small business owners shagged hind end when it went through and more will follow in suit. No one can afford increases from a few hundred or thousand dollars to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. This money will ultimately come out of the pocket of us tax paying citizens folks. You watch... it will.
What else, what else, what else....
So today, I've had a slow, but busy day at work. Ultimately, it gave me a lot of time to think about things and come up with some pretty darn good ideas that I believe will solve some problems for our city and state.
It seems the city has a little issue to handle. Not too long ago Mayor Taylor decided she wanted a big pretty building for City Hall. After exhaustive debate, the City Council agreed to purchase One Technology Center. For those of you who are unfamiliar, I'll catch you up really fast.
The old City of Tulsa City Hall was a little ran down... paid for... but ran down. One Technology Center, nearly vacant at the time and just around the corner, was available for purchase. Our City Council designed a model that allowed them to purchase this building. The idea proposed that keeping up with repairs on the old building would ultimately be more expensive than getting a nicely polished new one. Their idea included renting out the space not used by the city for $16 and $18 per square foot, and using that to make up the cost, thus breaking even.
Problem...
It's an open floor building folks... 48,000 square foot open floors at that. No one wants that much space. The amount of space used, on average, is about 22,000 feet. This is leaving the city, AKA, the tax payer, with a $1.2 million dollar operating cost this year. And it's not going to get better. One City Councilor said the city, at this rate, can only support this type of deficit through 2012. And let's be honest, energy prices are not going down. You would have to be a fool to not expect this price tag to continually rise.
So what's the answer? Well...here's a start. Turn the lights off at night... seriously. While I don't know what the electric bill for this building is on a monthly basis, I'm willing to bet we could cut 60% of it, if not more, by turning all those lights off at night and on weekends.
(Photo found here.)
Moving on...
While I completely agree with the need to beef up the Tulsa Police Department, I don't believe this moment in time was the best choice. The City Councilors voted 7-2 to accept $3.5 million from the C.O.P.S. Grant. This federal dough will provide 18 officers for 3 years, less training expenses which are a little under $400,000.00. Here's the problem folks...
The grant requires the City of Tulsa to pay for the 4th year, which will cost about $1.3 million dollars. Does anyone want to take a wild guess when the 4th year is? Mayor Taylor announced, just after approvel, that the new officers would begin an academy in January. (I assume that's this coming January of 2010.) This means the grant will pay for 2010, 2011 and 2012, leaving the tax payer with the burden of providing the $1.3 million in 2013.
WAIT!
Didn't we JUST have a big discussion with our City Councilors about a big deficit problem after 2012. As noted above, the extra $1.2 million operating cost for the new City Hall can only be supported until 2012... which means... come on... put it together with me... After 2012, not only will we be trying to figure out how to meet the $1.2 million we can't afford for the City Hall, but we'll be trying to come up with another $1.3 million to comply with the C.O.P.S. Grant.
Folks... the City of Tulsa needs more Officers... I won't argue this. But this way, in this period of time, is not the way to do it. I commend our Tulsa Cops for doing what they are able to do with the man power they have. Many people blame high crime rates on our cops. I blame it on citizens who waste their time with issues they should have never called the police for in the first place. I blame it on law makers who force our cops to handle issues that shouldn't even be matters of law to begin with. I blame it on a lot of things... but I do not blame it on our cops. I've seen them in action and I know what they do. For the man power they have, believe me, they do a fantastic job.
However, there must come a realization and a truth here which everyone thinks, but no one wants to say... and that is this. Police do not stop crime, police investigate crime and lock up the people who commit crime. Don't get me wrong, police do detour, and indeed, do stop some crimes. But for the most part, crime is going to occur whether you have one cop or a thousand cops. So what's the answer?
City Counsilors say the answer is more cops. One of them actually said people will move to the subarbs and quit shopping in town if crime continues to go up. I've got news for you sir, Chicago, New York and Washington D.C. have more cops than you can shake a stick at and their crime rates are through the roof.
Let me ask each of you a question... Do you organize your daily planner based on the current crime rates in the area you will be traveling to? Do you go to the bank based on statistical data of when banks are least likely to be robbed? Do you go shopping at the grocery store based on whether or not a crime is going to be committed?
I know a lot of people who try to use banks and grocery stores in either very early or very late hours. Their plan is to go when the largest amount of consumers don't frequent the destination, thus reducing the overall time spent in line. The funny thing about doing that is that most crimes occur during those times. Criminals don't like confrontation. Less people present means decreased chance for confrontation.
While some people do choose to visit a particular area based on the appearance and what they assume must be a high crime area, this is not going to effect the City of Tulsa at large. The big money makers will still be frequented and the city will still bring in the bacon. So again I ask... what's the answer to this crime problem?
You are... the citizen... the business owner... the employee. You... the individual, are the answer.
I've said it before and I'll say it again... no amount of law has ever stopped a crime from being committed. If a criminal wants to break a law, no amount of laws or possible jail time is going to detour him (or her... have to be politically correct). The only true detourant to crime is what? Fear.
Criminals are cowards folks... You may fear them... but they are cowards. Criminals do not prey on someone who can play at the same level. Criminals focus their attention on easy targets. What, or rather, who, are easy targets? The unarmed... period. It doesn't matter your skin color, gender, age or place of business... if you're unarmed, you are their target. What's the solution? Arm yourself.
If the city wants to reduce crime then the city needs to take a proactive approach to doing so by reducing the target area. Think of it like an antihistamine. The antihistamine doesn't stop what's going on, it attaches itself to the targeted receptors and blocks the histamine from doing what it's trying to do. Armed citizens are no different. When you place a gun between the criminal and their target, you stop what they are trying to do. How many of these cowardly characters are going to rob a bank if they know the tellers are armed? How many people rob a night clerk at the 24 hour corner store if they know the tellers are armed? And how many people are going to walk up and attempt to commit acts of violence against you if they know you are armed?
We need an open carry law in this state folks... it already exist... it's just being unconstitutionally blocked.
I want you to think about this for a minute folks... and I mean really think about it.
Has any law maker ever wrote a law to protect free speech? Have they ever wrote a law to protect the press? Have they ever wrote a law pertaining to any of the rights of the people, exluding the 2nd? The answer is no. Many states have adopted the Constitution and expanded upon it, but nothing has ever been devised to improve or restrict. If the media was messed with, they simply claim their 1st amendment rights.
So tell me... why is it, when it comes to our right to keep and bear arms, are there literally thousands of restrictions and pieces of red tape regulating how, when, where and what we can carry? Should we not be able to just as easily claim our 2nd amendment right and be allowed to go on our way? Should we even have to remind our government that we have it in the first place? Why is it being questioned to begin with? Honestly... that's an issue for another day...
Getting back on track...
We, the people, not the government, but us, are responsible for protecting ourselves and we need to demand our lawmakers make this easier for us. The city can't figure out how to reduce crime... the state can't figure it out... so here it is elected officials... let us put those antihistamines between the histamine and the target... let us, the people, do what we did so well for over 200 years... before the government began restricting our rights. You can reduce crime without a single tax increase, a need to hire more cops, a need for more laws or any other effect on the budget... other than helping it of course. You folks have to get on board and call your city leaders. The City of Tulsa is not exactly a small part of Oklahoma... it does have influence. You need to tell your elected city officials to get on the phone and start demanding the State Legislature write and pass open carry laws. And don't stop there... turn around and call the State Legislators... you pay to put them there... at least make them put up with your phone calls.
Well folks... I hope you have enjoyed reading this very first edition of the weekly local dose as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I'll see you next week and I'll see you midweek with the national dose. This is Matthew Q. Llewellyn saying, "I bid you good day".
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Those Who Know Not Their History...
Those Who Know Not Their History...
Matthew Q. Llewellyn, Founder
The American Libertarian Movement
ONLINE BLOG
Folks... I'm going to keep this fairly short today because honestly, the videos tell the story that you need to know.
In Burlington, NJ, an indoctrinator in the public school system is teaching children to sing praises to Obama... No... I'm not kidding. Your tax dollars are paying the government to teach your children to sing praises to Obama.
See the video here
Folks... those who know not history are doomed to repeat it.
Here's a video of muslim children being taught to praise and kill themselves for Allah.
And here's another video of a big lovable teddy bear who taught children to sing and chant praises to him... You probably know him as Hitler.
It's sad really... the damage this domestically elected terrorist has done to our country will never be fixed in any of our lifetimes. America as we once knew it, will never again be the same. However... for our children... for their future... it can be changed. The deciding factor as to which way that tide will turn is up to you.
I bid you good day.
Matthew Q. Llewellyn, Founder
The American Libertarian Movement
ONLINE BLOG
Folks... I'm going to keep this fairly short today because honestly, the videos tell the story that you need to know.
In Burlington, NJ, an indoctrinator in the public school system is teaching children to sing praises to Obama... No... I'm not kidding. Your tax dollars are paying the government to teach your children to sing praises to Obama.
See the video here
Folks... those who know not history are doomed to repeat it.
Here's a video of muslim children being taught to praise and kill themselves for Allah.
And here's another video of a big lovable teddy bear who taught children to sing and chant praises to him... You probably know him as Hitler.
It's sad really... the damage this domestically elected terrorist has done to our country will never be fixed in any of our lifetimes. America as we once knew it, will never again be the same. However... for our children... for their future... it can be changed. The deciding factor as to which way that tide will turn is up to you.
I bid you good day.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Where Does Control Stop?
Where Does Control Stop?
Matthew Q. Llewellyn, Founder
The American Libertarian Movement
ONLINE BLOG
For just over 26 hours now a new law has been in effect. The FDA, having a new and sweeping authority enacted a ban on all flavored cigarettes. These cigarettes can not be produced or sold anywhere in the United States. This new power comes from the Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act which was signed into power by President Barack Hussein Obama.
The tobacco control act, among other things, states a need to control the number of young smokers as this control will lead to a lower number of older smokers. Due to the rising cost of health care, our government believes it is their responsibility to reduce health care cost by controlling smoking. Looking out for your children as well, the bill, according to Obama, will stop evil tobacco companies from marketing cigarettes to your children. Obama stated, "constant and insidious barrage of advertising where they live, where they learn and where they play. Most insidiously, they are offered products with flavorings that mask the taste of tobacco and make it even more tempting."
Really?
Where they live... This must mean all those commercials big tobacco puts out, right? Tell me, exactly how is big tobacco marketing its product towards children where they live? Advertising tobacco products on radio and television was made illegal over a decade ago. The only place a tobacco company could possibly have an advertisement in your home would be in magazines that are geared towards an adult nature. If this is the case then I believe we have a different question to ask. Rather than accuse big tobacco of marketing to children where they live through these magazines, perhaps we should inquire as to why parents are issuing their 13 year old the latest copy of juggs or hustler.
Where they learn... This should just go without question, but, I'll cover it anyway. When is the last time you walked into a school and found a tobacco advertisement. Has big tobacco started a movement and started placing their advertisements in school buses and classrooms? Could it be that they are advertising on billboards which are visible to children along the bus route? No... it couldn't, because big tobacco is also banned from advertising on bill boards. If we're going to talk facts, let's talk facts. The only thing you will find in schools, which is where children are indoctrinated... I'm sorry... "learn"... are anti-smoking posters handed out via our tax dollars through the CDC, FDA, etc and so on. Interestingly enough, it has been proven, time and time again, that children are more tempted to smoke by anti-smoking posters than they have been by every other type of previously legal advertising combined. In reality, it's the government that is marketing tobacco to children... not big tobacco.
Where they play... Has anyone, anywhere, ever, at anytime, seen a big tobacco rep walking around the playground handing out samples? Anyone? No one? Not one person at all? really? This is absolutely shocking to me folks. Obama says big tobacco is marketing to children where they live, learn and play, but as we can clearly see, that is absolutely impossible. As established, the only people tempting children to smoke, are our elected officials. Of course we can't really blame our government for causing children to smoke via these anti-smoking campaigns, after all, they are just looking out for the best interest of the children right?
Putting everything aside and assuming the best intentions of government; Is it possible for us to find out what their logic in all of this is? If only we had a quote taken directly from a government representative in a high position of power, informing us about their position.
OH CRAP! Here's one right here...
“These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers." - FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg
Folks... their intentions couldn't be more obvious. They are trying to protect children and young adults from using flavored tobacco products so they won't become regular smokers.
It all makes perfect and clear sense now. The government is banning products which are considered gateways to dangerous habits. I'm going to miss tobacco and alcohol but this is for the childr... What? They're not putting any bans on alcohol? How could that be possible?
Alcohol producers make their greatest profits from the sell of flavored, alcoholic beverages. In fact, there are thousands of avenues dedicated to this. Just watching my television for a half hour, and searching through the channels, I found an immense amount of commercials for alcohol and shows dedicated to alcohol. We have commercials showing you how fun it is to go to the bar, and how, after consuming their drink, you become popular with the opposite sex. We have the food network and other special channels who host entire specials teaching us how to mix drinks with common fruits, vegetables and other drinks found in the average kitchen. Children can't even play baseball or go to a professional sporting event without being exposed to alcohol. Whether it's dad bringing a case of beer to the sideline of a kids game or a family wading through the crowds around the beer stand at the stadium, children are regularly and consistently exposed to alcohol. We even teach children about the benefit of a daily glass of wine in school... a glass of wine which could easily become a bad habit. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), "Habits developed in the youth are very hard to break later in life."
I don't know about you folks, but it seems to me that the only company advertising their product to our youth where they live, learn and play are the alcohol manufacturers. But... there must be an obvious reasoning here. Tobacco is a gateway drug, which is why they are so determined to ban it, yet alcohol, obviously, is not a gateway drug.
"A recent study by Columbia University's Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, states that the earlier children use the gateway drugs tobacco or alcohol or marijuana, the more likely they are to move on to other drugs." - Drug Watch International
Wait! What?
I thought alcohol couldn't possibly be a gateway drug. I mean... what's going on here? Tobacco companies are being attacked and their products banned left and right because they are gateways to worse things in life, such as tobacco addiction or other drug use. Why is alcohol not receiving the same restrictions folks?
Alcohol is not only full of literally thousands of flavor possibilities, but it is readily available and unmonitored in virtually every single home in the United States. Every drinking adult with children has alcohol stored in their home, whether it be in the fridge or in a closet, it's there. Alcohol is advertised to children from every possible direction we can imagine. It's at baseball, basketball, football and hockey. It's on TV commercials, it has TV shows dedicated to it and it is glorified in every single magazine you can find on the shelves... magazines which by their very nature, are marketed for children and young adults, such as the latest pop culture or skating magazine. Every single possible place you can go or imagine, in every single place children live, learn and play, they are exposed to alcohol in overwhelming numbers. Interestingly enough... what will you not find advertised or in a position to expose itself to children in all these same places is what? ... Tobacco.
So what's with the all the laws attacking tobacco? I mean seriously... what's going on here?
Are you ready for the truth folks?
Here it comes...
Wait for it...
Wait for it...
Almost...
And here it is. This law is exactly what the bill which give it its power is all about... control. The government wants to control every single aspect of our lives and force more and more people to become dependent on them. Think about this for a minute... and I mean really think about this.
Tobacco is a user-effective drug, meaning, its effect are primarily directed towards the user. To date, there is not a single shred of credible evidence suggesting tobacco has any harm whatsoever to anyone but the actual user. This is why all the anti-smoking and second hand smoke people are required to say "may" instead of "does". In fact, there's not a single shred of credible evidence that smoking causes cancer, which is why the packs also say "may" not "does" or "will". Does it cause numerous health problems? You bet it does. High blood pressure, heart disease, emphysema, hardening of arteries, tooth decay... the list goes on. But these are not what they focus on... they focus on the big and scary one which is much, much harder to fix. Let's face it, if you tell someone they are having a heart attack, you are able to comfort them by explaining the steps that are going to be taken over the following few hours to save their life. However, if you tell someone, God forbid, that they have cancer, you'll be delivering a blow which may cause fear for years to come. The same goes with saying "you might", or "may".
Again I must ask... Why Tobacco? Is not alcohol much more dangerous? Let's touch on this very quickly.
According to the Division of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University, "About 90% of people in Western countries use alcohol at some time in their lives, and 40% experience temporary or permanent alcohol-related impairment in some area of life as a result of drinking." Furthermore, "Acute alcohol use is associated with suicide. Suicide completers have high rates of positive blood alcohol. Intoxicated people are more likely to attempt suicide using more lethal methods. Alcohol may be important in suicides among individuals with no previous psychiatric history."
Of course these are user-effective problems... the problem with alcohol, versus tobacco, is that alcohol is not only user-effective. According to Markham's Behavioral Health, in 2008, 87,000 innocent people were killed in the United States by drunk drivers. That's 29 times more people than killed by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.
Folks... why is our highly concerned government, who is only looking out for our best interests, going after tobacco and not alcohol? Easy. Tobacco has become the hated habit of our society, being despised not only by non-smokers, but by smokers and hardcore drug users, such as meth, who don't smoke cigarettes. But alcohol... well... everyone loves alcohol. And there you have your answer.
The government is slowly taking more and more control of our private lives. More and more, every day, every year, with every bill, they are moving further and further into our private lives, controlling every possible function we will let them get their hands on.
So my question for you is this articles name... What does control stop?
They choose to control tobacco today claiming rising healthcare cost and so on. But what about tomorrow? What if they decide the population itself is becoming too large. Will there be population control? The Chinese already have it... will we soon follow in suit? Will single parents and married alike, who can not afford children but keep popping them out, be forced to get fixed? What about breeding? Will that become forcibly selective? It's already occuring in many countries folks. The government cross checks people, uses a predetermined guideline and establishes who you can marry and who you can procreate with. Will our government soon declare, that in the best interest of our nation and health, that they will determine this for us as well? Where does it stop?
Folks... it doesn't stop... and... it doesn't just stop at control that is as obvious as this. It goes all the way to your financial affairs as well. The government continues to raise the taxes on tobacco higher and higher in an effort to control our private lives, thus forcing us to make the decisions that they can't force us to make any other way. Eventually, the cost due to taxes will be so incredibly high that no one will smoke. However, the programs that tobacco taxes funded will continue to open their doors every day but will need a new source of funding. When this happens, and it easily will folks, all of our taxes are going to go up. And it won't stop there. As they move from habit to habit, the cycle will just continue to repeat itself. As time goes on, more and more people will find themselves needing government assistance, thus making them dependent on government, thus giving the power hungry people in our government the control over your lives that they so desperately desire.
Where does it stop? Well... I guess we'll just have to find out. I bid you good day friends.
Matthew Q. Llewellyn, Founder
The American Libertarian Movement
ONLINE BLOG
For just over 26 hours now a new law has been in effect. The FDA, having a new and sweeping authority enacted a ban on all flavored cigarettes. These cigarettes can not be produced or sold anywhere in the United States. This new power comes from the Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act which was signed into power by President Barack Hussein Obama.
The tobacco control act, among other things, states a need to control the number of young smokers as this control will lead to a lower number of older smokers. Due to the rising cost of health care, our government believes it is their responsibility to reduce health care cost by controlling smoking. Looking out for your children as well, the bill, according to Obama, will stop evil tobacco companies from marketing cigarettes to your children. Obama stated, "constant and insidious barrage of advertising where they live, where they learn and where they play. Most insidiously, they are offered products with flavorings that mask the taste of tobacco and make it even more tempting."
Really?
Where they live... This must mean all those commercials big tobacco puts out, right? Tell me, exactly how is big tobacco marketing its product towards children where they live? Advertising tobacco products on radio and television was made illegal over a decade ago. The only place a tobacco company could possibly have an advertisement in your home would be in magazines that are geared towards an adult nature. If this is the case then I believe we have a different question to ask. Rather than accuse big tobacco of marketing to children where they live through these magazines, perhaps we should inquire as to why parents are issuing their 13 year old the latest copy of juggs or hustler.
Where they learn... This should just go without question, but, I'll cover it anyway. When is the last time you walked into a school and found a tobacco advertisement. Has big tobacco started a movement and started placing their advertisements in school buses and classrooms? Could it be that they are advertising on billboards which are visible to children along the bus route? No... it couldn't, because big tobacco is also banned from advertising on bill boards. If we're going to talk facts, let's talk facts. The only thing you will find in schools, which is where children are indoctrinated... I'm sorry... "learn"... are anti-smoking posters handed out via our tax dollars through the CDC, FDA, etc and so on. Interestingly enough, it has been proven, time and time again, that children are more tempted to smoke by anti-smoking posters than they have been by every other type of previously legal advertising combined. In reality, it's the government that is marketing tobacco to children... not big tobacco.
Where they play... Has anyone, anywhere, ever, at anytime, seen a big tobacco rep walking around the playground handing out samples? Anyone? No one? Not one person at all? really? This is absolutely shocking to me folks. Obama says big tobacco is marketing to children where they live, learn and play, but as we can clearly see, that is absolutely impossible. As established, the only people tempting children to smoke, are our elected officials. Of course we can't really blame our government for causing children to smoke via these anti-smoking campaigns, after all, they are just looking out for the best interest of the children right?
Putting everything aside and assuming the best intentions of government; Is it possible for us to find out what their logic in all of this is? If only we had a quote taken directly from a government representative in a high position of power, informing us about their position.
OH CRAP! Here's one right here...
“These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers." - FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg
Folks... their intentions couldn't be more obvious. They are trying to protect children and young adults from using flavored tobacco products so they won't become regular smokers.
It all makes perfect and clear sense now. The government is banning products which are considered gateways to dangerous habits. I'm going to miss tobacco and alcohol but this is for the childr... What? They're not putting any bans on alcohol? How could that be possible?
Alcohol producers make their greatest profits from the sell of flavored, alcoholic beverages. In fact, there are thousands of avenues dedicated to this. Just watching my television for a half hour, and searching through the channels, I found an immense amount of commercials for alcohol and shows dedicated to alcohol. We have commercials showing you how fun it is to go to the bar, and how, after consuming their drink, you become popular with the opposite sex. We have the food network and other special channels who host entire specials teaching us how to mix drinks with common fruits, vegetables and other drinks found in the average kitchen. Children can't even play baseball or go to a professional sporting event without being exposed to alcohol. Whether it's dad bringing a case of beer to the sideline of a kids game or a family wading through the crowds around the beer stand at the stadium, children are regularly and consistently exposed to alcohol. We even teach children about the benefit of a daily glass of wine in school... a glass of wine which could easily become a bad habit. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), "Habits developed in the youth are very hard to break later in life."
I don't know about you folks, but it seems to me that the only company advertising their product to our youth where they live, learn and play are the alcohol manufacturers. But... there must be an obvious reasoning here. Tobacco is a gateway drug, which is why they are so determined to ban it, yet alcohol, obviously, is not a gateway drug.
"A recent study by Columbia University's Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, states that the earlier children use the gateway drugs tobacco or alcohol or marijuana, the more likely they are to move on to other drugs." - Drug Watch International
Wait! What?
I thought alcohol couldn't possibly be a gateway drug. I mean... what's going on here? Tobacco companies are being attacked and their products banned left and right because they are gateways to worse things in life, such as tobacco addiction or other drug use. Why is alcohol not receiving the same restrictions folks?
Alcohol is not only full of literally thousands of flavor possibilities, but it is readily available and unmonitored in virtually every single home in the United States. Every drinking adult with children has alcohol stored in their home, whether it be in the fridge or in a closet, it's there. Alcohol is advertised to children from every possible direction we can imagine. It's at baseball, basketball, football and hockey. It's on TV commercials, it has TV shows dedicated to it and it is glorified in every single magazine you can find on the shelves... magazines which by their very nature, are marketed for children and young adults, such as the latest pop culture or skating magazine. Every single possible place you can go or imagine, in every single place children live, learn and play, they are exposed to alcohol in overwhelming numbers. Interestingly enough... what will you not find advertised or in a position to expose itself to children in all these same places is what? ... Tobacco.
So what's with the all the laws attacking tobacco? I mean seriously... what's going on here?
Are you ready for the truth folks?
Here it comes...
Wait for it...
Wait for it...
Almost...
And here it is. This law is exactly what the bill which give it its power is all about... control. The government wants to control every single aspect of our lives and force more and more people to become dependent on them. Think about this for a minute... and I mean really think about this.
Tobacco is a user-effective drug, meaning, its effect are primarily directed towards the user. To date, there is not a single shred of credible evidence suggesting tobacco has any harm whatsoever to anyone but the actual user. This is why all the anti-smoking and second hand smoke people are required to say "may" instead of "does". In fact, there's not a single shred of credible evidence that smoking causes cancer, which is why the packs also say "may" not "does" or "will". Does it cause numerous health problems? You bet it does. High blood pressure, heart disease, emphysema, hardening of arteries, tooth decay... the list goes on. But these are not what they focus on... they focus on the big and scary one which is much, much harder to fix. Let's face it, if you tell someone they are having a heart attack, you are able to comfort them by explaining the steps that are going to be taken over the following few hours to save their life. However, if you tell someone, God forbid, that they have cancer, you'll be delivering a blow which may cause fear for years to come. The same goes with saying "you might", or "may".
Again I must ask... Why Tobacco? Is not alcohol much more dangerous? Let's touch on this very quickly.
According to the Division of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University, "About 90% of people in Western countries use alcohol at some time in their lives, and 40% experience temporary or permanent alcohol-related impairment in some area of life as a result of drinking." Furthermore, "Acute alcohol use is associated with suicide. Suicide completers have high rates of positive blood alcohol. Intoxicated people are more likely to attempt suicide using more lethal methods. Alcohol may be important in suicides among individuals with no previous psychiatric history."
Of course these are user-effective problems... the problem with alcohol, versus tobacco, is that alcohol is not only user-effective. According to Markham's Behavioral Health, in 2008, 87,000 innocent people were killed in the United States by drunk drivers. That's 29 times more people than killed by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.
Folks... why is our highly concerned government, who is only looking out for our best interests, going after tobacco and not alcohol? Easy. Tobacco has become the hated habit of our society, being despised not only by non-smokers, but by smokers and hardcore drug users, such as meth, who don't smoke cigarettes. But alcohol... well... everyone loves alcohol. And there you have your answer.
The government is slowly taking more and more control of our private lives. More and more, every day, every year, with every bill, they are moving further and further into our private lives, controlling every possible function we will let them get their hands on.
So my question for you is this articles name... What does control stop?
They choose to control tobacco today claiming rising healthcare cost and so on. But what about tomorrow? What if they decide the population itself is becoming too large. Will there be population control? The Chinese already have it... will we soon follow in suit? Will single parents and married alike, who can not afford children but keep popping them out, be forced to get fixed? What about breeding? Will that become forcibly selective? It's already occuring in many countries folks. The government cross checks people, uses a predetermined guideline and establishes who you can marry and who you can procreate with. Will our government soon declare, that in the best interest of our nation and health, that they will determine this for us as well? Where does it stop?
Folks... it doesn't stop... and... it doesn't just stop at control that is as obvious as this. It goes all the way to your financial affairs as well. The government continues to raise the taxes on tobacco higher and higher in an effort to control our private lives, thus forcing us to make the decisions that they can't force us to make any other way. Eventually, the cost due to taxes will be so incredibly high that no one will smoke. However, the programs that tobacco taxes funded will continue to open their doors every day but will need a new source of funding. When this happens, and it easily will folks, all of our taxes are going to go up. And it won't stop there. As they move from habit to habit, the cycle will just continue to repeat itself. As time goes on, more and more people will find themselves needing government assistance, thus making them dependent on government, thus giving the power hungry people in our government the control over your lives that they so desperately desire.
Where does it stop? Well... I guess we'll just have to find out. I bid you good day friends.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Success: Part II
Success: Part II
By Matthew Q. Llewellyn, Founder
The American Libertarian Movement
ONLINE BLOG
Howdy there folks... I guess I didn't get it out of my system. Well, that's not true. I talked to a woman today who told me her incredible and inspiring storing. After hearing her story I decided I wanted to touch on this topic a little more before moving onto another one. So, without further delay, let's begin.
Oh wait... you folks probably want me to share this incredibly inspirational story don't you? Well... I'm not going to. I just don't feel I could give it justice. However, in the future, when the forum is available and correct, I fully plan to let this woman tell you her story. It will bring you to tears and remind you, as it did me, that there is hope for America, and, the world.
Let's talk about the human spirit.
What do we know about the human being itself? Physically, we are incredibly powerful, complicated and resilient. We can survive immense amounts of damage from every direction, up to and including great amounts of severe trauma. However, a very small, seemingly meaningless antigen can kill us. Amazing isn't it?
Now... the human spirit. Incredibly powerful, complicated and resilient. It can take blow after blow after blow and continue to push forward. However, it can also be exposed to the smallest of impacts and be forever stopped in its tracks. Very similar... our body and spirit. Let's examine the spirit further.
What do we mean when we say the "human spirit"? Simple question, much more complicated answer... not impossible... but complicated. A quick search of Wikipedia reveals the human spirit as being "... a property of intelligence that drives it to adapt the environment to the organism. This drive is relatively unique to humans and is progressive in that the drive allows intelligence to grow."
What does it include? Well, it's pretty much the victory factor. Every ability to succeed comes from your spirit. Your drive, ambition, ego, adaptivity, willpower, perseverance, or, the sheer volition to overcome obstacles. All of these things come from your spirit. (Notice I didn't include anything about failure...)
Let's look at a few scenarios and their possible outcomes.
Scenario A
A 35 year old male construction worker falls off of a roof. He ends up paralyzed from the waist down and forever confined to a wheelchair.
Outcome 1
The construction worker is thankful to be alive, but believes his life is, for all intents and purposes, over. He no longer produces or thrives. He simply exist as a disabled individual who pulls a check from the government for the rest of his days. After all, construction is all he's ever known.
Scenario B
A 19 year old female is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Outcome 1
She's dead... she may be alive... but she's dead. It's terminal. There's nothing she can do. Seeing as there is no point in continuing with her tasks, she gives up and waits for her time to come. Eventually, she dies, having accomplished nothing.
Sadly, these are common outcomes. Anyone who has been in the medical field for any amount of time has seen this occur over and over. People are given a hard blow and they give up. They allow their spirit to become clouded with failure and hopelessness. It even happens with small things.
Scenario C
A 27 year old man reaches what he considers a very trying position. He has a job, a career actually, but the salary doesn't provide a very good living. He's done great things in his life, but, the job he does, just doesn't make the ends meet. His bills get very behind and he becomes overwhelmed and soon finds himself having thoughts of giving up and settling for his current situation.
Outcome 1
He lets the fear of the unknown overcome his ability to see down the road. He spends the rest of his days accepting whatever job will take him and settles for whatever comes his way. He never again tries to become more than what he is. His decision to settle for less than what he wants in life haunts him to the end of his days.
Relatively, this is a very small thing. But, let's be honest, when it comes to finances, people become overwhelmed. Although finances are only one small part of life, they impact our entire lives in almost every aspect and direction. Sure, it's not cancer, it's not being paralyzed, but it's something many people allow to control their next steps in life. They are constantly playing the catch-up game and after playing it for so long, they just give up. They don't realize that if they continue to push forward, they will eventually be past it once and for all. It may suck getting there... but... doing nothing will be much worse.
Scenario A
Outcome 2
The now wheelchair confined construction worker sees that what he has always known, the only thing he knows, can no longer provide the type of life he wants. He begins to search and find ways to overcome the obstacle. He begins to see his wheelchair not as a handicap, but a tool he will use to make a better future for himself. He goes to college, becomes a computer engineer, and low and behold, about 5 years later, (5 very short years in retrospect) he drives his new top of the line electric wheelchair onto his new $100,000.00 boat for a weekend away from the office.
Scenario B
Outcome 2
The young girl realizes her days are numbered and suddenly, all at once, the overcoming realization hits her square in the face... all the dreams, all the ambitions and all the goals she wanted to accomplish have now become very limited. Being driven by this, she buckles down, determined to succeed in every single aspect of life that she applies herself to. She only lives another 6 years, but, those 6 years were the best of her life. She became a Paramedic and saved thousands of lives. She gave hope to the hopeless, because she knew what hopeless was. She took vacations whenever she could and saw every sight she could afford. She climbed mountains, she jumped out of a plane... and... she found herself married with a beautiful little girl. A beautiful little girl, who, being inspired by the greatest pain a small child could ever experience, grew up to become an oncologist and dedicate her life to giving hope to the hopeless.
Now... given folks... these are just scenarios I put together... but... they're not untrue by any means. In my short life I have been blessed with meeting and sometimes becoming friends with these amazing people. They are dealt some of the worst hands life can possibly hand someone, yet they become some of the most successful people our little world has ever seen. They are the people, who truly, are the definition of the human spirit. They are the people who don't give up, regardless of what mountain is in front of them. The only thing they wonder is whether or not they will need more rope to get to the top. They never see the mountains as failures, or obstacles which can not be overcome, they see every single one of them as victories which are only a few steps away.
Now we come back to Scenario C, outcome 2.
The young man takes in a deep breath and holds a thought of "let's do it" in his head. He pushes forward every week, not sure how he's going to make it to the next, but, he never takes his eyes off the goal. As each setback comes against him, he finds a new way to get around it. He spends each day reminding himself of what is to come. When he sees life has thrown a curve ball at him, he still takes a chance and goes for the hit. He knows he might miss, but, he also knows he might hit a home run. He's not sure where the road will ultimately take him, but he knows, without any doubt, that this is not the road to failure, but the road to victory. It's by no means an easy road, but it's a road worth traveling, for the rewards at the end of the road are immeasurable. Because he continues to try, he continues to succeed. Sure, times get hard and sometimes cause him to worry, but, he keeps his spirit strong and continually finds new ways to climb the mountains. Always finding himself to be a stronger person, a person more capable today than he was yesterday. I know... because that young man is me.
In life, we have no control over what hands we are given. However, we can change them. Sometimes we trade in our cards and get better ones, likewise, sometimes the new cards don't help us at all. But, we must not let this stop us. While becoming an addict in gambling is definitely not the best idea, becoming an addict in life is one that we must allow our spirit to continue to inspire. When we trade in a couple cards and receive bad ones, we just have to suck it up, deal with our losses and continue to play until we get the hands we want. However, unlike poker, when playing the game of life, we can cheat. In poker, you will never know what cards are coming next. In life, you can. If you apply yourself, gain an education and continually dedicate yourself to gaining that which is needed to achieve your goal, then indeed, while some wild cards will come your way, you will be the determining factor of what cards, for the most part, are coming next. Or... you can do nothing, and hope that you gain something.
As Newton said, "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." Likewise, for every inaction... there is no action. If you choose success, success you will find. If you choose nothing, nothing you will find. The choice, is 100%... yours.
Tomorrow is Monday... Make this week a better week than last week, and each week thereafter the same. I bid you a good day.
If you enjoy Matthew Q. Llewellyn, be sure to share with your friends. Feel free to forward emails to your friends or send them links to the ONLINE BLOG or The American Libertarian Movement page. If you think they might enjoy receiving our emails, suggest they send an email to http://us.mc434.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=MatthewQLlewellyn@yahoo.com and request to be added to the distribution list.
COPYRIGHT © 2009. Matthew Q. Llewellyn. All Rights Reserved. Protected by all applicable laws.
By Matthew Q. Llewellyn, Founder
The American Libertarian Movement
ONLINE BLOG
Howdy there folks... I guess I didn't get it out of my system. Well, that's not true. I talked to a woman today who told me her incredible and inspiring storing. After hearing her story I decided I wanted to touch on this topic a little more before moving onto another one. So, without further delay, let's begin.
Oh wait... you folks probably want me to share this incredibly inspirational story don't you? Well... I'm not going to. I just don't feel I could give it justice. However, in the future, when the forum is available and correct, I fully plan to let this woman tell you her story. It will bring you to tears and remind you, as it did me, that there is hope for America, and, the world.
Let's talk about the human spirit.
What do we know about the human being itself? Physically, we are incredibly powerful, complicated and resilient. We can survive immense amounts of damage from every direction, up to and including great amounts of severe trauma. However, a very small, seemingly meaningless antigen can kill us. Amazing isn't it?
Now... the human spirit. Incredibly powerful, complicated and resilient. It can take blow after blow after blow and continue to push forward. However, it can also be exposed to the smallest of impacts and be forever stopped in its tracks. Very similar... our body and spirit. Let's examine the spirit further.
What do we mean when we say the "human spirit"? Simple question, much more complicated answer... not impossible... but complicated. A quick search of Wikipedia reveals the human spirit as being "... a property of intelligence that drives it to adapt the environment to the organism. This drive is relatively unique to humans and is progressive in that the drive allows intelligence to grow."
What does it include? Well, it's pretty much the victory factor. Every ability to succeed comes from your spirit. Your drive, ambition, ego, adaptivity, willpower, perseverance, or, the sheer volition to overcome obstacles. All of these things come from your spirit. (Notice I didn't include anything about failure...)
Let's look at a few scenarios and their possible outcomes.
Scenario A
A 35 year old male construction worker falls off of a roof. He ends up paralyzed from the waist down and forever confined to a wheelchair.
Outcome 1
The construction worker is thankful to be alive, but believes his life is, for all intents and purposes, over. He no longer produces or thrives. He simply exist as a disabled individual who pulls a check from the government for the rest of his days. After all, construction is all he's ever known.
Scenario B
A 19 year old female is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Outcome 1
She's dead... she may be alive... but she's dead. It's terminal. There's nothing she can do. Seeing as there is no point in continuing with her tasks, she gives up and waits for her time to come. Eventually, she dies, having accomplished nothing.
Sadly, these are common outcomes. Anyone who has been in the medical field for any amount of time has seen this occur over and over. People are given a hard blow and they give up. They allow their spirit to become clouded with failure and hopelessness. It even happens with small things.
Scenario C
A 27 year old man reaches what he considers a very trying position. He has a job, a career actually, but the salary doesn't provide a very good living. He's done great things in his life, but, the job he does, just doesn't make the ends meet. His bills get very behind and he becomes overwhelmed and soon finds himself having thoughts of giving up and settling for his current situation.
Outcome 1
He lets the fear of the unknown overcome his ability to see down the road. He spends the rest of his days accepting whatever job will take him and settles for whatever comes his way. He never again tries to become more than what he is. His decision to settle for less than what he wants in life haunts him to the end of his days.
Relatively, this is a very small thing. But, let's be honest, when it comes to finances, people become overwhelmed. Although finances are only one small part of life, they impact our entire lives in almost every aspect and direction. Sure, it's not cancer, it's not being paralyzed, but it's something many people allow to control their next steps in life. They are constantly playing the catch-up game and after playing it for so long, they just give up. They don't realize that if they continue to push forward, they will eventually be past it once and for all. It may suck getting there... but... doing nothing will be much worse.
Scenario A
Outcome 2
The now wheelchair confined construction worker sees that what he has always known, the only thing he knows, can no longer provide the type of life he wants. He begins to search and find ways to overcome the obstacle. He begins to see his wheelchair not as a handicap, but a tool he will use to make a better future for himself. He goes to college, becomes a computer engineer, and low and behold, about 5 years later, (5 very short years in retrospect) he drives his new top of the line electric wheelchair onto his new $100,000.00 boat for a weekend away from the office.
Scenario B
Outcome 2
The young girl realizes her days are numbered and suddenly, all at once, the overcoming realization hits her square in the face... all the dreams, all the ambitions and all the goals she wanted to accomplish have now become very limited. Being driven by this, she buckles down, determined to succeed in every single aspect of life that she applies herself to. She only lives another 6 years, but, those 6 years were the best of her life. She became a Paramedic and saved thousands of lives. She gave hope to the hopeless, because she knew what hopeless was. She took vacations whenever she could and saw every sight she could afford. She climbed mountains, she jumped out of a plane... and... she found herself married with a beautiful little girl. A beautiful little girl, who, being inspired by the greatest pain a small child could ever experience, grew up to become an oncologist and dedicate her life to giving hope to the hopeless.
Now... given folks... these are just scenarios I put together... but... they're not untrue by any means. In my short life I have been blessed with meeting and sometimes becoming friends with these amazing people. They are dealt some of the worst hands life can possibly hand someone, yet they become some of the most successful people our little world has ever seen. They are the people, who truly, are the definition of the human spirit. They are the people who don't give up, regardless of what mountain is in front of them. The only thing they wonder is whether or not they will need more rope to get to the top. They never see the mountains as failures, or obstacles which can not be overcome, they see every single one of them as victories which are only a few steps away.
Now we come back to Scenario C, outcome 2.
The young man takes in a deep breath and holds a thought of "let's do it" in his head. He pushes forward every week, not sure how he's going to make it to the next, but, he never takes his eyes off the goal. As each setback comes against him, he finds a new way to get around it. He spends each day reminding himself of what is to come. When he sees life has thrown a curve ball at him, he still takes a chance and goes for the hit. He knows he might miss, but, he also knows he might hit a home run. He's not sure where the road will ultimately take him, but he knows, without any doubt, that this is not the road to failure, but the road to victory. It's by no means an easy road, but it's a road worth traveling, for the rewards at the end of the road are immeasurable. Because he continues to try, he continues to succeed. Sure, times get hard and sometimes cause him to worry, but, he keeps his spirit strong and continually finds new ways to climb the mountains. Always finding himself to be a stronger person, a person more capable today than he was yesterday. I know... because that young man is me.
In life, we have no control over what hands we are given. However, we can change them. Sometimes we trade in our cards and get better ones, likewise, sometimes the new cards don't help us at all. But, we must not let this stop us. While becoming an addict in gambling is definitely not the best idea, becoming an addict in life is one that we must allow our spirit to continue to inspire. When we trade in a couple cards and receive bad ones, we just have to suck it up, deal with our losses and continue to play until we get the hands we want. However, unlike poker, when playing the game of life, we can cheat. In poker, you will never know what cards are coming next. In life, you can. If you apply yourself, gain an education and continually dedicate yourself to gaining that which is needed to achieve your goal, then indeed, while some wild cards will come your way, you will be the determining factor of what cards, for the most part, are coming next. Or... you can do nothing, and hope that you gain something.
As Newton said, "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." Likewise, for every inaction... there is no action. If you choose success, success you will find. If you choose nothing, nothing you will find. The choice, is 100%... yours.
Tomorrow is Monday... Make this week a better week than last week, and each week thereafter the same. I bid you a good day.
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