Yep, since we’re all doomed anyway, I thought I may as well have a good time.

So, to celebrate global warming, I bought a 1947 Plymouth. Yep, Flathead straight 6, unanalyzed exhaust, horrid gas mileage and crankcase vents that spew gases into the atmo. It’s a greenie’s worst nightmare. I can’t even imagine the carbon footprint that it has

It’s fun! Hell, if we can’t have fun with doomsday, what’s the point, right?

This may seem like a no-brainer here, but apparently it’s not. In this day and age of smoking bans, light bulb laws and calls for socialized medicine, it’s become painfully apparent that the people have lost their way.

So now it’s time to do a little reeducation.

The lesson that needs to be re-taught is the fact that the government is not here to help you. They are not an omnipotent power. They are not a power for good. They are not even all that smart. They do what is best for them, not you, and their underlying goal is more power.

Since I don’t want to get too far off topic, I’m simply going to apply this to smoking bans; although the concept can be applied unilaterally to nearly any other topic.

So, when it comes to smoking bans, why isn’t the government here to help you?

I hear the argument all the time. Nearly every day in fact. The government is doing what is best for us. They’re banning smoking to protect us. They’re only doing the right thing. Blah blah blah.

Really?

Have any of these people stopped to think about this? Have any of them stopped and realized that the only reason the government is involved in this battle and siding with the anti-tobacco nuts is because it works in their favor?

I have.

Let’s put this in perspective though. What is the overwhelming goal of government? To expand and grow its power and control. It’s a well-known fact and perhaps something that those in government doesn’t even realize they’re doing (although I suspect the vast majority do). The Founding Fathers of this nation realized this and Framed our government to help protect against such things. However, over time people have found and manipulated ways around the Constitution and have managed to grow and expand the government and exert power and control over the people in blunt violation to what the Framers intended.

As we speak, there are two prime offenders to freedom: one is environmentalism, the other is public health and the fallacy of “protecting us from ourselves.” Air pollution not withstanding, smoking bans fall under the latter of those two tools of control, and as a whole we should not be happy about this.

The anti-tobacco advocates, while perhaps good intentioned at one time, have become unwitting tools of government. They preach the values of “public health” and “saving us from ourselves” and do the dirty work of government. After all, who needs a ministry of propaganda when you have scores of zealots who will do it for you. The anti-tobacco crowd builds government power and undermines the concepts of a free nation as defined in our Constitution all in one swift motion.

But they don’t get it. They see the government as their friend and see their cause as right and just because the government says they are right. Need I point out the flaw in this logic? The government, by default, will side with any cause that nets them more control over the population. This is not rocket science. This is basic government systems 101.

So why don’t they get it? Because it’s a win-win situation and human nature is to be blinded by one’s own victory. They are winning the battle but losing the war, yet they can’t see past their own ego to realize this. All they see is that they got their way. Everything else is either irrelevant or inconsequential. The problem to face here not the anti-tobacco victory, it is the fact that they don’t understand that they are being used by the government to accumulate more power.

I’m not writing this as a conspiracy theory, I’m writing this as a wake-up call. This is truth plain and simple and those of us who care enough to open our eyes to what’s going on in the big picture understand that public health is being used to do exactly that which our Founding Fathers warned us against!

So just remember, the next time that anybody claims that the government is forcing smoking bans on us because they’re in our best interest you should remind them that the only thing that the government can do that is in our best interest where smoking bans are concerned is to allow us to live free and make our own choices. Anything else is just a power grab.

Cross posted from BtBWI
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Doing some housekeeping

I am trying to get things put back togther as far as the blogging thing goes, and I have to say that I find some of the past year very funny.

Part of my housecleaning is dusting off some of the older posts and comments and trying to get a feel for what’s been going on and what burned me out so badly. While I have already ventured down the “my party left me behind” road and come to terms with that, I have to say that the number one burnout factor has got to be global warming.

Looking back, I get a good larf out of it. The pure lunacy of the people I (we) deal with on this issue is staggering. I mean, these people are either the worst sort of brain-dead sheep or they’re living on Venus. Either way, the number of times I could find where somebody called me out and told me to “look around, global warming is happening!!” or “people like you need to wake up, global warming is happening and it’s already too late!!” is unreal.

These people spoke with such heartfelt passion that it almost made you forget that their heads were so far up their asses that the only “warming” they knew was their own sense of self satisfaction as it warmed their little bellies.

What’s really interesting is how this merry little band of idiots is now struggling to come up with excuses to justify the fact that their definitive knowledge of climate and weather patterns has proven to be wrong. Notice how quiet they were all winter? Or are we just concerned about seasonal global warming? The rest of us might call that spring and summer, since yes, in fact things to warm up during those seasons and technically I guess you could call it global warming…

But seriously, with the exception of Al Gore who’s more concerned about building his monetary empire than actual environmental issues or science, we really haven’t heard any of the alarmist bullshit for months. Where did they go? These same people were the ones who were jumpig up and down every single day claiming that the sky was falling and the only way to save ourselves is to give Al Gore our money… Gee, I wonder if they feel smart now.

Is it possible that the hoax is coming full circle and the people who knew that they were right and we were nothing more than nasty liars in the same light as holocaust deniers are the ones who look like the idiots? I would hate to be the last one holding the bag on the global warming thing. When all is said and done and all the money wasted to line the pockets of Albert and all of his little friends under the guise of saving us from ourselves is tallied up… Somebody or some people are going to look like real fools.

Mark my words. Eventually people will catch on to the fact that weather and climate fluctuations do not signal global warming (i.e. cooling does not equal warming no matter how many pathological liars say it does).

But for all those who still don’t get it, don’t worry, I’m still selling my cooling offsets. For just $5, I’ll go into my freezer, grab an ice cube and put it out in my back yard to offset the warming. Just think, for just $5 you can feel better about yourself and your evil lifestyle.

And for those who do get it, I’m selling positive carbon offsets. So for just the price of one gallon of gas (at market rate, of course) you can increase your carbon footprint helping me run it through my ‘47 Plymouth with it’s uncatalyzed dual exhaust.

Think about it! I offer the best of both worlds. And who says I’m not equal opportunity?

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By now, you all know my stance on global warming and environmentalism. If you don’t then you clearly don’t know me. I have been trying to keep quiet about it latelty in the hopes that this past winter would shut up the lunatics out there…

But sometimes things go too far. This month’s TIME magazine did just that, and I stand with all of the other veterans and active duty personnel out there who are outraged by TIME’s aweful and distasteful cover art. To belittle and trivialize the flag and our military in the name of global warming is truly, truly a horrible thing to do.

My usual message applies here. Anybody who believes this garbage can kiss my ass. I’m sick and tired of all of the TV stations inundating us with green this and green that. I am tired of Al Gore. I am tired of carbon, greenhouse gases and Toyota Priuses. The next person who whines about saving the planet is likely to find my foot up their ass… It’s a scam, and the sad part is that people who haven’t gotten it by now aren’t ever going to get it. They’re going to continue to line Al Gore’s pockets while taking down my quality of life.

Well I’m sorry, but TIME broke this Camel’s back, and I’m not going to stay quiet about this any longer. It makes no difference to me. Dem, Republican, Hillary Clinton or John McCain. Any politician who speaks of global warming, global climate change or environmentalism is politically dead to me. And any party that endorses a politician who believes this crap is done as far as I am concerned.

This assault on my freedom and my way of life was bad enough, but now to assault and insult us like TIME has done this month… It’s one step too far.

As a final thought, here’s what National Center for Public Policy Research has to say:

Green Politicization of Iwo Jima Photo Condemned by Black Veteran 

Washington, D.C. - Kevin L. Martin, a member of the Project 21 black leadership network and a U.S. Navy veteran, is joining fellow veterans in denouncing the Earth Day-related cover art on the April 21 issue of Time magazine.Time altered the famous flag-raising photo from Iwo Jima is altered to show Marines raising a tree rather than the American flag to highlight an article promoting activism favoring increased regulation to fight perceived man-made global warming.

“For Time to compare the politically-driven hoax about the severity of man-made global warming to one of most pivotal moments in American history is a slap in the face to the brave men who fought their way up Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi to plant our flag and send a clear message that victory in the long war in the Pacific was achievable,” said Martin. “To callously use a famous military image so important to our nation’s veterans with seemingly no concern for its impact on them shows just how far those promoters of this hoax will go.”

In describing the reasoning behind politicizing Joe Rosenthal’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photo, Time managing editor Richard Stengel told MSNBC host Joe Scarborough: “We wanted to do something that was prescriptive… And by using that famous Iwo Jima image and saying basically what we have to do is what we did before World War II by creating a great national effort, national endeavor, to combat this problem. Using cap-and-trade policy and using new research into renewable energy and having an efficiency surge with energy all across the country.”

A proposal under debate in the Senate would create a “cap-and-trade” policy designed to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. Reducing energy use by U.S. manufacturers will have a braking effect on jobs and income.

Commenting on the Time cover, Iwo Jima veteran Donald Mates told the Business and Media Institute: “The Second World War we knew was there. Some say there is global warming, some say there isn’t. And to stick a tree in place of a flag on the Iwo Jima picture is just sacrilegious.” John Keith Wells, the Marine lieutenant who led the platoon that scaled Mount Suribaci and raised the American flag, opined: “That global warming in the biggest joke I’ve ever known.”

“It is a shame that Time magazine is belittling the heroism of our World War II veterans to push for policies that may bring back unhappy homefront memories of that era such as food and energy rationing,” added Project 21’s Martin. “There has yet to be a real scientific debate on the contributions of man to any sort of global warming. The crusade by environmental activists and the willing complicity of media such as Time magazine is resulting in misguided policies. Reducing of production and exploration in the short run is going to raise prices and limit access to resources, while risky long-term schemes such as biofuels will pit stomachs against gas tanks. Is it also lost on Time that the war in the Pacific was based in part on access to energy resources?”

 

 

Ok, so I feel bad because I haven’t written much for a while. It’s not that I don’t enjoy writing. It’s not that I don’t have a million things to talk about.

The problem is that I can’t help but to feel defeated, and that’s a hard thing to get over. I watch the news every morning and listen to talk radio all day long, and all I hear about is the degradation of the country that I love. I have worked so hard, but in the end, I can’t help but to wonder what went wrong.

I think that this all started with the “nomination” of John McCain. Sure, fine, he’s a Republican and he’s far superior to either Obama or Clinton; but the only thing that crosses my mind whenever I see him or hear him speak is “is this the best we could do?”

We are a great country with lots of great people. The past year that I have spent blogging has introduced me to some of the bets people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. There are millions of people out there, and not all of them are colossal pains in the ass. Many people are like you and I - people who want to do good things and live in a great country.

And yet, is this the best we could do?

The three people running for the top office and one of which who will lead this country over the next four to eight years are all people that I wouldn’t trust to run a 7-11 let alone this nation. I mean, really, how could this have happened? Sure, I lamented the loss of Fred Thompson, but him aside, there were far better choices out there than John McCain.

In my battle for tobacco rights, I have gotten to know McCain’s idea of freedom, and it isn’t good. If he knew a damned thing about what it means to live free and be free, he would never have made the choices he has regarding tobacco. While this is just one of many things, it is simply an example that I have become quite familiar with. This has shown me what McCain thinks about free speech (plus throw in McCain-Feingold to top it off) free choice, and free markets. And this is the man that Conservatives (Republicans) chose as their man? Give me a break!

I keep asking myself how I can be active in this fight. How I can continue to put so much energy into something when the “power of the people” really doesn’t amount to a whole lot next to the power of politics?

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still fight, I’m just not sure what route to take these days. Do you fight for McCain and keep the dems from taking over and driving us off the cliff (so McCain can drive us off a shorter cliff)? Or do I fight for the dems with the hopes that they’ll spark off some sort of radical revolution? or do I fight for a third party and keep the ideals that I hold dear?

Sadly we’re in a lose-lose-lose situation here and I’m starting to think the best thing we can do is fight at the bottom and hope it works its way up. Build conservative towns and cities. Hope that the counties and states follow. After all, if anybody ever reads the words of our founding fathers, the states are supposed to have the power anyway - not the feds. Sadly we’ve lost our way and become a federal government with 50 smaller subdivisions…

Not the country we were intended to be, I can tell you that much.

I have been reading the federalist papers lately, and it amazes me how smart those guys really were. But where are they now? I guess they’re us - us little people who are out here blogging and making our social commentaries… But there’s a piece missing and i can’t quite put my finger on what it is.

Is it apathy? Do people just not care enough to take action on a large scale?

Is it fear? Are we too demoralized? or maybe people just like it this way… I don’t know.

Either way, I’m still in the fight, I’m just not sure where to take it…

Any ideas?

If the nanny state zealots were actually interested in public health issues, they would stop chasing down smokers, trans fats, obesity etc and start addressing the dangers of cell phone usage.

Let’s forget the fact that people on their phones are responsible for hurting themselves or others when behind he wheel… A renowned cancer expert and top nerosurgeon is now saying that cell phone usage is more dangerous than smoking. This is on top of the French and German governments calling for reduced cell phone usage and the European Environment Agency making the same call.

From The Independent:

Mobile phones ‘more dangerous than smoking’

Mobile phones could kill far more people than smoking or asbestos, a study by an award-winning cancer expert has concluded. He says people should avoid using them wherever possible and that governments and the mobile phone industry must take “immediate steps” to reduce exposure to their radiation…

He admits that mobiles can save lives in emergencies, but concludes that “there is a significant and increasing body of evidence for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumours”. He believes this will be “definitively proven” in the next decade…

“It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking,” says Professor Khurana, who told the IoS his assessment is partly based on the fact that three billion people now use the phones worldwide, three times as many as smoke.

Pretty effn’ fantastic, isn’t it?

Hello? Can you hear me now? Hello? HELLO?!

I got this through one of the mailing lists that I subscribe to and thought it was worth passing along.

With all that is going on right now, is this the best use of government resources? Was turning smokers into common criminals really worth it?

It is my opinion that this is a colossal waste… Unless exerting power over people is the actual goal, which it might very well be.

Hey guys-
Robert Ripley here at Bullseye Saloon.  The MDH (his name was Dale) physically stopped into my bar yesterday at about 3pm.  I was not there so I instead talked to them on the phone.  They asked me to come down immediately and sign this letter.  I politely declined. (ok, not super politely).  Dale told me that he saw “evidence” of smoking going on, (but he did not actually witness anyone smoking) and asked if I was holding theatre nights.  I told him we were.  He then told me that, and I quote, “The MDH is of the legal opinion that these theatre nights violate the MCIAA.”  I responded that “I am of the legal opinion that we are NOT breaking any laws whatsoever.”  He asked if I could give him a “verbal” agreement that we would cease theatre nights immediately, and I asked if he could turn around and let the bartender know that she was being laid off today… I explained that I am trying to keep as many Minnesotans working as possible, and I would like that single-mother bartender to be able to bring a paycheck home to her 4-yr old son this week.  I think he got the point.  He left the form for me telling me that if I did not fax it back before morning they “could” impose legal action like court, $10,000 fine, and loss of license.  I asked him if he had the power to ticket anyone, and he said no.  I asked him if he was going to take away my liq license… and he said that I was “jeopardizing” it.  He started snapping pictures of everything in the bar until the bartender told him to stop taking pictures of her.  They then went to the bar next door to me and did the same thing.  The bar owner over there did the same thing I did.

Blowhards.

I have the letter if you want me to fax it. Here is my number if you would like to speak further on this matter.
Robert Ripley

So the Elliot Spitzer thing has come and gone, and as usual we are left asking ourselves… Are we in the least bit surprised?

I’m not. The people who put on the biggest “good boy” or “holier than thou” act are usually dirty scumbags when they think they’re out of the public’s eye. Oops.

But you see, here’s the thing. I would rather have these people chasing tail and grabbing ass than sitting behind their desks making laws. Seriously.

Whoa now! What about all those morals and standards that we abide by?

Well, let me put it this way. When lawmakers are caught screwing hookers, they are held accountable for their actions and they have to answer to the people and their families. When they are caught screwing us, we are told to turn a blind eye and take it. How ironic is that?

Personally I might be able to swallow the screw job (no pun intended) if I were getting something out of the deal. After all, Spitzer’s whore got a pretty good deal out of the screw she was getting. Line my pockets in that same manner and I might be able to turn a blind eye when lawmakers screw me too!

But you can only stick it to me so many times without giving me something in return before I really get pissed off. I don’t want to sound like I’m whining too much here, but if the hookers is getting hers, why can’t I get mine?

I’m starting to wonder if these lawmakers are playing favorites here. Would I be getting something in return if I were a hot woman? If that’s the case I think I should file suit with the EEOC. After all, the lawmakers are getting a cheap thrill off me while paying for a thrill from the hooker. Can somebody explain to me how that is at all fair?

Where’s the accountability? Where’s the angry wife to beat these people back in line for screwing us like they do? They’re conspiculously absent.

See, this is why I want to see more grab ass and less lawmaking. If these scumbag lawmakers are going to be screwing people, they might as well be doing it out in the open where they can be held accountable for their actions.

Is that asking too much?

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Well, we’ve held off the smoking ban here in Wisconsin for another year. This has been a good week for democracy here in dairy country. Despite the governor’s best efforts and Lance Armstrong’s stumping, we came out victorious.

For those who don’t know, Joey (Pheisty) and I took our cause to Madison last week and visited our reps in the statehouse. We were met with mixed results, but apparently the message was made clear to the right people.

Democracy may be a lost art form in many corners of the country, but at least citizen power still means something here in Wisconsin. We pissed off the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society and all of those other big BIG BIG money special interests and really made them eat their words (after all, they claimed over and over that it was going to happen).

So we’ve won this round, but I fear it’s far from over.

Yes, my friends, sometimes the right thing can happen if you’re willing to work hard…

For more, check out: “That Powerful Tavern League” and “BtB Makes the WSJ” or “BtB Goes to Madison” (and yes, that is us in front of the capital!

And if you haven’t yet, check out our new BtB site at www.banthebanwisconsin.com

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