Random Thoughts about Politics, Religion, Movies, and More

It's time....

2010-10-26T17:14:00.000-04:00

Well I think it's that time again. It's been roughly six months since I've posted anything up here. I'm making some moves and changing some things in my life. Stay tuned.......

Spiral Out

The DJ in me....

2010-04-15T21:11:00.001-04:00

I have been on Blip.FM since June 2009. I used it for a little bit then forgot about it. Then every so often I would check in and play a few songs. I have now been on it daily for the past week. It's a pretty cool site that lets you find songs from your favorite artists and even obscure ones to play as though you were the DJ. I look at it as being therapy. I get to play the music I want to hear and if other people want to listen to my "station" then all the better. Why do I find myself going to the site each day? It's an "out" for me. It's a way of expressing myself to my friends and even to people I don't know that choose to listen to what I want to play.

Music to me is the key to a persons soul. I wouldn't be where I am today without my parents, sister, friends, and extended family. However, with that being said...If I didn't have my music I would be a lost soul. That may be weird to some people, but to me music helps explain how a person thinks, views the world, reacts to situations, etc. Now granted some people just view music as entertainment alone. We all know those types and I'm sure some of my friends fall into this category. There's nothing wrong with liking Pop 40, Top 40, or whatever is popular at the moment. Hell even I'm guilty of listening to (and liking..shhh don't tell anyone) certain so-called "popular" artists.

My range of music tastes vary depending on what mood I am in. Lately I've been listening to a lot of house, techno, and drum & bass. (No I'm not taking drugs people!) A majority of the time though, I will have Tool, Rage Against The Machine, or Pink Floyd playing on my Zune Player. With out a doubt, Tool, is my favorite band of all time. The music and the lyrics mold together to form a perfect sound. There are not many bands out there today that can evolve from one album to another like Tool does. Maynard James Keenan on vocals will blow your mind. Adam Jones on guitar and Justin Chancellor on bass will astound you. And last and probably the most impressive in my eyes, Danny Carey on drums. Danny is arguably one of the most gifted percussionists of the last 20 years.

I could sit and listen to every single Tool album from start to finish every single day and be content. Some would say that allowing an artist or a group to influence your life that much is ridiculous. It's not that I rely on Tool to influence my life, but it's music that I can turn to that will make my day that much better. It might be "heavy" music, but it soothes my soul. I can take whatever I want from their music and can decipher what each song means in my life rather than turning to them and asking them what each song means.

Do you have a favorite band? Do you have one song that you turn to when you are having a bad day? Can you relate to that song? If you answered yes to any of these questions then perhaps music really is the key to a persons soul.

My Twitter

My Facebook

My Very Own Facebook Fan Page

Blackwater 61

2010-02-21T21:16:00.003-05:00

I was watching 60 Minutes tonight on CBS. Now I don't normally watch the program, but the intro had a story that caught my attention. The story was about Blackwater. For those of you that do not know what Blackwater is to put it in simple terms it was a contract army hired by the United States government to help in Iraq and Afghanistan. Blackwater hired former military personnel to run along side our regular military. In short Blackwater were "hired guns" or "contract killers". The piece on 60 minutes was entitled, Blackwater 61, which was the airplane call sign operated by Presidential Airlines.

Blackwater 61 (CBS 60 Minutes Video)was carrying a total of six people on board, three being Blackwater employees and three being military personnel. One of the military personnel that was on board the flight was Lt. Colonel McMahon. His wife, now a widow, is Col. McMahon. They were classmates at Westpoint and each served their country as they were asked to do after graduating from Westpoint. Lt. Colonel McMahon took a last minute ride with two of his soldiers on Blackwater 61.

Unfortunately the pilots of Blackwater 61 were inexperienced pilots. They had only been in Afghanistan for a total of 13 days. On top of that Presidential Airlines did not have the proper equipment to keep track of Blackwater 61 once it took off from the airstrip. There was no way to know that the inexperienced pilots had actually taken the wrong flight plan through a dangerous strip of mountains that any experienced pilot would be scared to fly through.

The following piece in red text is a transcript of the pilots as they flew through the skies of Afghanistan:

English: I hope I’m goin’ in the right valley.

Hammer: That one or this one?

English: I’m just gonna go up this one. … We’ll just see where this leads. … Normally we’d have time to, on a short day like this, we’d have time to play a little bit, do some explorin’, but with these winds comin’ up I want to (expletive) get there as fast as we can. …

Rowe: I don’t see anythin’ over about 13-three is the highest peak in the whole route, I think. …

English: Yeah, so we’ll be able to pick our way around it. … Yeah, with this good visibility, (expletive) it’s as easy as pie. You run into somethin’ big, you just parallel it until you find a way through. … Cool up in here.

Hammer: Yeah, this is fun.

English: We’re not supposed to be havin’ fun, though. … It’s supposed to be all work. We can’t enjoy any of it.

English: Exactly.

Hammer: ’Cause we’re getting paid too much to be havin’ fun.

English: You’re God (expletive) right. …

Rowe: I don’t know what we’re gonna see. We don’t normally go this route. …

English: All we want is to avoid seeing rock at 12 o’clock. … Ah, yeah, look at this. I swear to God, they wouldn’t pay me if they knew how much fun this was. …

Hammer: Well, this, ah, row of mountains off to our left – I mean, it doesn’t get much lower than about 14,000 the whole length of it, at least not till the edge of my map

The fact that these pilots were not taking the flight seriously is beyond me. At one point they even discussed what kind of music they should be playing while they try to navigate the mountains. Another point in the discussion Lt. Col. McMahon says that they are taking the wrong route and that they never go this way because of the terrain.

Col. McMahon, the wife of Lt. Col. McMahon filed a lawsuit against Blackwater and Presidential Airlines for negligence in the way it operated Blackwater 61. Blackwater and Presidential Airlines tried to get the case dismissed "on the grounds that they were part of the military and immunized from civil lawsuits." (Story on CBS)

Now wait a minute there Blackwater! You are a private contractor and NOT part of the military. After that didn't work Blackwater and Presidential Airlines they asked that the case be tried under Islamic law because the crash happened in Afghanistan. Under Islamic law companies are not held liable for the actions of its employees. On top of all that not once did Blackwater or Presidential Airlines send their condolences or offer any sort of apology to any of the families involved in the crash.

Presidential Airways chief, Richard Pere, tried to put some of the blame of the crash on Lt. Col. McMahon. He stated during a deposition that, "Something changed them to make them go to the north, sir." He was then asked when something changed and he stated, "It took place after Lt. Colonel McMahon got on board that aircraft."

The audacity of Mr. Richard Pere is beyond me. A decorated soldier was doing his duty for our country and his life is put into the hands of civilians! Hired contractors to do a job that OUR military should be doing. After this incident Blackwater and Presidential Airlines was put on suspension for one month.

After the suspension was over Blackwater and Presidential Airlines was awarded a new contract to the tune of $92 MILLION! Our own goverment hiring these civilian companies to do work that our military should be doing. Of course the "owners" of these "hired guns" are all in the back pocket of our elected officials.
This is just another reason why our government needs to be turned upside down and all of the dirty, greedy, disgusting bastards thrown out into the streets.

So while our educational system across the United States is in shambles our government ponies up $92 Million to an organization that is negligent in its operations and has no sympathy for the families of its employees. And not only that received so much press about their operations that they were forced to change their name to XE Services!!!!

Interesting Links

The "New and Improved" Blackwater

Training Center

A Few Changes

2010-02-21T18:30:00.000-05:00

Well the blog is still a work in progress. I had to come in and do a little house keeping to clean it up. I'm still not sure if I like the looks of it. Let me know what you all think! Oh wait I don't have that many followers reading my blog yet.
Well get the word out to all of your friends if you do read this! I am going to try and post every couple of days with the happenings of my life. I know how exciting right?

Us vs Them

2010-02-12T13:10:00.001-05:00

Interesting little article a friend emailed me. Something that make one think about what is really going on in our own country!
545 vs. 300,000,000

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE..

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.

545 PEOPLE

By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does. One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank. I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ .
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it......... Is up to you.
This might be funny if it weren't so darned true. Be sure to read all the way to the end.....

Tax his land,Tax his bed,Tax the table at which he's fed.Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,Teach him taxes are the rule. Tax his work, Tax his pay, He works for peanuts Anyway!
Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. Tax his ties, Tax his shirt,
Tax his work, Tax his dirt. Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think. Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries tax his tears. Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways to tax his ass. Tax all he has then let him know that you won't be done till he has no dough. When he screams and hollers; Then tax him some more, Tax him till he's good and sore. Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he's laid. Put these words Upon his tomb, Taxes drove my to my doom...'
When he's gone, Do not relax it's time to apply the inheritance tax..
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax ( 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge T ax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'

I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times!!! YOU can help it get there!!!

GO AHEAD - - - BE AN AMERICAN!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Here's A Crazy Idea........

2009-12-01T20:39:00.000-05:00

We have been running around the country of Afghanistan over the last eight years. There continues to be insurgents within the country that continually try to fight our young men and women, killing many of them. Instead of sending over more troops to fight this endless and useless "war", why not pull out all of our troops and see what happens?

I mean didn't the Soviet Union try to occupy the same country back in the 80's? Only to be run out by the same Taliban, (called something entirely different back then because we were supplying them with Stinger missiles and other types of ammunition), that the United States is fighting today. Here's a question that we are failing to ask ourselves: WHY ARE THE TALIBAN FIGHTING US? Is it because they hate us? Is it because they hate our way of life? Is it because they hate our ideology? Perhaps it's all of the above, but although this may sound crazy it may be because a foreign military is in THEIR country!

Think about it for a minute here. If some other country was to send troops over to the United States and they were to run around in our streets wouldn't you get a little pissed and want them gone at some point? Wouldn't you probably take up arms against the occupiers?

Now many of you out there may stop and say "well we have to fight the terrorists in their own back yard!" Come on now people if you stop bugging the damn "terrorist" in their own back yard then perhaps they'll stop bugging us? It's a novel idea I tell you. Now I know some of you are going to say that those same "terrorists" attacked us on our own soil. Well that's if of course you believe the "official" story. That "official" story has a lot of holes in it that have yet to be answered. There's a reason that there are people in the world that hate the United States. The reason is not because of our way of life or because of our capitalism. It's because "our" leaders continue to push our ideology upon other nations that could care less about having a Starbuck's on every corner or could care less about the next big hit on the XBOX 360. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, that some people in this world want to live a simple life?

The Taliban are going to continue to fight the United States military as long as they occupy their country. It's a simple matter of fact! What is another 30,000 troops going to do? Absolutely NOTHING! The only thing it will do is destroy another American family when they get the knock on the door from a Marine that says that their son and daughter was killed in action.

Random Thoughts

2009-07-22T15:13:00.000-04:00

So I got to thinking that I think President Obama should pay me not to work. That way I could still get paid a salary so that I would have money to spend. If I wasn't really working, but getting paid not to work I would have more time to go out and spend money to help stimulate the economy.
I think a salary of about $75,000 per year would be sufficient. This salary would help me pay down my debt while still allowing me to travel around the country spending money in local economies. It would be a win win situation for everyone. Now of course this would not work for all unemployed people. It would only be available to a select few of those that are unemployed.

-- Post From My iPhone

Generation RX coming to a town near you......

2009-07-09T18:57:00.001-04:00

I have not watched the entire movie as of yet, but did take a peak at the first 15 minutes. It is rather interesting and alarming! Take a look for yourselves. Riddle me this, we spend our entire adult lives telling children how bad "drugs" are for you and yet we take our children to doctors and get them to prescribe MAN MADE drugs for them......Whatever happened to allowing a child to be a child? Ohhh yeah that's right I forgot it's too much to ask parents to be parents to their children these days, so lets take them to a doctor and prescribe a "happy pill"...Yeah that's the answer......

Fort Myers Tea Party 2009

2009-04-15T21:21:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to share some photos of the Fort Myers, Florida Tea Party I attended this evening. It was a great experience and I hope that there are more events like this in the future. This is what America is about! I was able to talk to others throughout the event that are tired of the nonsense that is our elected leaders.

This was not about party affiliation, but about being a concerned citizen of this great country. There is not an official count of how many attended the event, but there looked to be at least 2,000 people there. Here is a little slideshow of the event:

What is Liberty?

2009-04-13T20:19:00.000-04:00

When our founding forefathers began this great country they began it by creating two documents. Those two documents are The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States of America. These two documents were written to give all Americans certain guarantees when they were born within the borders of our country. The preamble to the Constitution contains the following:

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

In the Declaration of Independence it states the following:

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

Our founding forefathers wanted to guarantee certain things to those that came after them in order to give them a place to dream and to dream big. The word liberty is defined by dictionary.com as:

1. freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.
2. freedom from external or foreign rule; independence.
3. freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.
4. freedom from captivity, confinement, or physical restraint: The prisoner soon regained his liberty.
5. permission granted to a sailor, esp. in the navy, to go ashore.
6. freedom or right to frequent or use a place: The visitors were given the liberty of the city.
7. unwarranted or impertinent freedom in action or speech, or a form or instance of it: to take liberties.
8. a female figure personifying freedom from despotism.

There is a reason that people often refer to both documents that I am talking about as "living documents." The reason being is that although they were written over 250 years ago they still CAN and SHOULD hold true today. Even with all of the big corporations, the lying politicians, the corrupt banks, and flat out corporate greed these documents can speak to us in times of need. We can learn from these documents just as our forefathers learned from them.

The picture at the top of this blog is of course The Liberty Bell . The fact that this bell, that is a symbol for liberty, is cracked has symbolism all over it. Do we honestly believe that we can all attain liberty at some point. In order to have liberty we must have everything that the Bill of Rights guarantees all Americans! However, with that being said do we really have liberty?

While of course to a certain extent we do compared to other countries. Perhaps the crack in The Liberty Bell symbolizes that although "liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is in fact a beautiful thing; that we will never experience true liberty as a country. Now you may think that is a cynical view of things and perhaps I should have a more optimisitic view of where we are headed as a nation and as a global society.

However, there is a passage in the book Behold A Pale Horse breaks it down for all of us:

""One basic truth can be used as a foundation for a mountain of lies, and if we dig down deep enough in the mountain of lies, and bring out that truth, to set it on top of the mountain of lies; the entire mountain of lies will crumble under the weight of that one truth. And there is nothing more devastating to a structure of lies than the revelation of the truth upon which the structure of lies was built, because the shock waves of the revelation of the truth reverberate, and continue to reverberate throughout the Earth for generations to follow, awakening even those people who had no desire to be awakened to the truth." (by Delamar Duvaris as written in the preface of "Behold the Pale Horse" by William Cooper).

What does this have to do with liberty? Perhaps if that one truth was to come out and crumble the lies that we have all been told since we were kids then and only then could we possibly have liberty. Will that mountain of lies ever crumble? Not in my lifetime! And the saddest thing of all is that the things "we" (I use that term loosely since I do not agree with the spend spend spend attitude of the current administration) are doing right now are going to affect our kids, our nieces, and our nephews.

As long is money, profits, and materialistic things are running the world we will always have greed and the struggle of power amongst politicians. Can Capitalism and Liberty co-exist? Yeah right, take a look around......

Sit back and take in all of the lyrics..... Absolutely amazing!

I know the pieces fit
'Cause I watched them fall away
Mildewed and smouldering
Fundamental differing
Pure intention juxtaposed
Will set two lovers' souls in motion
Disintegrating as it goes
Testing our communication
The light that feuled our fire then
Has a burned a hole between us so
We cannot see to reach an end
Crippling our communication

I know the pieces fit
'Cause I watched them tumble down
No fault, none to blame
It doesn't mean I don't desire to
Point the finger, blame the other
Watch the temple topple over
To bring the pieces back together
Rediscover communication

The poetry
That comes from the squaring off between
And the circling is worth it
Finding beauty in the dissonance

There was a time that the pieces fit
But I watched them fall away
Mildewed and smouldering
Strangled by our coveting
I've done the math enough to know
The dangers of our second guessing
Doomed to crumble unless we grow
And strengthen our communication

Cold silence has
A tendency to
Atrophy any
Sense of compassion
Between supposed brothers
Between supposed lovers
(sometimes says "lovers" the first
time and then "brothers" in concert)

I know the pieces fit
I know the pieces fit
I know the pieces fit
I know the pieces fit
I know the pieces fit
I know the pieces fit
I know the pieces fit
I know the pieces fit (crescendo)

Until Next Time,

Spiral Out

World Currency??

2009-03-26T09:57:00.000-04:00

I was watching, Lou Dobbs, on CNN last night and watched something very interesting and yet frightening at the same time. He was discussing the push from China and Russia to go to a one world currency.

Yes that is right! Get rid of all the currency's around the world and have one "super" currency. Congresswoman Michele Bachman asked Timothy Geithner (Treasury Secretary) if he would support such a move he categorically denied that he would support that. Bachman also asked Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke the same questioned and he also said that he would not support a world currency. (Watch for the question from Bachmann around 1:30 of the video)

Now let me take you to a meeting that Timothy Geithner had at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He states that he would be for a world currency and so would Washington. I wish I could find the video that shows him contradicting what he testified to Congress, but it mysteriously dissappeared from the CNN website. I have looked at the CFR website and of course they spin the story the way they want you to see it. If you do not know who the CFR here are a few links to get you going:

Greater Things
(More of a Conspiracy Theorist type website, but very good information)

Wikipedia

(This is a very good place to start as it breaks down the notable members as well as corporations that are members of the CFR)

Sorry for that little tangent on the CFR, but in the end it is important to let all of you know about this exclusive membership club. My point in writing this is that we should not even be considering going to a world currency. Granted the dollar has taken a beating over the last year, but it still is "the almighty dollar". Maybe not as almighty as it once was and certainly could be worth far less by the end of the year if we keep on printing money at the rate we are. (Can you say hyperinflation???) Timothy Geithner is seeking more powers to "regulate" the financial industry. Geithner and Bernanke have "called for the formation of a new governmental body to monitor financial institutions and systemic risk." (CFR News Briefing)

Oh sure just what we need a new governmental body to monitor financial institutions. Last time I check the current governmental body could not get the job done, so what makes me think that a new one will actually work. This administration is like a blow fish. They keep on blowing up the government making it bigger and bigger thinking that will solve the problem. Well eventually it is going to blow. I just hope I am not around for it.

What ever happened to the sovereignty of the United States of America? First you take away the dollar and give us a world currency. What will they take away next? Perhaps they take away the Constitution. So long Bill of Rights! This part does get into a little bit of the conspiracy aspect, but it is more real than you really want to believe.

Do a search on the North American Union and see what you come up with. It is all very real people. The fact that they are even talking about a world currency in the open public is scary. In my opinion this just means they are trying to desensitize us to this kind of change so that when it happens we will "welcome" it with open arms.

These are scary times that we are living in. The sad part about all of this is that the current administration is writing checks that we will not be able to cash. I feel for all of my friends that have children because they are the ones that will suffer from all of this bailout..oh wait I mean recovery...oh no I mean stimulus crap that is going on right now. I will leave you with a quote from one of my favorite Presidents. A man that was well beyond his time, Thomas Jefferson:

"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world." --Thomas Jefferson to A. L. C. Destutt de Tracy, 1820. FE 10:175

(Pay close attention to the first part of the quote in bold.)

Quick Update as the financial crisis unfolds.... Timothy Geithner has asked the House Financial Services Committee that the US needs a "SINGLE regulator to oversee the biggest financial firms." (CNN.COM) This is scary on many fronts, but the biggest reason being do we really want or need ONE person overseeing the biggest financial firms? One person with all of that power? I do not think so. Hell the head of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) knew about the Bernie Madoff scam over 10 years ago, but failed to act upon it. Do you really think that a "single regulator" would be honest and trustworthy enough to blow the whistle if a financial firm was participating in "shady practices"? Especially if that financial firm was to give a little kickback to the single regulator. What has happened to the REPUBLIC of the United States of America? Did someone clone Karl Marx and not tell us?

Until Next Time,

Spiral Out

Don't Tread On Me

2009-03-23T20:34:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post that I would like to send out to all my friends that actually read what I have to say......

Apparently those that would like to defend the Constitution, that voted for Ron Paul, or happen to own a "Don't Tread On Me" flag may be considered "domestic terrorists". Of course these are unsubstantiated claims, as I read this on a friend's blog. By this rational, that would make me a "domestic terrorist" because I voted for Ron Paul. The only man that seems to be rational in our government. Hence why he is not heard on a national level and will never be considered to be a threat to the power elite. God bless you Ron Paul!

However, if this is true it is very disheartening. I will get into more of this as soon as I am able to conduct a little research into this story. Until that happens I will give you some lyrics to a Pink Floyd song that seems to run true even in today's world......

SHEEP

By Pink Floyd

Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air
You better watch out
There may be dogs about
I've looked over Jordan and I have seen
Things are not what they seem.

What do you get for pretending the danger's not real
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
Down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel
What a surprise!
A look of terminal shock in your eyes
Now things are really what they seem
No, this is no bad dream.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me down to lie
Through pastures green he leadeth me the silent waters by
With bright knives he releaseth my soul
He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places
He converteth me to lamb cutlets
For lo,m he hath great power and great hunger
When cometh the day we lowly ones
Through quiet reflection and great dedication
Master the art of karate
Lo, we shall rise up
And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water.

Blasting and bubbling I fell on his neck with a scream
Wave upon wave of demented avengers
March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream.

Have you heard the news?
The dogs are dead!
You better stay home
And do as you're told
Get out of the road if you want to grow old.

My Two Cents....

2009-03-19T12:04:00.000-04:00

Well now it has been awhile since I have written for my blog. There has been a lot going on in our country the past few months. I figured I would just throw my two cents in there for now.This blog may be all over the place and not organized very well, but I'm just letting my fingers do the typing as the thoughts come out of my head. So sit back, strap yourself in, and hold on!

When President Obama was campaigning he promised to bring "change" to Washington. How can someone bring change when all they do is hire advisors and career politicians that were part of other administrations? There is no change in Washington! It is still the same old rhetoric coming from the mouths of OUR elected officials.

For example, let us take a look at Senator Chris Dodd (Democrat from Connecticut). He denied "having anything to do with crafting language in the stimulus bill that allowed bailed-out insurance giant American International Group to keep its bonuses, Sen. Christopher Dodd admitted that he and the Treasury Department were responsible for the loophole."(Chris Dodd)

As it turns out Sen. Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, crafted the loophole (with the help of a Treasury Official) that allowed the executives at AIG to receive bonuses totaling $165 MILLION. How are we to trust our elected officials when they blatantly lie to the American people on one day and then turn around and say "oh yeah that was me." The fact of the matter is the Obama administration alongside the Treasury Department wanted this loophole in the stimulus package.

Just take a look at the article in the link above. Chris Dodd states that his comments were "misconstrued" when he said he had nothing to do with the language in the stimulus package.

What kind of values are we teaching our future leaders when current officials are able to lie right in the face of the American people. This goes far beyond any party alliances. I do not care if you are Democrat or Republican. If you are an American then you should be ashamed of these elected officials that we put into office.

The entire stimulus package is a complete joke. I am not an economist by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know a little bit about capitalism.

Capitalism: an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, esp. as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.

Last time I checked in a capitalistic society the government did not interfere in how the companies were run. I understand that we had companies fail due to the deregulation of the banking industry. The fact that some of these companies failed was detrimental to the economy and to everyone that lost their jobs. However, that is the beauty of capitalism. If you run the company the right way you may not "break the bank", but you will still have a chance to be successful.

One of the main reasons of the financial collapse is because Bill Clinton signed into law the "(Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) on November 12, 1999. This repealed the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 which "prohibited a bank from offering investment, commercial banking, and insurance services."(Glass-Steagall Act)

If these companies fail then so be it. Do you think if you owned a business and had losses in every single quarter for a year that the government would bail you out? They would more than likely laugh at you and tell you that you should of run your business better. The fact that we lived in the "lap of luxury" for so many years as the stock market kept on climbing and then one day we wake up and our 401 K has taken a nose dive is why we are upset. Did you think this could continue? There was no way a market can sustain that growth for that long. As of right now the market is trying to correct itself from all of the crap that these crooks did. Bernie Madoff anyone? (Don't get me started on him...SEC new about him back in the 90's and did NOTHING!)

Do I think that government should regulate corporations? To an extent yes they should. The sad part is a good portion of the politicians have a vested interest in many of these companies. So when the companies were doing very well they turned a blind eye their way and said continue on. Now that it is affecting millions of Americans the politicians want to pretend they have our best interest at heart. I call BULLSHIT!

The only way that we will be able to bring change to Washington is if we got rid of EVERY SINGLE politician that is in office right now. We should not allow "career politicians" such as Dick Cheney. Every politician no matter what they tell us has their own agenda. Take a long look at Obama's administration. Take a look at George W. Bush's administration...Hell take a look at every president's administration going back to Ronald Reagan. They all have held positions in different administrations implementing their agendas at their will.(This calls for a completely new blog that I will need to get to at a later date.)

I will leave you with a quote by one of the greatest presidents of our country:

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.
Thomas Jefferson, (Attributed)

3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

-Spiral Out!

Missing In Action

2008-08-22T00:58:00.001-04:00

I should get back to writing here in a couple of days. Things have been a bit hectic as of late.......stay tuned....

While you were asleep......

2008-05-08T01:30:00.000-04:00

....Armed robber barons raided your home and stripped you of all your belongings except for a blue jumpsuit with your social security number on the back. Ohhh and while you were asleep they implanted you with a tiny microchip. Supposedly it has your "vital" information on it. Don't worry though your friend, Big Brother, has your best interest in mind. He will look out for you, protect you from the boogey man, and tell you how "free" you are. They also installed nifty little cameras all around the city so they can keep an eye out on you, I mean for you. They'll be able to catch the boogey man now, or perhaps Osama Bin Laden....Yes my friend you took the blue pill and just fell asleep at the wheel. I hate to be the one to break it to you but we're all F*CKED!.....

ATTENTION: To those that read this you may just think I am crazy. I am not crazy! I am not a conspiracy NUT! I am a human being that is very concerned as to where WE, as a nation, are headed. It's common sense folks. They want us to beleive everything is alright so that when the perverbial shit does actually hit the fan it will hit so fast we won't be able to say a GOD DAMN THING!. Read it folks! Try and grasp what I am saying! Everything is NOT alright! We are heading into a time that can either save humanity or destroy it... What ending do you want?

This is what goes on in my head day in and day out. I'm not going to use any sources in what I say. These are just my thoughts thrown out there on stuff that I have read, watched, and done research on.

Let's take the worst case senario that has us becoming the North American Union. Gone is our sovreignty! Gone is our Constituion! Gone is our Bill of Rights! Is this something that you want? Are you to busy consuming as much as you can and thinking that "everything" is alright, that "they" (our "elected" leaders) have our best interest in mind. It's a basic thing people.... Survival of the fittest my friends! The power elite will damn make sure that THEY are the ones that survive.

When we do become the North American Union we will, from that point on no longer be the United States of America! We will have destroyed everything that our fore fathers fought for. It is basically like spitting on George Washington's grave! The things that are happening in OUR own country right now would be considering treason in most countries. Our "elected" leaders will tell you that it is all in the name of "security" and to keep America "free".

Not to long ago our "elected" officials tried to IMPEACH a President for lying about having "sexual realtions" with a staffer. How come we don't have IMPEACHMENT hearings for a President that LIED us into a war with no end. How come we don't have IMPEACHMENT hearings for a President that signed executive orders basically abolishing the checks and balances of our own government. How come Dick Cheney was not found guilty of anything in regards to the CIA operative leak? The current administration has committed acts of TREASON! They have committed HIGH CRIMES! And yet nothing is done. We, as citizens, have allowed this to continue!

Come on now people! WAKE THE FUCK UP! Ask your "elected" official:
WHY the rest of the world hates us?
WHY we don't take care of our own problems on our own soil?
WHY we must play "world police"?
How we have enough money to spend over $500 BILLION dollars
on a war in a far away place?

And yet we cannot have health care.(Don't go running your mouth to me about how bad socialized healthcare would be. I didn't say that was the answer.) Our social security fund is running out.
Our infrastructure (roads, highways, bridges, etc.) are falling apart.

Ask your "elected" official:
WHY our deficit is at an all time high with no end in site?
WHY the United States economy is about to crash?
WHY the DOLLAR is worth CRAP?
And lastly ask your "elected" official
What do they think about the North American Union?

It is not to late people! We all can still come together! It's not a matter of who you believe in. Republican or Democrat. Cause in the end party alliance is NOT going to mattter when you are running out of food. Or you cannot afford a loaf of bread. Or a gallon of milk. We all must band together and learn how to be SELF-SUFFICIENT. Not depend on mass produced goods. It is time that we realize that THEY do not have our best interest in mind!

Wake up or you will be assimilated!

WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!

~Spiral Out~

2008-04-25T01:12:00.000-04:00

So for the time being I will give you the short version of my "sign off", Spiral Out. It's the ending to the song, Lateralus, by Tool.

"Spiral Out. Keep going."

There is a more in depth story behind the orgins of my "sign off", but I'll get to that at another time. For now, I will give you a list of some upcoming subjects on my blog:

1. Drug companies
2. When suicide strikes a family...
3. The complete story behind "Spiral Out"
4. The NFL draft
5. Relationships
6. Managing in todays workforce
7. Bildeburg Group, Council of Foregin Relations, Tri-Lateral Commission
8. Must see Movies
9. And perhaps other ramblings that may pop into my mind

Until Next Time,
~Spiral Out~

Ramble On

2008-04-23T02:05:00.000-04:00

Alright this is not really about any sort of topic. It's just what is currently going on in my head. I may take you all over the place with this one so sit back and enjoy.(Ok Ok perhaps I should go see a doctor about these voices) But then I figure if I do that then the doctor would put me on some "happy pill" and become another dopey happy man.

Before you go jump down my throat and tell me how great "happy pills" are, I can understand for some it may help them. They take 1 a day or every couple of days and they're fine. Here's my argument....

Humans have been around for over 2,000 years and mankind has survived WITHOUT these "happy pills". What they had were natural opiates and barbituates available to them. Sure as time goes on they advanced just as we have. But all of these drugs that they have now is absolutely ridiculous.

They have doctors sitting in back rooms coming up with new "diseases" or "sicknesses". My all time favorite is "Restless Leg Syndrome". What the hell? Ohh but don't you worry cause there is a drug now for this.Why do we need a drug for every little ailment the human body goes through? My favorite part of the drug commercials, the side effects portion. Some drug that will help you stop snoring but the drug may cause bloddy noses and in rare cases:

-Sores in the nose.
-A hole (perforation) that forms in the wall between the nostrils (septum).

Oh well now thats wonderful. I will possibly stop snoring but the medicine I take just may cause my nose to "fall apart". I could possibly not have the inside of my nose anymore. Sounds like a great trade off. These drugs also should not be taken if you suffer from heart disease, diabetes, chronic bronchitis, soreness in the muscles, stress, paper cuts, or if you are human!

Now don't get me wrong science is great and all the medical marvels that we have been witnessed to is amazing. Why must we continually try and solve everything. Civilization has been around for a long time and we survived just fine without these man made drugs. Let's take it back to the "happy pill".

I refuse to take the "happy pill" simply because I am human. Part of life is having your "ups" and "downs". Life is not easy. You live and you learn. You are going to have your "bad days" but for every one of those think about all the good days you have. More than you think. You're alive. You have food on your plate and a roof over your head. Life may not always be wonderful and we all face our troubled times. That is part of life! I do not want to be perpetually happy from some lab made drug. (Nor do I condone the use of illicit drugs...welll..on second though..oh wait nevermind!).

Well after re-reading this myself I realize now that I have created another topic that I will need to discuss. Drug Companies is going on the list. So where was I? Oh yeah my sermon about life. I came across a saying awhile back and it's just kind of stuck...

LIVE IT UP! DRINK IT DOWN! LAUGH IT OFF!

Until Next Time
~Spiral Out~

---Side Note---
At some point I'll explain the "Spiral Out"......

End Game

2008-04-20T04:46:00.000-04:00

I began watching a movie by Alex Jones. I have yet to finish the movie but so far it is a very compelling movie. These are very interesting times we are living in. I am doing my part and trying to get the information out there, but what you decide to do with it is up to you. The world as we know it is slowly eroding away. Do you love the Constitution? Do you love the Bill of Rights? What would you do if those RIGHTS were stripped from you? What would you do if the Stars and Stripes was not OUR flag anymore? The power elite think of you as their "slave". They want to control you, but make you think that you have "freedom".

I will write more on the movie when I finish it. For the time being, I will leave with you a couple of quotes from the movie.

We shall have world government whether or not you like it by conquest or consent." -James Warburg
As quoted at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on 2/17/1950

"We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order." - David Rockefeller

Lastly, I leave you something termed "American Stonehenge" or "The George Guidestones". It is very interesting the things that are carved into this stone. Take a peak you may be shocked...

The Georgia Guidestones
Until Next Time!
~Spiral Out~

My views, beliefs, and opinions (cont'd)

2008-04-17T02:09:00.000-04:00

I left off my last blog briefly discussing the events of 9/11 that have since forged my beliefs, views, and opinions. Many people often question why I believe the things that I do, but I could ask them the same question. Most of us are products of our surroundings. How you are brought up and the life experiences you have had help shape some of your opinions on the world.

I am no different, but I have experienced both sides of the spectrum when it comes to my views on politics and religion. I am not going to sit here and tell you that my views and beliefs are 100% right. I have an open mind and can often see both sides of a debate. In the end I probably will not agree with you if you stand on the other side, but at least I will respect you for believing in what ever it is you do believe. Obiviously we all draw our own conclusions about events that happen in our world today. I know that I will always stand up for what I believe in and will always support my opinions and views with "supporting evidence". Every side always has a "professional opinion" that can denounce the others opinion. Somewhere in between both sides lies the truth. The question is do we all sit there and let things happen without questioning the events that transpire? Or do we question everything so that we do not get complacent in our lives and let our leaders "run wild" and do whatever they want to do.

If we did not have dissent in our country then we wouldn't be the United States. We would be Nazi Germany! After 9/11 happened and the "war" in Afghanistan and Iraq came to fruition I was looked on as an outcast because I questioned the government on its choices. I was told by many that "in a time of war I was to support our leaders and our troops." I grew sick of that statement and realized that by questioning everything, I was in fact, contributing to the democratic process that we, as Americans, hold dear to our hearts. Someone that dissents can still support the troops in their mission but does not have to agree with that mission. The troops are doing what they signed up to do. They are taking orders from our ELECTED leaders!

My beliefs and opinions today are completely opposite of what they were 10 years ago. I have grown as an individual and gathered information that the "liberal media" (as my Republican friends like to say) will not report on. My best resource is and always will be Noam Chomsky. He is, perhaps, the greatest intellectual that is alive today. The sad part is that he is not called upon by our own media conglomerates to give his opinions on our government or on our actions throughout the world. Simply because there would be no one that could stand toe to toe with him in a debate. Bill O'Reilly may be Harvard educated but the man knows he cannot compete with Chomsky's knowledge. Chomsky is known throughout the world as a great mind and is often called upon to deliver speeches around the globe. So if you want to get an idea of where my beliefs and views have come from you best start with Mr. Noam Chomsky. He has a brilliant mind!

Until Next Time!
Spiral Out

Where my views, opinions, beliefs come from...

2008-04-13T21:19:00.000-04:00

  People often ask me why I hold the views, beliefs, and opinions that I do. Simply because I come from a household of FBI agents. That's right my dad and step-mom were both FBI agents. My parents never pushed their views or opinions on me. I was always free to decide for myself what to believe and not to believe. My parents did their service for the government and I applaud them for that. I've heard cool stories and some not so cool stories. I had the chance to work as a clerk at my dad's office when I was 16 which was pretty cool.
  I would say a big influence on my thought process was listening to Pink Floyd and watching The Wall. I also listened to a lot of Rage Against The Machine as well. At the time I didn't really look to deep into their lyrics and didn't realize that they were such a "poltical" band. The more and more I listened the more I understood what they were talking about. There was something far deeper going on in our world than most of us would even dare think about.
   As I mentioned in a previous blog, All Things Tool, I was turned onto them by a friend. So you pair Pink Floyd, Rage Against the Machine, and Tool together and hear what they have to say it made start to question everything. Their music led me to do my own research and branch out to things that normally I would of never known. I like to call it "Thinking Man's" music. Listening to their music relentlesly and reading Noam Chomsky opened my eyes to a whole new world.
  Let's fast forward to George W. Bush running for President. I knew the history of his father and did not like one thing he did so I was a bit scared as to what the "new" Bush would do. Also knowing that he would surround himself with a lot of his father's people. Bush wins the election and I had no idea the things his administration would be cable of. Then 9/11 happens... This is what truly sent me over the edge. Although not like a lot of Americans. Was I saddened by what I watched live on TV that day? Absolutely! Those images will never escape me nor will the escape the rest of the world.
   After 9/11, I began to do extensive readings from publications around the world. I watched all the news programs "religiously". The "official" story just didn't add up to me. There was something there that I could not wrap my head around. Someone was not (and still isn't) telling the truth of what REALLY happened that day.
   A friend asked me if I was surprised by the "so-called" attacks on our country. My reply was (and this is before I began to seek out information) "Honestly, I am not surprised one bit. I am surprised it hasn't happened sooner." I then asked my friend, "Why do you think the rest of the world hates us?" (A question that still should be asked but one that will never be answered.)

To Be Continued.....

Spiral Out

Gas Prices

2008-04-12T01:44:00.000-04:00

DISCLAIMER- This is written solely as a consumer of gasoline. I am not in the oil industry and do not pretend to know or understand the complexities of the companies that I will discuss in this blog. This is written soley from common sense and from reading the annual reports for Shell and ExxonMobil. In my eyes, its pretty black and white, but there are some out there that probably think otherwise. Now on to the blog...UPDATE: Today gas at my local Mobil station is $3.89 for regular. Which is up from $3.75 this past Wednesday.

Well it's about time to dive into something that we all should be paying attention to. The sad fact of the matter is none of us really do pay attention to these things anymore. Most of us need gas so that we can work, shuttle the family around, go on vacation, etc. As consumers we are in a strangle hold that we cannot get out of. The gas companies know that we need their product and therefore can set whatever price they want when it comes to a gallon of gas.

The following is an excerpt from Shell's annual report:
"Shell businesses delivered strong operational and financial performance in 2007, with earnings of $31.9 billion. Shell’s healthy financial position allowed us to return $13.4 billion to shareholders, through dividends and share repurchases, while capital investment reached $27.1 billion. Earnings in 2007 were up 21% from 2006, which were in line with 2005. The increase in 2007 reflected higher oil and gas prices, the positive impact of increasing crude prices on our inventory, improved chemicals margins and substantially higher interest and investment income; although these were offset by lower production volumes, lower realised refining margins and lower trading contribution."

Now if you read that again notice the $31 BILLION in earnings for 2007. Then notice the 21 % INCREASE in earnings from 2006 to 2007. I find it quite humorous that they say that the increase in 2007 was "reflected by higher oil and gas prices, THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF INCREASING CRUDE PRICES ON OUR INVENTORY." Well now to me that just is common business sense. If you increase the price on your product then you are going to see an INCREASE in earnings! And yet we all sit here with soaring gas prices and our elected leaders getting kick backs from these blatant crooks. Our salaries and wages are not going up as the price of gas goes up. It is amazing to me that companies are allowed to get away with such practices. All of these CEO's are sitting in a board room some where and laughing at all of us.

Now lets take a look at our good friends over at Exxon Mobil. The same company that brought you the Valdez oil spill. Which was one of the worst spills in the history of spills. Here are some bullet points copied directly from Exxon Mobil's annual review:
Superior 2007 Results
- Best-ever lost-time incident rate for our combined employee and contractor workforce
- Record earnings of $40.6 BILLION, with record performance in each of our business functions
- Annual dividend per share growth of 7 percent versus 2006, the 25th consecutive year of dividend per share increases
- Total shareholder distributions of $35.6 BILLION, an increase of $3 BILLION versus 2006

So now they had record earnings of over $40 BILLION! It seems pretty cut and dry to me. If you continue to raise prices of your product year over year then your profits should increase. If I just look at the local Mobil station right by my house in L.A. it was $3.65 a gallon on Monday. Then by Wednesday it was at $3.75. Little by little they raise their prices and I keep on checking my paycheck and low and behold what do you know, my salary does not increase with the increase in gas prices.

For now I will stop with this subject. Expect more later as I read the annual reviews. There is some good information in these things and also some hiliarous information to. Stay Tuned!

Until Next Time,
Spiral Out!

The Current Administration

2008-04-11T01:02:00.000-04:00

My nightly routine is usually getting off of work, coming home and checking out the current news. My news sources range from local TV news here in L.A. to online papers and publications from around the world. As I was reading the headlines of current news out of Washington D.C. there was one article that caught my eye.

Cheyney, others OK'd harsh interrogations

The article discusses the use of interrogation tactics such as "water boarding" which simulates drowning. I just find it appalling that we preach to the rest of the world how wonderful we are and that they should follow our lead in "protecting" the world from terror. When we continue to do the things this article suggests there is no wonder that others around the world hate the United States.

Perhaps they should ask Presidential Candidate John McCain what he thinks of "harsh interrogation tactics". Our elected leaders in Washington are acting like the school yard bully all for their own benefit. It just amazes me that our very own elected leaders get away with such blatant disregard for our own laws and that of international laws. Has anyone heard of the Geneva Convention? Oh wait I forgot we are the United States we don't have to answer to any international law.

And before you go run your mouth and tell me that "perhaps you should go live in another country then" realize that what makes America great is the fact that we are allowed to DISSENT. We are allowed to question the elected leaders! They are supposed to be working for US! So spare me that garbage of "don't like it then leave it" crap.

What do you think would happen if a foreign government was found to be "water boarding" American soldiers? We would not sit around and take it. We would want the leaders of that country arrested and tried for WAR CRIMES!

And yet we sit back and let Cheyney and his croonies run rampant and do what they want to do all in the name of the WAR ON TERROR.

Has anyone stopped to think that the War on Terror is a war that has no end in sight? Remember a little thing that began in the Reagan days called the "War on Drugs". Now lets see how did that turn out?

Ask yourself when was the last time that you truly and honestly felt threatened by some foreign country? Where you really afraid that Saddam Hussein was going to send his troops over here and start killing innocent women and children? No you weren't. You probably had forgotten all about Saddam until George W. and Cheyney brought his name up after 9/11.

Here is the official definition of terror as provided by our very own United States government:

Official United States Government Definition of Terrorism

"[An] act of terrorism, means any activity that (A) involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life that is a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State; and (B) appears to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping."
(United States Code Congressional and Administrative News, 98th Congress, Second Session, 1984, Oct. 19, volume 2; par. 3077, 98 STAT. 2707 [West Publishing Co., 1984])

Go ahead and re-read that. If you take our own official definition of terrorism then the United States is guilty of being a terrorist state.

My parents always used to tell me to "treat others the way I wanted to be treated." Shouldn't that same law be applied to how we treat other countries? When we were kids all of us had the "school yard bully". He would "terrorize" you or perhaps one of your friends. And you sat there wishing you could beat him up yourself or that someone else would finally put him in his place. Perhaps that's how the rest of the world views the United States. They are just hoping that some day there might be somone to knock us off our perch. And we wonder why so many people despise us and hate us.

Until Next Time
Spiral Out

Religion -Man's Creation

2008-04-09T01:34:00.000-04:00

DISCLAIMER- I do not pretend to be an authority on religion. I was raised, up until 11 years old, as an Evangelist. I was "saved" when I was only 10 years old. My opinions on religion come from my experiences and from being part of this crazy world. This is just my interpretation of what I think religion is to the human race.

I am not religious any way you look at it. The first question people ask me is, "Do you believe in God?" To answer that question bluntly, NO I do not believe in God. It is a personal decision that I am quite content with.

Most of my family members think I am crazy and that the sun here in California has destroyed my brain. A few years back I was sent an email from a distant cousin. In the email he stated that he wanted our family to "pray" for some of our cousins that were going over to China.

Being the smart ass that I can be I replied to the email and asked, "What the f*ck are they going to China for?" The reply I got sent me over the edge. It stated that my family members were going to China under the premise of teaching English but they were truly going over there to spread the word of Christianity.

So let me get this straight...These family members are Christians and they are going to a foreign country to teach "English". Except they really aren't going to teach English they are going to spread the word of Christianity! That is a blatant LIE! Does anyone else see anything wrong with that?

What has religion done for society? In my eyes, I see that religion has caused more harm than good. Even since the days of the Crusades, religion has killed millions of innocent men, women, and children all in the name of "God". Who's religion is right? Is it Islam? Is it Catholicism? Is it Judaism? Perhaps its Buddhism?

All I know is that religion has been used as a crutch by man to destroy civilizations throughout the world. If religion issomething that makes a person happy then by all means go for it. But what I cannot stand are those religious zealots that try and preach to me that I am going to hell if I do not "believe". How do they know? If they are still alive they have yet to see what the "after life" is.

My mom always tells me to pray and tells me that she prays for me. I often ask her what does that do for you? Does "God" answer your prayers? Her response is usually something to the effect that "God answers prayers in mysterious ways."

What ever happen to faith in the human race? Why can't we just communicate amongst ourselves and reach a common ground? Is it that hard that we need to use religion in order to reach the masses? Far to often religion is used as a "smoke screen" to get what someone wants.

There are so many things that are wrong with religion that it is hard to even put it into words.

When you got to church what do they ask you to do on a weekly basis? They pass a collection plate around for you to put money in. What is the purpose of this money? Religion should be free. There is not a requirement for you to put anything in the collection plate. However, if you don't you will get strange looks from your fellow church members. (Trust me it's happened to me and my family)

I apologize for this blog being all over the place. I have so many thoughts and opinions of religion, that at times it is hard to put it into words.

I will try and post more about my views on religion. For now you get a glimpse into my insight about religion and its affects on society.

In the end we are all going to leave this world and end up one of two ways: Either in an urn in a pile of ashes sitting atop some mantle at a family members house or we are going to be buried six feet under.

My tombstone will read:

"Is this what you wanted? Is this what you had in mind? Cause this is what you're getting"

Until Next Time

Spiral Out

All Things Tool

2008-04-08T04:11:00.000-04:00

Well it's time I write a little bit about my favorite band, Tool. I'll take you back to when I first heard them.

It was 1994 and I was 18 years old and living in a dorm at San Diego State University. One of my suitemates was into a lot of different music that I never heard of. He had the likes of Gwar, Pennywise, Unwritten Law, and a band named Tool. The album was Undertow and he listend to it relentlessly.

At first I wasn't really sure what to think of them. I was your typical "I'll listen to whatever they play on the radio" type guy. I didn't venture out to try and find new bands. The Undertow album continued to grow on me. It was more for just the sound and the heaviness of the music that I enjoyed at that time. I didn't really take the time to grasp a hold onto the lyrics and listen to what Maynard was singing about.

The next album that followed was Aenima.

I picked it up at Tower Records and gave it a listen. What I was amazed at was the fact that although you could tell that it was Tool, the album was completely different in its own right than Undertow. I was amazed at the sheer brillance of the music and the lyrics. After listening to Aenima I began to look deeper into the lyrics behind the music. The title track Aenima talks about Los Angeles being no longer and all of the stereotypes that go along with the citizens of Los Angeles. I began to think of my time in L.A. and realized that these were not just stereotypes but actual truths of many of the people that reside in L.A.

The way the four members of Tool come together as a collective unit to make such brilliant music is unsurpassed by any band out there today. Danny Carey is a mad man on the drums. I often think he has more than just two legs and feet and two arms and hands. Maynard is brilliant vocally on anything that he does.

The beauty behind their music is that it allows a listener to "escape" into another world and get lost (in a good way) in the music and lyrics. The way each album is created and organized to take the listener on a ride is unmatched by anyone in the music industry.

I have seen Tool live four times now and every time it is almost as though it is a "religious" experience for me. (seeing as I am not religious) For those of you that have not experienced the brilliance of Tool I suggest starting at the beggining with Undertow which was their first full length album. Continue on to Aenima and then to Lateralus and followed lastly by 10,000 Days.

Each album has the "Tool" sound but you can tell how they have grown as musicians over the years.

Go take a listen and I will see you on the other side.

Until Next Time!
Spiral Out

Zeitgeist - The Movie

2008-04-06T19:07:00.000-04:00

This is a continuation of sorts of my previous blog entitled "North American Union". I watched the movie Zeitgeist and must say that no matter what your beliefs are or what side of the political spectrum you sit on this is a must watch.

There is a wealth of information in this movie and some of it may surprise you while other parts may get your blood boiling. I am not going to sit here and say that I believe everything in the movie but what I do know is that it opens up one's eyes and begs to make you ask questions about what is going on around us.

My favorite book of all time is 1984 by George Orwell. In the book there are three "countries" left in the world. They are all made up of former countries. The three countries are called Oceania, Eurasia, and East Asia. Now granted the book 1984 is a work of fiction. There are many parallels in the book that we see in our own society today. As I mentioned 1984 contains three countries just as the movie Zeitgeist explains we are heading to.

First we had the countries of Europe join forces and develop the European Union. Now as reported on by Lou Dobbs on CNN he was the only "main-stream" reporter to do a story on the North American Union. The movie also mentions talks about China and other Asian countries creating an Asian Union. So with that there you have three "super" countries.

Now don't get me wrong I am all for other countries, cultures, people, etc. However, I am an American! Just because I take pride in my country does not mean that any other country is better or worse than mine. That's what makes this world so great! Is the differences that we all have amongst each other. The knowledge that we can gain from sharing our experiences in our own countries with one another.

After watching the movie you may say, "Oh it's just another conspiracy theory." And perhaps there may be some truth to that but think about it.

That is exactly what the powers that be want us to think. They want us to think that everything is alright. That they have our best interests in mind. The sad reality is that most of our leaders do not have the average citizens best interest in mind.

Will this stop me from voting in the next election? No! I will go out and express myself in the most democratic way possible by placing my vote. Do I think the cycle of politicians saying one thing and doing another will change? Probably not but I will never give up hope.

In any civilization the people reach a point when they just won't take it anymore. I am not sure if I will see it in my lifetime but there will be a revolution one day against all governments. The revolution will take us back to a simpler time where things were run BY the people and FOR the people.

I know there can never be such a thing as a Utopian society. There will always be conflict in the world but do we need to kill one another in order to resolve the conflicts through out the world?

Until Next Time...
Spiral Out