Sarge

The hook, the line and the stinker

In days of old, when knights were bold, lords and ladies by kings were selected But elected now, they think themselves beyond all laws and exempted.-- A modern madrigal Entitlement’s a strange thing. It’s got no weight, no texture. It carries no color or racial classification. It follows no recognizable class or caste order. Entitlement is only defined by the depth and thickness of its primary constituent element: greed.

Political Periodic Table

Many people foment discord with their observation skills pertaining to government. I admire them for that. My dimly lit brain was illuminated concerning the "wasteful spending", the "created" positions and the need for a cessation of "creating" new ones as it pertains to my government. These people do their homework so I'd like to know better what's going on.

A Government of Laws By

Illegal adj: 1.) prohibited by law 2.) prohibited by official rules. The United States is a great country. The recognition of this is without question. Only here are all men believed to be created as equals. India, as well as England, has a caste (class) structure defining an individual’s place in society and public life. He is almost assured to never be able to step beyond the position he /she was born to in some people’s eyes.

A Sterile Cry

I decided to take a week off. It was a necessity to recharge my batteries, so to speak. Writing a column of this nature isn’t a strain by any means. The dangers and elements of unsafe nature in my old career (law enforcement) and the difficulties and dangers of your workday make my life seem pale in comparison. But there’s an incredible thing comes about when your world changes drastically as it does when you retire from one career and move into another.

The Games

Politics is reminiscent of the Roman Games. The games are held to appease the people. People are led to opulent settings and led to believe they’re a part of the production. The people get the peanuts and the chance to gaze upon the face of Caesar as he feasts on gourmet meals and the finest wine. The people get grape juice, but it’s free.

Aural astigmatism

Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see. Ben Franklin Astigmatism is a defect in the eye. It’s caused by a defective cornea focusing light incorrectly on the retina. Our vision could be 20/20 but the brain’s visual centers get a blurred image.

Malfeasance

Politicians thinking themselves superior to those putting them where they are is nothing new. Throughout man’s history we’ve seen a ruling class subjugate a populace based on greater resources to buy, rent, borrow or otherwise maintain a force held over the subjugates’ heads. This always kept the herd in queue while walking dully toward the slaughterhouse. Since the birth of the Progressive Movement, America’s been sliding toward its own form of Socialism.

Genesis

The question’s been raised by some of my radical acquaintances: Can Obama be impeached for going against the wishes of the people of the United States? The short answer is: No.

Freedom of what…?

The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States is sacrosanct. This truth is beyond self-evident. We hold it as immutable and undeniable. But, whose truth are we talking about here?

Ethics & morals III

For all of the discussion concerning ethics and morals we must ask: what’s the practical side of all of this?

Fertilizer

Barack Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar are leaving a political and economic wake of destruction on the gulf coast. Their course of action is to declare, by Executive Order and stylized Environmental Protection Agency Mandate, what they call a Moratorium on Deepwater Offshore Drilling. This is economic homicide for the people in the region- whether for six-months in duration or forever.

Ethics & morals II

Men do whatever it takes to justify whatever they do, no matter the level of nefarious activity involved. I say nefarious because anything dissecting a family should be considered evil. Split the family into disassociated segments during the day, transfer teaching to “experts”, work three jobs weekly to better assure enough money for “comfort” and to have the conveniences of life and recognize how your family grows apart. Not good.

Ethics & morals

My son sat on the floor and listened. Occasionally he’d readjust my words to better make the thoughts fit into his head. We call it family time. The discussion concerned morals and ethics: how they’re developed, maintained and managed. We were talking about the fact Ethics and Morality are subjects more and more relegated to the musty, dusty halls of academia than taught at the knee of the parent instructing the child.

Empty armor

Many people are gnashing their teeth and wringing their hankies because of the Petro-hemorrhage in the gulf. Obama’s appeared and had lunch with some of the local residents. He assured us he couldn’t “suck the oil up with a straw”. That was thoughtful and nice.

Basic Principles

The 4th of July always brings forth ideas of what America’s about. Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness: all suitable imprints of a quill crushing history into parchment. The intent of the writer, the heart’s blood of the scribe spoke of his yearning for self-determination and freedom from the yoke of tyranny. That yoke was secured by a government believing itself better knowing the needs of the “subjects” than they, themselves. It propelled a defiant documentation of hope in the Declaration of Independence.

Smoky eddies

Respect is something to be earned. It should be based on the integrity of an individual’s efforts to perform one’s duties. They’d better be honorably accomplished.

Seed capital

Bail-out is a term used when there’s sufficient cause to abandon a position or as originally used, to jump from an airplane, preferably with a parachute. Now, in financial circles it means to be covered by governmental funds ensuring that your failure and incompetence as a business person doesn’t adversely affect the economy. Money is supplied from public funds (taxpayer dollars) to prevent the guilty from suffering the consequences of their actions.

Paper Tigers

Watching the “Deepwater Horizon Disaster” - Congressional Hearings and testimony being given by Tony Hayward is pathetic. It’s like an angry siding salesman (Congress) watching paint dry. The salesman has no idea what he’s criticizing but he’s sure to let you know he’d have done it differently. Congress has the temerity to challenge anybody’s ethics or job performance.

Experts?

“What intellectual snobs we have become! Virtue is now in the number of degrees you have- not in the kind of person you are or what you can accomplish in real-life situations.” Eda J. LeShan, American Educator (1922-2002)

Transparency or Translucence

Transparent : (adj.) capable of transmitting light so that objects or images can be seen as if there were no intervening material (2)Easily seen through or detected; obvious; (3) Free from guile; candid or open. Translucent: (adj) transmitting light but causing sufficient diffusion to prevent perception of distinct images. [The American Heritage College Dictionary 2004 (ISBN 0-618-45300-8)]