A LITTLE MORE FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Not sure who sent this to me, but I thought it was worth posting. Feel free to copy it and pass it along to all the liberals in your life. If I can find out who wrote it, I'll be happy to give them credit.

Another very true story

This is a history lesson that Washington does not believe!

Class war at its best.

The folks who are getting the free stuff

don't like the folks who are paying for the free stuff

because the folks who are paying for the free stuff

can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuff...

and their own stuff!

And...

The folks who are PAYING for the free stuff,

want the free stuff to STOP.

The folks who are GETTING the free stuff

want even MORE free stuff on TOP of the free stuff they are already getting!

Now...

The people who are FORCING the people who PAY for the free stuff

have told the people who are RECEIVING the free stuff,

That the people who are PAYING for the free stuff,

Are being mean, prejudiced, and racist.

So... the people who are GETTING the free stuff

have been convinced they need to HATE the people who are PAYING for the free stuff

by the people who are FORCING some people to PAY for their free stuff

and GIVING them the free stuff in the first place.

We have let the free stuff giving go on for so long that there are

now more people getting free stuff than paying for the free stuff.

Now understand this.

All great democracies have committed financial suicide

somewhere between 200 and 250 years after being founded.

The reason?

The voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing

people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them.

The United States officially became a Republic in 1776, 231 years ago. The number of people now getting free stuff outnumbers the people paying for the free stuff.

We have one chance to change that in 2012.

Failure to change that spells the end of the United States as we know it.

ELECTION 2012 IS COMING

A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!

Let's Take a Stand!!!

Obama: Gone!

Borders: Closed!

National language: English only!

Culture: Constitution, and the Bill of Rights!

Drug Free: Mandatory Drug Screening before Welfare!

NO freebies to: Non-Citizens!

We the people are coming

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UPDATE

   In May, I wrote a post entitled "Are Submarines The Answer To Piracy". In it, I talked about 4 Americans aboard a yacht that were taken hostage, then murdered¹.
   I'm happy to announce that Mohamud Hirs Issa Ali; the commander of the pirates, along with 8 of his cutthroat thugs have been sentenced to life in prison. They have also each been ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution². Not to sure how anybody will collect, but it's a nice thought.
    11 of them have pleaded guilty to piracy on the high seas. The remaining 2 will be sentenced tomorrow. Let's hope they also get life.
   As I said in the post: "Only by making the risk so great that potential rewards cease to be attractive has and will the threat of piracy on the high seas ever been and ever will be abated."
   A few more pirates dead or in prison and maybe we can get a handle on this mess.
   As to the United States Navy; Well Done
That's what I think, any way. What are your thoughts?

1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/15/somali-pirates-sentenced_n_1152187.html
   
2. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41715530/ns/world_news-africa/t/four-american-hostages-killed-somali-pirates/#.TuqB5IYlQg0
   

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Bah!!! Humbug

   Sorry I'm a little late, folks. I just started a new gig and have been getting everything set up for it.
   I'm still workin' on the posting about the the drug war; ie. one war that we have decidedly lost. This month though, as I was researching the billions of tax dollars we've wasted propping up; indeed creating the drug cartels, I have been bombarded with television ads about Christmas.
   Since before Thanksgiving everybody and their ridiculous uncles have been commercialising this holy day ad nauseum. Traditional carols have been perverted so that we can be enticed to going further into debt buying things we can't afford that the targets of the gifts will forget in a week. All this so that we can be seen spending more than the Jonses or whoever.
   If you believe the ads, we should be spending thousands of dollars on everything from cars and jewellery to sexy lingerie and custom-designed tampons.
   Shop here - not there.! Buy this and not that. Get her/him/them the gift she/he/they always wanted; a brand new this, that or the other thing.
   Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's about spending time with family and remembering the blessings we enjoy and the things...and people we're grateful for.
Merry Christmas.


At least that's my opinion. What's yours?

12/16

PS: I just received this in a Christmas card. Very relevant.

Twas the month before Christmas

When all through our land,

Not a Christian was praying

Nor taking a stand.

See the PC police had taken away,

The reason for Christmas - no one could say.

The children were told by their schools not to sing,

About Shepards & Wise Men & Angles & things.

It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say.

December 25th is just a `Holiday.'

 Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks & credit

Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from Lady GaGa, an XBox, an I-Pod;

Something was changing. Something quite odd!

Retailers promoted Ramadan & Kwanzaa

In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down

At Lowe's the word Christmas was nowhere to be found.

At K-Mart & Staples & Penny's & Sears

You won't hear Christmas; it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-Ver-Si-Ty

Are the words that were used to intimidate me.

Now Daschle, Now ACLU, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen

On Boxer, on Rather, on Pelosi, on Obama!

At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter

To eliminate Jesus in all public matter.

And we spoke not a word as they took away our faith

Forbidden to speak of salvation & grace.

The true gift of Christmas was exchanged & discarded;

The reason for the season; stopped before it started.

So as you celibrate `Winter Break' under your 1Dream Tree'

Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully. Choose what you say.

Shout Merry Christmas,

Not Happy Holiday!

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A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM

I was going to be writing about the war on drugs this month. Then I stumbled over an article that had been forwarded to me by a friend. With primary elections coming in the next couple of months and the choice for a new - or the same old - president and congress coming in just 12 months, I decided that the timing couldn't be better. Here it is just as I received it except for the font (it was green).
___________________________________________________________________________________

" 545 vs. 300,000,000 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? John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He 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 cannot 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 and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan .
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."
What you do with this article now that you have read it is up to you. 

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WHAT PART OF ILLEGAL DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?

     I have touched on the illegal immigration problem a time or two, but since immigration reform is such a hot topic for the upcoming 2012 election, I decided that it was time to take it head on.

      A lot the left wing liberals would have you believe that, if you don't want to let all those poor mistreated “UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS” (criminals) stay in the US and give them all the rights and privileges associated with citizenship in this great country of ours, you are a heartless racist¹. These bleeding hearts believe that someone who sneaks into our country and flaunts our laws should receive the very same entitlements, education, public (tax payer) supported programs and everything else that you and I; and all the LEGAL immigrants receive². Were not even supposed to call them illegal any more. Now we are supposed to call them undocumented workers³.

      The liberal thinking seems to be that since, with the exception of Native Americans, we are all immigrants or the descendants of immigrants, so everyone-no matter how they came into the country-should get the same treatment.

      Is that right? Is it fair? Let's look at some facts.

      To start with, illegal immigrants getting all the benefits of a legal citizen is a direct slap in the face to those people that came here legally and went through the entire process of becoming an official, legal US citizen⁴. They worked hard, went to school. They had to learn a new language and learn about our history, constitution and laws. These people: naturalised citizens are welcome here and are the backbone-the very fabric of the United States of America.

      Those of us born in the states tend to take our citizenship for granted. After all, all we had to do was be born. According to the 14^th amendment, anyone born here is automatically a citizen⁵. Becoming a US citizen when coming from another country is a lengthy and difficult process and those that complete the process and take the oath⁶ deserve the respect of all other Americans. They are welcome here and deserve to live here. In my opinion the criminals that sneak across the border to take advantage of America and Americans deserve nothing but contempt, jail and deportation.

      Also, these criminals put a very great financial strain on all of our social services and state budgets; and this in the current climate of recession and massive budget shortfalls⁷.

      The liberal argument is that they pay taxes and so are productive members of society.

      Is that true? Absolutely not. The fact is that illegal aliens cost the taxpayers billions of dollars each and every year. According to the National Research Council: “The NRC found that the average immigrant household receives $13,326 in federal welfare and pays $10,664.00 in federal taxes” ⁸; a difference of $2,662 per person. If you accept the numbers from the Center for Immigration Studies, there are about 11 million illegals here as of 2008⁹. Figure an average of about 5 people per family (not sure where I got that number-it could be way off) that works out to almost $6 billion a year.

      And then there's the burden on our criminal justice system. A lot of democrats argue that, if we just give them all amnesty and citizenship, the legal problems would disappear. Bull@#*%!!!

      Yes. If they were citizens, they wouldn't need false citizenship papers. Subsequently, identity theft and forgery would drop accordingly, but these are not the only-or the majority of crimes committed by people predisposed to commit criminal acts in the first place¹⁰. They sneak across the border to buy and sell guns and smuggle drugs. The violence that goes along with those crimes are all part of their trade; who they are. They rape and murder and simply don't care.

      Then there's the crimes that could have been prevented by the deportation of illegals already caught, but then released by the compassionate Obama administrtaion¹¹.

      A new administration must be put in the white house and congress. Then-and only then can we begin to clean up this mess. If strong laws are passed and enforced, employers won't be able to hire the illegals, land lords won't be able to rent to them. They won't be able to open bank accounts or buy cars. Then we won't have to spend the billions to deport them. With no job, no home and no transportation they will have no choice. They will go home.

      These measures won't completely cure all of the problems associated with illegal immigration. All countries have them. Someone will always try to be where they don't belong and aren't wanted. But at least it would be a hell of a start.

      Well anyway, that's what I think. What's your opinion?

Citations

¹ Is Racism Fueling the Immigration Debate? - TIME

Racist Myths about Mexican Immigrants

http://www.towncalleddobson.com/?p=435

² http://www.anchorrising.com/barnacles/002855.html

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1616294/posts

³ http://www.cairco.org/info/terms.html

http://www.endillegalimmigration.com/Illegal_Aliens_Vs_Undocumented_Workers/index.shtml

⁴ http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=598da2f39b1ab210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=598da2f39b1ab210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

http://www.hooyou.com/naturalization/requirements.html

⁵ http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/14thamendment.html

⁶ http://bensguide.gpo.gov/9-12/citizenship/oath.html

⁷ http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/immigrationnaturalizatio/a/caillegals.htm

⁸ http://www.rense.com/general81/dtli.htm

http://www.fairus.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=16980&security=1601&news_

iv_ctrl=1017

⁹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States

¹⁰ http://www.usillegalaliens.com/impacts_of_illegal_immigration_crime_summary.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/29/border-states-dealing-illegal-immigrant-crime-data-suggests/

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=37374

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/13/police-illegal-immigrants-rape-year-old-texas-girl-july-th-party/

¹¹ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/us/politics/fatal-accident-puts-focus-on-deportation-program.html

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WILL WE EVER LEARN?

      We are quickly coming to the 10^th anniversary of the airplane attack on the pentagon and the world trade center.

      I am sure that everyone old enough to read this knows that on September 11^th, 2001 America was the victim of the worse attack against it since December 7^th, 1941; the event that brought the USA into WWII. Both attacks were the results of major conspiracies; one hatched by the leadership of a nation, the other by a group of dedicated religious fanatics¹. Between the end of the cold war in 1991 and 09/11/2001 there were scores of other successful attacks by religious and political fanatics but almost none between 1945 and 1991 or after 9-11.

      Why?

      Although many faceted, the answer is relatively simple. Pearl Harbor and the Twin Towers brought home in body bags and twisted steel the realisation that conspiracies are real and the world is full of people that wish to cause us harm.

      For over 40 years America lived with the realisation that a very large nation held the capability and the intent to wipe out our American way of life. Those of us over 50 remember the drills in school of duck-and-cover under our desks in case of a nuclear attack. In every major city there were air raid shelters every couple of blocks. Joe McCarthy had all of us seeing a commie around every corner and, in some cases he was right. A vast and ongoing conspiracy was being run by the Soviet Union².

      The American government new very well the tricks of the Russians because we were doing everything to them that they were doing to us in what turned out to be a successful attempt to avert all-out nuclear war.

      Atom bombs, espionage, secret codes. Bombers on both sides of the Pacific ocean were kept ready to be airborne at the drop of a hat and both sides had hundreds of nuclear-tipped missiles aimed at each other. Total annihilation was ready at the push of a button. The condition was known as “MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION”.

      Then Russia got it's butt kicked in Afghanistan³, the Berlin wall came down⁴, the Soviet Union collapsed⁵ under the weight of it's own totalitarian bureaucracy and the world was at peace at last. So much peace that we became complacent.

      So complacent did we become that anyone even talking about a conspiracy was labelled a right-wing nut job and probably placed on some government watch list. Conspiracies were a thing of the past. Except, of course for all the turmoil in the middle east. Here at home we were protected in a cocoon. Far away from the suicide bombers and missile attacks of Israel and Lebanon. Safe in our Internet-boom prosperity. Peace talks between Israel and the PLO even foretold of a lasting peace in that part of the world. Talk of conspiracies was mocked and ignored.⁶

      Of course there were the attacks on marine barracks in Beirut, the first World Trade Center bombing, the attack on the USS Cole, the Oklahoma city bombing and others, but those were just the work of lone terrorists. They didn't really affect the fabric of America. There were no conspiracies.

      Then on September 11^th at approximately 8:45 in the morning, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. About 15 minutes later, United Airlines flight 175 hit the the south tower. America Was under attack. We were the victims of a massive, wide-spread and long-term conspiracy. How could that happen? To us?

      Ignoring those that were warning us of the danger⁷ did not guide any airplanes into their targets. Complacency didn't cause the 9/11 attacks. The air of false security did, however allow them to happen. Had we maintained the vigilance of the cold war we likely would not be building a memorial where the twin towers stood. 2,753*, ** people would not have died on that chilly morning.

      How long this time will it take us to once again forget the lessons that history has taught us? The motto is:”WE WILL NEVER FORGET”. Somehow, I doubt that.

That's my opinion. What's yours? Leave a comment here and tell the world whether you agree, disagree or have another view.

*some sources have this number higher

**this number includes only the world trade center. Including the Pentagon and flight 93, the casulties were over 3,000. Add in those that died later from injuries and exposure to toxins that were in the air and the number probably exceeds 4,000. No one knows for sure.

Citations

¹ For an excellent and very factual study of the Pearl Harbor attacks and the months leading up to it, watch “Tora,Tora,Tora” starring Martin Balsam, Sô Yamamura, Jason Robards and Joseph Cotten.

For a close look at the attacks and immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks see “America 911-We Will Never Forget”. Both videos are widly available in VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray.

² Read “The Cold War: a history” by Martín Walker

and “One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War” by Michael

Dobbs

Also see: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/suez.htm

³ See ”Charlie Wilsons War” starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman

⁴ There are many books and movies on the fall of the wall, but the most authorative is probably “The Fall of the Berlin Wall (Turning Points in History)” by William F Buckley Jr. and Henry A. Kissinger

⁵ Read ”The Collapse of the Soviet Union, 1985-1991” by David Marples

and “Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union” by Roger Keenan and Thomas Kenny

⁶ http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/SMI402A.html

⁷ http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/SMI402A.html

  http://tvnewslies.org/html/9_11_warnings.html

  http://articles.cnn.com/2004-03-22/politics/clarke.bush_1_qaeda-attack-al-cbs-interview?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS

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CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW

respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

      Folks, today I'm writing about a real and on-going conspiracy that threatens all Americans. Whether you believe in God, Allah, Vishnu or even if you're an atheist, the freedom to practice your personal religion or lack thereof is a basic right so precious that our nation's founders amended the constitution , added a bill of rights and made freedom of religion the very first personal right mentioned.

     So many times we are confronted with some liberal (mis)quoting the first amendment and using it to keep the majority of the American public from praying or practising their spiritual beliefs.

     How many of us know the ENTIRE text of the first amendment? Do you remember it from government class? It seems to me that, if the courts would look at ALL of it (the first amendment), we would be enjoying a lot more of our guaranteed freedom to pray, mention God in public, display religious symbols and generally exercise our FREEDOM OF RELIGION!

 

     Here's the complete text of the first amendment to the constitution of the United States of America. Short, precise and to the point.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

      Yes! It does say “Congress shall pass no law respecting the establishment of religion”, but that is only half of the freedom-of-religion clause. Remember your 7^th grade English? In the form of that sentence, either half can be taken independently with the qualifier. Therefore, It can also be read “Congress shall pass no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof (religion).” The second half of that simple sentence seems to have been all but forgotten in an effort to have some liberal, atheist agenda shoved down our throat.

      I believe in our constitution. I think that it is the single greatest document ever written. I just want people; especially our courts and elected officials to remember and apply all of it. Not just the parts that suit a personal, left-wing agenda pushed by somebody who thinks that freedom means the freedom to agree with them.

      That's my opinion. What's yours? Do you agree? Disagree? Think I'm a commie pinko crackpot? Let me know.

To read the entire bill of rights, click here: Bill of Rights

The complete text of the constitution can be found at: US constitution online

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HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES IT TAKE TO KEEP A SECRET?

A quick note to my readers. I am spending a lot of time travelling this summer so, at least through September, I will be posting only once a month.

      Also, I have received several emails regarding some recent conspiracies; most notably on some current court cases regarding the 2^nd amendment. I am looking into these and will probably be writing about them in late October or early November. Stay tuned.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GRANDSON, LOGAN!

 HE TURNS 2 TODAY 

      As I said in my very first posting back in 2007, I don't wear a tinfoil hat, I don't believe that aliens had a damn thing to do with JFK's assassination and I don't think the CIA is causing hurricanes to weaken foreign countries.

      I won't get into any argument (right now) for or against the belief that aliens have ever visited earth. I do, however, want to debunk one often used argument meant to supposedly “disprove” the alleged Roswell spaceship crash.

      I have often heard it said that, if the Roswell incident did happen, there is no way that the 75 to 100 people that were actually involved; about a third of which were civilians (and therefore supposedly less able to keep their mouths shut) could ever keep it a secret.

      HuffPost Social News had a comment from Dave24 that said “The government couldn't keep Watergate a secret, yet they've kept alien spacecraft a secret for decades, and have done so across many administra­tions. Nonsense.¹”

      Of course, the fact is that if a flying saucer DID crash in New Mexico, it's definitely NOT a secret², but that's beside the point. The question is: could a lot of people conspire to keep a really big secret for years? And succeed? How about 12,000 people?

     To get an answer, lets look at a really big secret. How about Ultra: the allied breaking of the Nazi and Japanese codes during WWII. How many people worked on it, how many were civilians and how long was the secret kept?

Anyone that has studied WWII knows now that Ultra was probably the most closely guarded secret in military history. According to Roswell logic though, that would have been impossible.

      First; the people. According to Wikipedia over 12,000 worked at the intelligence center at England's Bletchly Park throughout the war. A large portion were civilians, including chess champions, crossword experts, and mathematicians³.” But there's more.

      The ultimate refinement of Nazi code making was the Enigma; a typewriter-like machine that produced one of the most secure encryptions available. For a while. Polish cryptanalysts had been working on German codes since 1930 and succeeded in breaking the Enigma code in 1934⁴. When WWII broke out in 1939 and Poland was overrun by the Nazis, work was transferred to the French and British. After America got into the war at the end of 1941, we got our hands into Enigma cracking. That's a lot of people in a lot of countries working on a big job for a long time.

 

     So how well was the secret kept?

      In 1974, a British gentleman by the name of FW Winterbottom⁵ went to the government and asked permission to finally reveal all that had been done by Allied cryptanalysts. Winterbottom had worked in Bletchley Park and knew a lot about it; a good source for a defining literary work. It was decided by the powers that were that no further value could be gained by keeping Bletchly a secret any more and permission was granted. “The Ultra Secret” was published⁶ and the secret was out.

      From 1930 to 1974, a period of 44 years, over 12,000 military and civilian personnel from no less than 5 countries kept their work hidden from not only the press and general public, but even from their wives and husbands. I don't know how many American and British administrations that period covered, but it was quite a few. Lots of people over lots of years. And yet the secret remained intact and was only revealed after careful consideration by the leaders; not by some nosy reporter.

      Could a hand full of people, both military and civilians from a single country and under threat of prosecution keep a secret for 50 years? If history is any yard stick, you damn rights they could.

      But did the US Army spirit off any deceased aliens with big black eyes? That's for another time.

 

At least that's my opinion. What's yours?

Citations

¹ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Dave24/ufos-alien-sightings_b_850554_84970349.html

² Just type “roswell ufo crash” into a search bar. You'll get over ½ million hits.

³ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bletchley_Park

⁴ http://avoca.ndirect.co.uk/enigma/index.html

⁵ http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/01/obituaries/f-w-winterbotham-british-code-expert-92.html

⁶ http://www.citinet.net/ak/polska.php?Page=36&Lang=EN

   http://www.historykb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/world-war-ii/4003/German-reaction-to-Enigma-revelation

To learn more about the history of WWII cryptography and the breaking of the Enigma, see my April 15th posting: “A Crypto Reading List” for some good reading. Most books mentioned are available at your local public library.

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THE HIJACKING OF THE WHITEHOUSE - WHO REALLY CHOOSES OUR PRESIDENT?

     Many people believe that when they go to the polls every fourth year to vote, they are voting for the president and vice-president of the United States of America. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your vote is really only a suggestion to some people (people you more than likely have never heard of) as to who they should choose as the president. A suggestion they are NOT bound to follow. Our founding fathers thought that the general population [THAT'S YOU AND ME, FOLKS] were too stupid to choose the right person for the job of president.

      According to James Hamilton: “It was equally desirable, that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favourable to deliberation...¹” The electoral college was born.

      So exactly what is the electoral college? According to dictionary.reference.com the electoral college is:

“–noun ( often initial capital letters )

a body of electors chosen by the voters in each state to elect the President and vice President of the U.S”

      Now call me cynical but I think that's a little strange. I have voted in every presidential election since Nixon beat McGovern back in '72 and not once do I remember seeing any name on the ballot running for the office of elector. I put my check-mark next to one of the guys running for president.

      Answers.com gets it a little closer. They say:

“The electoral college is a body prescribed by the US constitution, composed of delegates who pledge to vote for the Presidential candidate who won the election in whichever electoral district that particular delegate comes from, and whose vote officially elects the President.”

      The national election is held in November. Then:
“...in the middle of December, the president and vice president of the United States are really elected by the votes of only 538 citizens...²” Unless you're part of your state's government you probably have never met these 538 good citizens or even heard their names.
     Who are these 538 people? How are they chosen? What are their qualifications? Are they bound by law to follow the will of the people? Let's look at these questions one at a time.

Who are the electors?

      “Article II, section 1, clause 2 provides that no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector“. The 14th Amendment also provides that anyone who “has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or given aid and comfort to its enemies are disqualified from serving as electors.³”

      The way I read that (correct me if I'm wrong) the electors not only are not voted into office, they're actually FORBIDDEN from being voted for by the people. As long as they're not a convicted traitor and are not an elected official, they can be chosen. Although I didn't see it specifically mentioned, I'm going to presume that there is an age qualification in there somewhere. Probably at least 18.

How are the electors chosen?

      That depends on the state, but normally the state legislatures choose them⁴. This, of course can lead to favouritism, cronyism and quid pro quo. Do you trust all of your state representatives to always act in your best interest? I know that mine don't.

What are their qualifications?

      See “Who are the electors” above. That's it people. No education standard. Nothing about good faith, moral character or intellect. According to the constitution they could be a slobbering idiot or a bank robber or rapist awaiting trial.

Are the electors bound to vote in line with the popular vote?

      This is the most complicated question of all. The short answer is: YES- in 26 states and the District of Columbia and NO in the other 24 states⁵.

      It gets more complicated because, in most of the states where they are bound, it is only by pledge and not by law. In other words, they promised to follow the popular vote when chosen, but there is nothing holding them to that promise. The fact is that no elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged.

     To me, one of the most disturbing facts about the electoral college is the Winner-Take-All laws in all but 2 states. In other words, if one candidate receives 49.9% of the votes and the other gets 50.1% in a winner-takes-all state, then 49.9% of the voters in that state get NO electoral votes for their chosen candidate⁶. In 1992, Ross Perot received almost 20% of the popular vote but received not a single electoral college vote⁷.

     In November of 2,000, Business Week said "Unabashedly elitist, the Electoral College was created by the founding fathers in 1787 as a counterbalance against too much democracy and to protect states from encroaching federal power⁸." 

     Why is this so important? So undemocratic? So bad for the country? 

     Glad you asked. Although it hasn't happened too frequently, in several instances the winner of the White House actually lost the national election⁹. The last time it happened was the 2,000 contest between Al Gore and George Bush. 

      So, can anything be done about this travesty called the Electoral College? There are a lot of people trying to cure this boil that sits festering in our republic.

     One group; the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is an agreement among U.S. states that would effectively replace the current electoral college system of presidential elections with a direct, nationwide vote of the people. Another; RealDemocracy.com is working to return ALL control of government to the people. A lot of people think the time for change has come. Please contact them if you agree and would like to learn how you can help¹⁰.

     There may have been a time when the electoral college was necessary but that has long since past. In this day and age there is absolutely no reason why the people who THINK they're electing their president shouldn't actually BE electing the leader of the free world.

At least that's my opinion. Let's hear yours.

PRESIDENTIAL TRIVIA

      Here's another tidbit you might find interesting. It is completely possible to have a president and vice president who were not elected by the people or the electors. Don't think that can happen? Gerald R. Ford was never elected to the position of either President or Vice President of the USA. He was nominated to the post of Vice President after the resignation of Richard Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew of Maryland and later became President after the infamous Watergate scandal which saw the downfall of Nixon. Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was Ford's vice president and HE WASN'T ELECTED EITHER¹¹.

Citations

¹ http://www.historycentral.com/elections/Electoralcollgewhy.html

² http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepoliticalsystem/a/electcollege.htm

³ http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#qualifications

⁴ http://www.uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/electcollege_choosing.php

⁵ http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/laws.html

  http://archive.fairvote.org/e_college/problems.htm

⁶ http://archive.fairvote.org/e_college/problems.htm#wta

⁷ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_the_United_States

⁸ http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_47/b3708005.htm

⁹ http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?f=0&year=2000

¹⁰ http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/

   http://www.realdemocracy.com/page3.htm

¹¹ http://www.suite101.com/content/gerald-r-ford-americas-only-unelected-president-a62310

   http://www.juntosociety.com/vp/rockefeller.html

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