I’m still here onboard the Ocean Evolution. It’s a slow Sunday at the dock. Usually Sundays are what we call “Safety Sunday”. We try to take it easy and do a lot of safety related stuff (more than usual).
We thought we were going offshore today to do some testing, so we did all our drills yesterday after the usual Saturday steak BBQ. Today I haven’t done much but a little bit of ballasting for some crane ops, a little bit of paperwork and standing gangway watch.
That whole gangway watch thing is new since 9-11. We’re supposed to be on the lookout for terrorists who instead of just shooting us with an RPG from the dock, want to try their luck to sneak aboard and somehow attack a ship full of some fairly tough men (these guys don’t sit behind a desk all day). We also have a lot of things that could be quite dangerous if we want them to be. A match for any bunch of losers with box cutters!
Personally, I think the whole ‘be afraid, be very very afraid” of the terrorist thing is WAY overblown. I have zero fear of any terrorist. What I do fear is the fact that our government has used that fear to destroy our way of life. They’ve done it a hell of a lot more effectively than any terrorist could imagine in their wildest dreams!
As an example, I was reading an article today on how many people in the US don’t yet have “REAL ID” (internal passports, just like the old USSR and NAZI Germany used to have- great examples we’ve decided to follow). I have no idea how the “added security” these new IDs will help us in the USA. After all, this country’s government has one purpose and one purpose ONLY.
That SOLE purpose is: to protect the rights and freedoms we already have as human beings!
Will someone, anyone, please tell me exactly how forcing us to “show your papers please” anytime we want to travel (which we’re constitutionally guaranteed to be able to do without any kind of government interference) is going to help anything?
The ONLY thing it will do, is to continue to turn us into a bunch of zombies, dependent on our government masters to protect us from everything in the world (including ourselves). We’ve already gone way too far down that road to serfdom.
I’ll post this quote from Ben Franklin again here. It’s just as true now as when he (supposedly) said it back when we were fighting for our freedom from the British.
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
We need to wake the hell up and start fighting for it again NOW, before it’s too late. We will never have a safe society and I- for one- don’t want one. I want a FREE society. I want to be able to live my live, make my own choices and have the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them. I am sick and tired of the nanny state being forced upon us all. We’re NOT all babies here. We’re entitled to live as fully functioning adults until and unless we prove we’re (individually) incapable of that.
I don’t know how many of you may support the nanny state we’re living in now, but if you do I’d like to hear your reasons. Why would anyone think we should choose to live in a “safe” society (which is unattainable) to living in a free society (which is also probably not 100% possible, but I’m sure it’s a lot easier to achieve and a lot better for a lot more people).
Let’s have a real discussion here. 🙂
PS- we used to be able to discuss interesting subjects like this in the local bars until the MAD mothers put a stop to that! Most of the bars have closed and no one talks anymore about anything but sports (men) and babies (women).
I’m feeling much better today, even tho I’m pretty darn tired. I FINALLY got called for a job that didn’t get cancelled. I only got the call on Thursday and didn’t know for sure until late Friday and didn’t get my flight information (so I would really know for sure) til yesterday.
I’ve been keeping myself fairly ready to leave since I got back from my trip around the world. I left right at the beginning of November and got home right before Christmas. I was supposed to go to work January 3. I’ve basically been on call since then. I’ve had about a dozen calls to go to work since that first job got cancelled, but none of those jobs actually happened.
I still had a few things to take care of before leaving. Laundry, cleaning out the fridge so I won’t have to come home to a fridge full of rotten food, paying any bills that might come due before I’m due back home, calling my property manager to clear up any issues that might come up while I’m gone, arranging a ride to the airport, get my ‘smart phone’ working again for the trip, and finish up packing.
I left home yesterday around noon. Got to the airport and for some reason they wouldn’t check my baggage all the way through to my destination. My flight was delayed for about an hour, but thank goodness I have a club pass and could spend my time chilling out there. It was about a 10 hour flight to Munich and of course I really couldn’t get any sleep.
So here I am now in the Munich airport, waiting for my flight to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. Thank goodness I have a long layover! I had to get my passport stamped into Germany so I could collect my luggage, then run across the street to another terminal and go through security again. I thought we were ridiculous with our security theater in the US, but Germany takes it to an even more absurd level!
I’m so glad I was able to get the TSA pre-check in the states, but as far as I know they don’t have any kind of international program like that. I really wish they did! I didn’t have to take my shoes off (I’ve still got my flip-flops on), but I had to take out EVERYTHING from my pockets including cash (which I HATE to do since it’s so easy for someone to walk by there and steal it all), credit cards, passport, etc. Remove not only computer, but ALL electronics from my bag. Thats Kindle, cameras, phones, iPod, etc. What a bunch of insanity!
Apparently the world is overrun with suckers that are completely willing to trade their freedom for ‘security’. It’s as true now as it was when Benjamin Franklin said it over 200 years ago.
You CAN’T make that trade! You give up your freedom for NOTHING but an ILLUSION! It infuriates me that we ALL have to put up with this violation of our rights all because the majority of the people on this planet are so gullible.
While I wait for my flight to Las Palmas, I have a little bit of time to blog. I can’t connect to the wi-fi here. I don’t know why. There’s supposedly free wi-fi here in the airport. I should arrive at 1830 and someone should be waiting to bring me to the ship.
I’m going out as Chief Mate this time. I did sign on this time as Chief Mate, not like the time I signed on to the Sevan Louisiana as Second Mate and they made me Chief Mate anyway and then refused to pay me for it! I’m a little nervous since I haven’t sailed Chief Mate for quite a while snd never really on anything so complicated. I’m hoping everything will go well and I’m looking forward to a great learning experience. It would really build my confidence to get through this trip without any major issues.
I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to get online once I get to the ship. As Chief Mate I expect to be a lot more busy than I usually am as DPO. Will be spending more time on deck instead of stuck on the bridge for 12 hours a day. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how it goes.
Haha! I get to suggest today’s prompt for the Just Jot It January challenge. The word for today is: liberty.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but liberty is very important to me. In fact, I completely agree with Patrick Henry when he said “Give me liberty or give me death!”.
I would really rather be dead than to ‘live’ without liberty. I really don’t consider it living if I don’t have the freedom to live my life in the way I choose to. In fact, I consider it a long, drawn out slow death. A death of my creativity, of my happiness, or my loves, of my life. I don’t think I’m out of line at all. In fact, I can quote all kinds of things that show that America was founded to promote liberty and that it is the ONLY legitimate purpose of our (or any) government, is to protect and promote the liberty we all were born with.
Let’s define our terms…
noun, plural liberties.
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.
Looking at that definition, can anyone seriously argue that we have NOT lost most of our liberty in the United States over the last few years? How many people can read the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of Rights and argue that they do NOT argue for the liberty of all men (and pleeease remember the times they were written in)?
How can a country specifically formed ONLY to protect our natural rights (liberty) turn around to such a degree? To the point where that government, formed ONLY to protect our liberty instead spends all its time (and our money) to violate our liberties every chance it gets?
I’m perfectly aware that most people couldn’t care less about the loss of liberty we’ve suffered in the United States over the last few decades (and increasingly since 9/11). I hear from almost everyone that they don’t care what anyone does to them as long as ‘it keeps them safe”.
Really? Safety is all important? I don’t think the people who say that have really considered what they’re saying when they say that. After all, liberty is not really the sort of thing you can divide up. You’re either free or you’re not. It’s like you’re only a little bit pregnant. No, you either are or you’re not. You either own your own life or you don’t! If you don’t, then someone else must and you have become a slave.
Government is nothing but the monopolized use of force. If you study how governments came about, that’s very obvious to see. When you give up any of your powers to the government, you are ‘agreeing’ that they have the right to use force against you (whether you agree to it or not). And (they say) you don’t have the right to protect yourself against it!
At this point, we have given up almost all of our freedom. All of our liberty. We have very, very little of our natural rights left that we can exercise fully. You think I’m exaggerating? Try going to a law library and taking a look at the Federal Register!
Hundreds of thousands of pages of incomprehensible legalese. Shelves of big fat books full of ‘laws’ we’re all supposed to know and obey. How could that possibly equal freedom?
George Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning, not as a roadmap. But left him choking in the dust by 1985! Our ‘big brother’ doesn’t only keep an eye on us from our home TV sets, he tracks our every move through our cell phones! He uses the EZ pass (toll roads) to keep track of where we go in our vehicles. He can tell our habits through tracking our spending on our credit/debit cards. He can get all kinds of information through our ‘smart’ devices. He’s already testing driverless (completely controlled by government) cars. And we can’t fly anywhere anymore without government permission (TSA)!
Big brother has already convinced fearful parents to chip not only their pets, but their kids and their parents! Scientists have already invented pills that inform your doctors if you take them or not. Soon they will report all your health information. Cashless societies are on the way, where every dollar you spend will be tracked (to cut down on tax cheats).
Just think of how the government controls everything now a days. What, if anything, don’t they have their hands in? They regulate the food you eat, the drugs you take, the doctors you can talk to about your health issues. Oh yeah, they also regulate what your doctors can say (and your churches if they want to remain tax free which is a form of coercion).
Free speech? Not so much any more with all the ‘political correctness’ BS going around. If I like Trump for one thing, I do love him for the fact that he is most definitely NOT PC! They regulate the amount of water you can use to flush your toilet and the type of light bulbs you can use in your house (forcing dangerous mercury filled bulbs to replace previous incandescent bulbs).
Think you can choose what jobs you’d like to work at? Nope, big brother is enforcing hundreds of regulations restricting the rights of people who choose to work in professions as diverse as hair braiders, to animal massagers, to interior designers, to merchant marines. They’ve manipulated most businesses in the country to coerce us into submitting to giving up our rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. Do you call it freedom to be forced to beg permission from the government in order to go to work?
I don’t! I don’t call it freedom because it ISN’T!
Think you can just pick up and leave? “If you don’t like it here, you can just go back to where you came from?” Well, I would if I could, but I came from HERE! I grew up in the good ol’ USA. I believe 100% in the principles this country was founded on “LIBERTY and justice for all!”.
I believe everyone, everywhere in the world SHOULD be able to exercise those same liberties we here in America are promised. But the fact is, America is the only country, anywhere, ever in the history of the world to form specifically in order to promote and protect the individual rights of all of us.
I wish the American people would wake up and take back our freedom before its too late. I don’t think we have much time left to turn things around.
Sorry to all the democrats who think its all Trumps fault. Or the republicans who blame it all on Obama. Fact is, it’s ALL of our political ‘leaders’ fault! And ours, for continuing to believe that any politician from either of the mainstream parties will ever change anything! For the last 100 years (at least), they’ve ALL conspired to strip us of our liberties and give themselves more power and control.
It’s sad how easily they manipulate us. They keep us divided and fighting over such stupidities as the word “shithole” and how many ‘illegal’ votes were counted. It’s time to stop wasting our time fighting each other and come to understand who we really SHOULD be fighting. Look beyond the party lines. I can promise you, you will find the same people are running things on both sides.
There is nothing to be gained by continuing to support these political parties who want nothing more than continued CONTROL. I want my freedom back! Do you?
Today’s prompt for JusJoJan is revolt. Unsurprisingly, that is one of my favorite words. 😉
I want to (and sometimes do) revolt against all kinds of things: forced use of seatbelts and motorcycle helmets, no smoking laws, Taj Mahal school buildings and giving kids computers and tablets in school (causing sky high property taxes), insane drug laws, stupid piss tests, government restrictions on earning an honest living, stupid laws of all sorts.
I really can’t understand why Americans have changed from a population that would rise up and revolt against the greatest military power in the world over a tiny tax on ONE item (tea), to a population that willingly submits to tax rates of 50% and up on all earned income. To a nation with so many laws, thousands and thousands of pages worth of incomprehensible legalese- nobody even knows what they are.
We’ve turned into a police state. One where the cops can cite you for any of a hundred different laws you’ve broken. Whenever they want to. You think you haven’t done anything wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about? Read “Three Felonies a Day“. Take a look at the website over at the Institute for Justice for just a very few examples, a tiny sample of the abuse that so many innocent- yes innocent! people have had to suffer at the hands of ‘our’ government.
Remember the famous quote from the Holocaust…
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
The same process is ongoing- right NOW.
No, I don’t necessarily mean they’re coming to kill us off next week. What I mean is what Martin Luther King Jr said…
More and more people are being turned into ‘criminals’. People who haven’t done anything wrong. They have hurt no one. More and more people are being displaced. More and more people are being shoved aside, wasted and destroyed. All because we have allowed ‘our’ government to run rampant all over the world.
Why aren’t people revolting against this? I would love to! The only thing that stops me is that I’m not stupid enough to put a target on myself in front of the government goons!
From a country whose beginning was all about FREEDOM, individual LIBERTY and JUSTICE for all, we’ve degenerated into a country where ‘our’ government seems intent on nothing more than violating our rights and stealing more of our freedom (and money) every day.
WHY aren’t the people up in arms? Why aren’t the people revolting? Why is anyone who tries to start any real discussions about our lost freedoms and the fact that ‘our’ government does nothing today but the total and complete opposite of its only legitimate purpose (which is to protect our inherent, natural rights) treated like a conspiracy theorist?
Like they’ve escaped from the loony bin? Like they’ve lost their tin hat?
Personally, I think we NEED a revolt, I think we need one NOW. I think pretty soon we’ll lose all of our freedoms (the few we have left), if we don’t have another revolution PDQ.
I’m sure every one of the founding fathers thinks what’s happened to America is revolting. 🙁
Starting out the new year without all the usual drama. Why? Mostly because I’ve been staying home, sticking to myself, too paranoid and depressed to go out to celebrate the holidays with everyone else.
I decided to join in on Linda’s Just Jot It January challenge again this year. The idea is just to write something (anything) every day during January. Hopefully it will be enough to start a good habit that will continue.
I’ve been trying to transition from working on the water to a more sedate lifestyle. Not by choice, but only because there has been approximately ZERO work for the last 2+ years! I’ve been trying to make a living with a more creative focus. I’ve been doing a lot of writing, photography, painting, etc.
I’d love to be able to just relax, chill out and stop worrying about all the ‘drama’ going on around me. Crazy issues always coming up with tenants, roommates, family, work (or lack of work/finances) and just the normal everyday shit going on in the world.
I wish I could just focus on one thing. Writing, for example. I’ve started a book, I’m on the last chapter, but haven’t worked on it in a couple of months now. I just can’t get motivated to write when I’m trying to deal with all the rest: how to pay the bills, crazy woman in my house (she’s gone now), finding a job, city sending me threatening letters about my properties/tenants, getting income taxes sent in, brakes gone out on my truck in the middle of Houston traffic!
Oh yeah, I’ve been having a wonderful life these last few months. But you know what? I think I would get so bored if I didn’t have all this shit going on around me. I do bring a lot of it on myself.
I grew up in a crazy house, two of them. I’m sure I would’ve been taken into protective custody if any of that had happened today. Both my parents houses were pretty wild. Constant drama at both places. My brother was lucky, he could pick and choose. He could stay at Dads where he was treated like a king, until he wasn’t. Then he would go home to Mom’s where he could do whatever he wanted.
I was stuck at my Dad’s most of the time. He was really strict on a lot of things, but very open about a lot of others. He ran a pretty strange household for back then. First of all, he didn’t work anymore. He retired in his early 30’s. Bought a bunch of property and a sailboat and got out of the rat race. I’ve always admired him for that.
He worked on his boat and rented apartments to all the ‘poor’ people in town. Our apartments were full of the local fishermen, bartenders and drunks. We had parties on the shuffleboard courts every weekend and big pig roasts in our empty lot every couple of months. Dad would have me play the piano upstairs for his drinking buddies.
Moms house was a whole different adventure. We were allowed to keep pets over there and have friends come over. We had cats, dogs, fish, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, turtles, parakeets, even a kinkajou once (that only lasted til it bit my mom real bad one night). My stepfather would hang out drinking beer and making crude comments all day while we tried our best to ignore him and stay out of his way.
Between the two of them, there was always some drama going on. I think in a way I miss all that. I try to keep my life interesting and not boring. I’m not bored often, but that’s because I always have something I should be doing. Most of those things are only because I say so.
I don’t have to write, work on my photos, paint, blog, etc. But I like to do those things and even tho they’re a lot more work than I ever imagined, they keep my busy and I still enjoy messing around with it all.
I’ve actually cut down a lot. I hardly even go out anymore. That eliminates a lot. I miss out on all of my friends, but I can’t take the chance of going out to see them any more. It’s sad, but this place is not the same anymore.
They’ve taken all the fun out of life here. All in the name of ‘safety’. Screw safety! I’d rather have a LIFE back! Stop shoving us all into tiny little perfectly ‘safe’ boxes and let us enjoy our lives. So what if we screw up occasionally? So what if we have a little accident every once in a while, that’s how we learn! That’s all part of LIFE!
Stop pretending life is about being safe, or secure. It’s NOT! Life is about taking chances, experimenting, seeing the world and everything in it, meeting new people and learning new things. None of that is about being ‘safe’!
I could do without all the drama around the issue of safety! The theatre they put on at the airports with the TSA. Geez, how long are they going to keep that up? How long is it going to take for people to wake up to the fact that none of that is anything BUT a SHOW?
I’m so tired of other people trying to control me! Aren’t you?
I was surprised Tuesday morning when my relief showed up. I was waiting in the cargo control room to get my work assignment from the Bosun at 0800 when he popped in. I was so happy to see him.
I really wasn’t ready to go yet. I didn’t expect a relief to show up til late afternoon. I still had to finish packing and cleaning my room. That didn’t take too long. By the time the captain was ready to sign me off, I was ready to go.
I left the ship at about 1030, my flight was due to leave Norfolk at 1214, so I was a little nervous about getting to the airport on time. No need to have worried. I checked my luggage outside (and had to pay a $25 fee- thanks Delta!) and then went inside to check in.
I had to go to a live person, the machines wouldn’t check me in. Turns out my flight was delayed for over 2 hours and so I would miss my connection in Atlanta too. I was scheduled to arrive in Houston by 1800. Turns out, I didn’t get there til almost 2400!
Six hours late, due to Delta’s screw ups and they would do absolutely nothing about it. No offers of food, drinks, vouchers, lounge use,…, no NOTHING to help defray the stress and aggravation of a more than 6 hour delay.
I did finally manage to get a $15 food voucher out of them. Barely enough to cover one meal, while missing 2- 3 due to their delays. At least it was something, tho they told me they don’t normally do that. Some customer service, wow! 🙁
No wonder I don’t fly Delta anymore!
I got home about 0300 the next morning. So tired I could hardly keep my eyes open on the road. People worry about drunks on the highways, but I guarantee you- tired people cause much more damage! And yet, drunks get all the punishment, wether or not they’re actually any trouble.
No, I’m NOT saying that tired people need to go to jail and have their lives destroyed the same as they treat the drinkers! Most of them who have not hurt anything or anybody! So they’ve all been punished for some future possibility!
What they need to do is to change the rules so that they’re actually keeping people safe on the roads and not just collecting fines and ruining peoples lives over the ‘chance’ that they ‘might’ at some point in the future harm something or somebody.
Stop harassing and arresting people for some possibility of something they ‘might’ or might not do and start checking to see if they are actually competent! Same goes for the stupid drug tests at work and the idiotic TSA ‘terrorist’ searches at the airports!
I’m so sick and tired of everybody telling me all this crap is for our ‘safety’ and ‘security’. NO, it is NOT! It has NOTHING to do with either one of those things! It has nothing to do with anything other than CONTROL and the destruction of our most basic human rights!
The TSA agents in the airports actually have the nerve to tell us ‘have a nice day’ after they intentionally (even if ignorantly) strip us of our rights and our dignity. How can anyone have a nice day after being treated like that?
Yes, I know, most people sincerely believe all this crap is necessary and is really for their safety. All I can say to them is: WAKE UP! You’re being LIED TO and your complacency is making it ever easier for the goons to move all of us even further down the road to tyranny.
I’ve been called paranoid a couple of times in my life. I do have to admit, I’ve never been an optimist. I worry about all kinds of things (probably un-necessarily). I worry will I ever be able to find decent work ever again. I worry about how will I be able to pay the bills when my savings runs out. I worry about how we are losing our freedom here in the USA and will we ever wake up and start clawing it back from the power hungry bastards we elect that keep stealing it from us.
But is it really paranoid if they are out to get you?
I must have some sort of mental issue. I mean, I’m definitely not ‘normal’. ‘Normal’ people just ignore all the things that bother me so much. They would pass right by that mass of cameras and not even notice. And if they did happen to notice (like one fell on their head or something), they would only comment (while they bleed all over the place from the injuries it just gave them) ‘it’s all just for our own good’.
My stepmother used to tell me “don’t worry, the universe is in divine order”. I could see that for her, it sure seemed to be. She was very pretty, confident, talented, smart. She made a (very good) living as a topless bartender for decades. She had a beautiful house right on the beach paid for (by ex-husband) and really had nothing to worry about at all. She could (and did) live her life exactly as she pleased.
My best friend tells me all the time, “chill out, don’t worry so much”. She is retired, with a decent pension, social security, a couple of other checks coming in every month, with a paid for house and although she has some health issues, she really doesn’t have any concerns either.
For me, whenever I go out anywhere now, I see the red-light cameras everywhere and they drive me crazy! WHY does “our government” feel that they need to spy on us? What gives those people who actually do those jobs the idea that they have any sort of right to do it? I don’t even want to get into the fact that there are so many “laws” on the books that we are ALL guilty of breaking at least a couple every day (no matter how law abiding you may think you are)!
Try reading “Three Felonies a Day“. Take a quick look at the hundreds of thousands of “laws” on the books (last count 178, 277 pages at the end of 2015)! This for a supposedly “free country”. 🙁
I go absolutely crazy in the airports over the TSA BS. It’s all I can do to keep my mouth shut. I’m grumbling through the whole process, from the minute I see the line start. It completely ruins the trip for me. WHO in the hell has decided that we must give up our INALIENABLE RIGHTS in order to travel? WHY have so many people just simply accepted their ridiculous excuses that “it’s only for our own safety”?
I have decided I must be some kind of mutant. I mean, I’m in such a tiny minority that it sure seems that way. Am I paranoid? Yeah, I do feel like they’re watching me all the time. The fact is that they ARE. They ARE watching ALL of us all the time! Every single email, phone call, website you visit, everywhere you go, every dollar you spend. Even your own house, phone, TV and appliances ARE spying on you now!
Poor Ed Snowden. He tried to wake us up. I consider him a hero for what he tried to do for us all. He gave up a lot to get the information out there. To put a stop to “our government’s” serious abuse of power. To wake us up so that we could take back our freedoms before it was too late forever.
I already knew most of what he said. It was all dribbled out in the news over the decades. But nobody paid any attention. Everyone still ignores it all. It’s just business as usual. Most people just go right on ignoring all the continuous everyday violations and don’t seem to give a damn at all. When I bring it up, the only thing they have to say is: “but it’s all for our own good”. WOW.
What in the world is “good” about living like that? Like George Orwell’s 1984, but worse?
WHY? That is what I want to know. No, not why they’re doing it. I already know that. It’s because they’re all a bunch of power hungry, greedy bastards! What I want to know is WHY does the general public put up with it? WHY are so few people concerned about it? WHY do so few people understand the real threats to THEM that this represents?
Paranoid? Yeah, I guess I am. But that doesn’t mean they’re not out to ‘get’ me. Or you!
This post is for Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday. It’s Sunday as I write this, but the events I’m going to write about happened yesterday so I’m counting it. 😉 And I don’t think it’s going to be “short“, so consider it the opposite of short. 🙂
I went down to the beach yesterday for the St Patricks Day parade. The weather was overcast with a light rain. I was late leaving home and thought I might get stuck in traffic, but because of the weather I made it in time for the judging without any trouble at all.
I got a few photos before it started raining hard and I had to run for cover. I headed to the Jetty Shack to dry off and watch the parade through the window.
I was sitting at the bar, enjoying a yummy Patty Melt (they make the best ones around) and listening to the surrounding conversations. I joined in (where maybe I shouldn’t have).
I can’t really remember how it started, but something to do with how young people don’t have any respect. It moved on to how society has encouraged people to do things that are illegal and cause harm. Continue reading →
That’s a good thing, cause I’m leaving early Monday morning. I’ll be in school for a month in Mexico. I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to spend online (and I’m sure I won’t be wanting to spend much!).
Today’s prompt is: SoCS – “an” as a word or at the beginning of a word
Anarchy.
That’s my “an” word. I’m a libertarian. I thoroughly believe that each and every person on this planet owns their own life and should be able to do everything and anything they want (as long as they don’t hurt anybody else), and they will take the consequences of their choices. I believe in the absolute MINIMUM government possible.
That really ought to be possible, and a good way to run a society. In fact, the United States was founded on that principle. The country was set up to have an EXTREMELY LIMITED government. There are only about 8 things that the US government is authorized to do! EIGHT! Yes, that is true.
Read Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution. There it is, right there in black and white.
So, how in the HELL did we get from that to the situation we have today, where we have millions of “laws”. “Laws” that restrict and regulate every tiny little detail of our lives? Adding thousands more EVERY SINGLE DAY! Almost every one of them in violation of the Constitution which IS the SUPREME law of the land!
Every time I get into a political discussion and bring up my distrust and skepticism of the government, how it has grown into a tyrannic police state, people bring up Somalia.
They seem to think limited government is the same thing as NO government, which it is not. They also seem to think that the situation in Somalia is due to anarchy. It is not.
I am not an anarchist. Although the more I learn about it, the closer I come. Probably just because the more I learn about government, the more I am against it. I read a lot of history (also philosophy). I can’t imagine how anarchy could possibly be any worse than government. At least then, people wouldn’t expect the people they pay to take care of them to continually abuse them. Maybe they would actually fight back and take control of their own lives again.
Maybe governments might start out decent, but eventually the concentration of power completely corrupts them. They just get worse and worse until the people finally have enough and revolt. They abuse people basically at will. They supposedly have the monopoly of the use of force, but they use it against their own populations and the people can’t fight back. They control the education (propaganda) and teach the people that they SHOULD bow down to ‘the authorities’. How in the HELL is that a good thing?
I’ll never understand why so many people seem to think they DON’T have the right to live their lives the way they choose, that they somehow OWE their lives to some supposed ‘authority’. That just because they happened to be born on one particular spot on this planet, they owe their entire lives to whoever happens to take power in that locale. They bust their asses every day just to survive and their leaders steal whatever they feel like and they’re supposed to be thankful that they don’t steal even more. That just makes NO sense to me.
For the sake of today’s post, I’ll use this definition, and this quote (some versions add “and lose both”).
I feel extremely isolated in that I agree completely with that quote. I seem to be 1 out of many millions. 🙁 Most people today seem totally willing to sacrifice ALL their freedoms (and mine too), in return for a (false) ‘promise’ of safety.
I can barely stand it; waiting in line for the TSA to grant me permission to travel. It’s all I can do to keep my mouth shut so I don’t lose that RIGHT forever. And the worse thing about it is, listening to the people around me in line making comments like “If you don’t have anything to hide, you don’t have anything to worry about”, or “I don’t care what they do as long as they keep me safe”, or “they’re only doing their jobs’.
Yeah, so were the NAZI’s!
We have given up SO many of our freedoms already, I can’t even begin to count! Just for a start, we have all the violations of the TSA, PATRIOT ACT, NSA spy programs, NDAA, etc. Restrictions of our rights to travel, to earn a living, to defend ourselves, what we can eat and drink and smoke, to choose how to take care of our own health, insane threats of fines and/or imprisonment dictating every single thing we do down to what kind of light bulbs and toilets we can have!
And yes, along with every other right listed in the Bill of Rights, even our right to speak freely has been violated (to all those who inform me how I would be imprisoned for what I say in North Korea or Iraq!).
I am NOT a North Korean or Iraqi! I was NOT brought up idolizing their dictators or ayatollahs as having the god-given right to run my life! I was raised as an American, one who believes whole-hearted in the ideals written down in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Those ideals that millions of Americans before me sacrificed everything up to and including their lives for. Things like individual liberty and freedom.
I can’t believe so many here are just forgetting all that, just throwing it all away, just giving it all up without any fight, without even a feeble protest. What the hell has happened to the American people that they put up with this? All I hear is how ‘times have changed’, ‘we have to go with the flow’, ‘the constitution was written 200 years ago’ and best answer yet- ‘you’re a real nut-job’!
All I have to say to that is: our founding fathers were RIGHT and principles NEVER change, FREEDOM and individual liberty deserve all those sacrifices made in their name, ‘safety’ and ‘security’ do NOT, even if they were possible to achieve (which they’re not).
I’m about to head out to my weekly political meeting. Or, as most people refer to it as “those crazy conspiracy freaks going at it again”!
Does it REALLY matter if it’s a conspiracy if whatever you’re concerned about IS really happening?
Personally, I couldn’t care less if it’s technically a conspiracy or not. I just want it all to STOP! I’m not nearly as involved/informed as some of the other members of the group. I just don’t have the time (or the inclination) to spend SO much time investigating and following up research on SO many different things.
Things like:
Fluoridation
Chemtrails
Federal Reserve, debasing our money
Global warming
Weather manipulation, HAARP, California drought
GMOs
False/Shadow government, failure to legally reconvene congress after the civil war
Drug wars, prison state, prison-industrial complex
TSA, NSA, PATRIOT ACT
Obamacare screwing up our healthcare system even worse than it was
Common Core, government schools, TV, etc dumbing down the population
Agenda 21
Rising taxes and inflation, forced to work longer to survive, less free time to think
Families breaking apart, kids and elders left on their own
More and more and more rules and regulations, run jobs and businesses out of the country, huge loss of personal freedom
The list goes on, and on, and on. I don’t know if every one of these things is really going on, is really as bad as some of my friends there make out. I DO know that SOME of them are, that’s enough for me to keep going. to keep fighting.
There are SO many ways we are being used, and abused. I go to the meetings to TRY to find ways to deal with it all. To TRY to find solutions. To TRY to find ways to inform and educate enough other people so they’ll come to care about all this stuff and join in the fight.
My friend Mike thinks I’m nuts. He tells me I shouldn’t worry about any of those things, I should just let Obama (or Hillary) do their thing and everything will be fine. It’s all the Republicans fault according to him (yeah, I’m simplifying a little bit, but not by much). Sorry, but it’s NOT just the Republicans fault! It’s the fault of BOTH parties and I get SO tired of hearing one side argue about the other!
BOTH parties are STATIST! That is the problem and THAT is the reason we have so many of those problems I listed above! Until we get the population of the USA to believe in FREEDOM and LIBERTY like we all used to believe in, then things are just going to keep on getting worse.
In America, we the PEOPLE are the supreme rulers! Individuals are MORE important than the state! The government works for US, NOT the other way around!
Harry Browne asked a question when he was running for President a few years back. He asked people “Would you give up your favorite federal programs if it meant you never had to pay income tax again?”. Sadly, almost no one would.
I made it! Shouldn’t seem like such a big deal, but it sure seems like it.
I don’t know what happened to my timing this morning. I got up at 0230 to leave the house by 0400. I still had some packing and a few other things to do.
I was rushing around and didn’t leave the house til 0445.
My flight left at 0555!
It normally takes me about an hour to drive to that airport (1.5 hours to the other).
Yes, I admit it, I WAS speeding like a bat out of hell all the way to the airport.
I thought I might just make it with minutes to spare if I parked right at the airport itself. I had no idea they were working on the parking lots and I couldn’t find a way in. 🙁
I frantically turned around and sped back to the offsite parking and nervously waited while they loaded up the bus.
Luckily, the security (FARCE) line was short and I somehow even got a pre-check or I never would have made it. My attempts to run to the gate were not helping me much. I never could run very fast or very far. Plus, I was wearing flip-flops to help with getting through security.
I made it to my flight with 3 minutes to spare. Big sigh. 🙂
It’s Tuesday. That means its time for the weekly meeting of my favorite local political group, the Texas Liberty Campaign of Brazoria County We meet every week at a local restaurant for good food and interesting discussions.
We’ve been meeting at the Mediterranean Gardens for a while now (since we moved from China Town). Plenty of good Greek (and Cajun) food. I’m looking forward to it tonight since I haven’t been in so long.
I miss being able to talk about all this ‘crazy’ stuff, politics outside of the 2 party system, REAL freedom and liberty for America, things not really covered in the mainstream media. Yeah, most people think we’re a bunch of tin hat conspiracy theorists. 😉
Sometimes I do too. But sometimes I think there really might be something to it (like all the completely unconstitutional spying on everything and everybody the US government does for just 1 example). And sometimes I even think it’s worth doing something about.
I only wish I knew just exactly WHAT to do about it all (other than speak out).
If anybody is interested, come on out and join us! We’re there from 7:00 til closing. 🙂
I agree with this guy in principle. We should NOT be forced to get a license plate. I have argued against being forced to get a drivers license in order to use the roads I have PAID for, the car I BOUGHT, the gas I PAID for. There is NO justification under constitutional law for the state (or any other government agent) to FORCE me to submit, to BEG their permission to travel freely!
I was BORN with the INALIENABLE RIGHT to TRAVEL. FREELY! That means I can move along a public road or any other public space without interference as long as I am not bothering anyone else. That goes for the airways too! The TSA and all its bullshit security theater is a HUGE violation of my rights and IS totally unconstitutional in every way! Where’s the warrant? Where’s the probable cause? What right do those government thugs in uniforms have to restrict you in ANY way in YOUR RIGHT to travel? The answer is NONE! They have STOLEN your rights from you!
I get so discouraged working out here sometimes. I used to love coming to work offshore. I actually looked forward to it and was eager and excited to come back to work. I wanted to go places, to catch up with old friends and meet new ones.
I loved working outside on deck, where I could enjoy the weather. I loved the feeling of the wind in my hair and the sun on my skin (even tho I sunburn easily). I loved looking out and seeing nothing but the blue, blue water all the way to the horizon.
I loved to see the beautiful constantly changing seascape. I loved to watch the waves and clouds. I looked for signs of life around me. Birds: pelicans, sea gulls, terns, herons. Fish: mahi-mahi, ling cod, tuna, sharks, and dolphins (mammals, not fish). Even things like seaweed and jellyfish were of interest. I loved to watch the intense colors of the sky when the sun rose or set.
I loved the fact that my job depended only how well I did my job. It didn’t matter what I looked like, how I talked, my level of formal education, how much money I had in the bank, what kind of car I drove, how I dressed. I loved being able to work dressed in an old pair of shorts, t-shirt and a pair of flip-flops.
I loved slow days offshore when we would throw a line over and catch a few fish. We always caught something. Mahi-mahi, ling cod, rainbow runners, sharks, kingfish, snapper, grouper, catfish, etc. Sometimes we kept them to eat, sometimes we threw them back.
I loved standing lookout at night and seeing the stars so blazingly bright at sea when there was nothing around for hundreds of miles to blot out their light. I loved watching the dolphins play in the bow wake when we were underway and seeing them pass by at the rig. Continue reading →
Oh boy, that is a good one for me! I had to think about it for awhile since there are SO many things I would like the government to do, or really NOT to do.
Here are just a few of the things I would LOVE to see them do: end the drug war, repeal the (misnamed) Patriot act, repeal the NDAA, abolish the TSA, abolish the NSA, bring our military back to the states and stop using them to interfere with other sovereign nations, stop the government from giving special favors Continue reading →
I don’t know about you, but I’m glad the Senate let the domestic spy program (part of the most bogusly named PATRIOT act) where they collect ALL of YOUR phone records, internet records, etc sunset. I hope to hell the congress will get together and just let it die! Do NOT replace it with the so-called “Freedom Act” (another falsely named bill). These laws are completely unconstitutional and totally unjustified. On top of that they’re just plain wrong. Didn’t we used to hate NAZI Germany and Soviet Russia for treating their people this way? It was wrong when they did it and it is JUST AS WRONG now when WE do it!
I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe for 1 New York second that the fact that the government is not allowedby law to spy on any American citizen without a valid warrant will stop them from continuing to spy on whoever the hell they want, whenever they damn well feel like it, and warrants be damned!
It has ALWAYS been against the law! The Constitution is still the supreme law of the land and no matter what happens, we should NEVER, EVER trade away our freedoms. I’m not sure about Rand Paul, but he’s most definitely on the right side on this issue. I thank him for his filibuster efforts, I think he did some good.
Sad to say, but most of ‘our leaders’ were slavering over the possibilities after 9-11. They jumped on that disaster like it was manna from heaven! They got everything they’d been asking for- asking for decades! And the people and even most of our congressmen were wise to their game. They refused to violate their oath of office and let their fears overcome their common sense and violate the rights of every American.
People now are getting so used to this state of affairs, like it’s just normal, it’s no big deal. People bring up that stupid old argument , “well, if you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about”. I call a BIG LOUD BULLSHIT on that tired old excuse! It IS a big deal!
If you don’t think there’s anything wrong with spying on your friends, family and neighbors, digging into every little detail of their lives, then I say there’s something seriously wrong with YOU!
I think it’s LONG past time we all say enough of this BS! Give us back our rights and give them back NOW! The government has NO reason to spy on anyone if they can’t find enough ‘evidence’ to convince a court to give them a warrant to do it. Especially considering that almost all courts are just rubber stamps these days.
Let the spying programs sunset, let the ENTIRE PATRIOT Act expire! Get rid of the NDAA, the NSA and the TSA while we’re at it. We would ALL be a whole lot better off. We need to stop letting our FEAR rule (and ruin) our lives!
I made it to London. I have another flight to Frankfurt and then one more to Luanda. It’s been a rough couple of days.
Even when I think I’m almost caught up with things, shit happens and I wind up frantically trying to get to the airport on time to make my flight.
This trip was no different. I had planned on leaving by 1600, that should have me to the airport by 1730. But I got delayed by a few phone calls (why doesn’t anybody ever call me except when I’m in a rush to get out the door?).
My accountant called me a couple of times about my estimated tax payment which is due by June 15, so I had to write a check before I left. To do that, I had to go online and transfer money.
Just a bunch of little things like that, but they added up and I didn’t get out of the house til about 1645. I was pretty lucky and didn’t hit the heavy traffic til I was almost downtown and it was only for about a half hour. I got to the airport about 1830. My flight wasn’t departing til 2045, so I still had plenty of time.
I had to meet the courier outside the airport to pick up my visa, that took another few minutes and then when I went to check in, there was some kind of problem. Somehow they had 2 reservations for me. I had gone online the night before and bought an upgrade for the flight to London. It wouldn’t let me do anything with the rest of the flight, but at least I got a few hours in relative comfort.
Anyway, I did check last night, and the computer showed my upgrade had gone through with my new seat. It wouldn’t let me check in, since you have to show your passport to somebody in person when you fly overseas now. So, when I got to the airport, they were checking me in but just to economy class. It took quite a while to get that straightened out.
By the time I got my boarding passes and through security, I only had about a half hour before the flight started boarding. I got to the lounge to hang out, but it was packed. At least I got a little snack (they’ve improved their offerings- they had soup and salads- usually they only have cheese and crackers).
I was so wiped out when I got on the plane, I was SO glad I had that opportunity to have at least a little comfort for the flight. (United has ice cream sundaes for dessert where you can choose your own toppings and I really enjoyed that. 🙂
There was a lot of turbulence, but even so I managed to get a couple of hours of good sleep. I feel much better today and hoping the rest of the trip goes OK.
Is there anybody out there now who actually still enjoys flying? I remember when I did. I actually used to look forward to it. Seems like it was such a long time ago, but it was really only after 9-11 when it got soooooo bad!
I really wish people would not have let them punish ALL of us forever over that. Yeah, it was terrible, it should never have happened, but WE have done more to destroy our freedoms than the terrorists ever could have dreamed of. 🙁
Have you got a code you live by? What are the principles or set of values you actively apply in your life?
I don’t usually think too deep about that kind of thing. But after I thought about it again, in response to the prompt today, I realize that yes, I really DO have a code I live by.
That code is simple:
LIVE AND LET LIVE
I’ve always thought that philosophy would make the world a MUCH better place if more people would live that way.
I thought when I was growing up I was alone in my thought processes. For so long, it seemed that everyone else around always thought for some strange reason that someone else (god, family, state, etc.) had some sort of ‘right’ to dictate how others should live their lives.
It was very encouraging for me to learn a few years ago that there are actually a lot of other people who think the way I do. Who believe in the philosophy of liberty and value freedom for all (actually, Americas’ founding fathers thought the same way and tried hard to form a government that would protect our rights to live this way- too bad their vision has been totally destroyed in only 200 years).
I only found out about the libertarians when my local Texas congressman Ron Paul was running for President as a Libertarian. It was SO nice to find that there were other people I could talk to who actually agreed with me. 🙂
(On most things- or at least the basic principles. Of course, if you’ve ever been in a room full of libertarians, you’d never believe that since we can argue for hours over the minute details of some proposal.)
But, the BASIC principals are not really an issue.
Self ownership: YOU own your life! No one else!
Everything else comes out of that most basic principle. Things like personal responsibility, honesty and respect for others. Everything comes together in a very sensible, ethical way for people in society to live. Each person is free to chose how to live their own lives in the best way possible for them (live according to their own values), taking into consideration their personal circumstances, and remember that they’re free to do whatever they choose as long as they don’t hurt anyone else while doing it (and, that they’re responsible for their own choices/actions!). That brings up a biggie.
There is also the non-aggression principle. Here is a good explanation of that by Dr. Mary Ruwart…
QUESTION: What is the libertarian “non-aggression principle” (or “non-aggression axiom”)?
MY SHORT ANSWER: Libertarianism is based on a single ideal, the non-aggression principle, so libertarian rhetoric tends to be remarkably consistent.
Libertarians oppose the initiation of force to achieve social or political goals. They reject “first-strike” force, fraud or theft against others; they only use force in self-defense. Those who violate this “non-aggression principle” are expected to make their victims whole as much as possible.
This “Good Neighbor Policy” is what most of us were taught as children. We were told not to lie, cheat, steal, not to strike our playmates unless they hit us first. If we broke a friend’s toy, we were expected to replace it.
Most of us still practice what we learned as children with other individuals, but we have grown accustomed to letting government aggress against others when we think we benefit. Consequently, our world is full of poverty and strife, instead of the harmony and abundance that freedom (i.e., freedom from aggression) brings.
Simply put, libertarians take the non-aggression principle that most people implicitly follow in their interactions with other individuals, and apply it to group actions, including government actions, as well.
You might have heard the Libertarian Party (LP) referred to as the “Party of Principle.” This is because the LP bases its programs and policy positions on the non-aggression principle.
Yeah, I really DO believe in these principles and yes, I do live by them.
If I haven’t gone too far off the deep end for you, and you’re interested in learning more, try taking the quiz (that’s why I keep it as a sticky first post on my blog). Check out the links in this post, or try the Advocates for Self-Government or the International Society for Individual Liberty, they’re both full of good information and more links to other resources for the liberty movement around the world.
Have you ever heard of libertarians before? Do you agree with these principles? If you don’t mind me asking, why or why not?
This is another great article from the Dollar Vigilante.
Yep, here we go, following in the footsteps of such wonderful places as NAZI Germany, Soviet Russia (USSR), and Apartheid South Africa. We absolutely MUST stop this! We do NOT need to “show our papers” everywhere we go!!!!! We are NOT slaves or animals that must be constantly tracked and under surveillance!!! Yes, ‘our leaders’ do think so, but why do so many ordinary people go along with them? WTF is WRONG with people, that they would even suggest this???
And, believe me, this will only be the beginning. 🙁
Better be prepared for some SERIOUS SHIT when they get this “law” into effect! I hope to hell I can get myself out of here before the shit hits the fan and I encourage anyone else here in the US to find some options too. The USA is NOT going to be a safe place to be for much longer. Get out while you can!
I was really hoping to make some serious progress in a couple of months when I was due to get my yearly bonus from work. Got news the other day that they’ve cancelled my bonus (not all of it, just stopped earning it from end of the month- it’s a HUGE pay cut). Not just me, everybody was cut! How can they do that? It was in the contract. I guess those are only for one side to obey, the side that doesn’t have the power and money to do whatever they want. 🙁
With the price of oil so low, I guess I should be happy to still have a job. I’m sure the company knows that and so that’s why they’ll do whatever they want regardless of any ‘contracts’.
One step forward and 2 steps back. That’s what it seems like around here. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I can see what’s coming and take steps to prepare for it. It sure as hell adds a lot of stress to life tho.
I’m trying even harder to find some way to get out of the USA. I haven’t been able to find anywhere else to go that will allow me to WORK to support myself. That’s the only holdup. A lot of nice places are OK if you want to just go there to live, or to retire, or if you want to start a business. But they won’t let you work and possibly take a job from a local. I don’t blame them for that, it’s just frustrating for me when I want to leave so badly and I can’t find a way to do it.
Lately, I’ve even looking at just saying screw working anymore. I’ll just get permanent residency somewhere. I MIGHT be able to scrounge up enough to live on til I die. IF I move somewhere cheaper (and I die young). Maybe I’ll get lucky and that country (wherever) won’t deport me to the US when it really gets bad. Just got hit with approx. $3000++ plumbing bill, that kind of thing sure doesn’t help!
Yes, Ron Paul is right about this (as he was about so many other things). Most Americans refuse to open their eyes to this truth (or about the rest of them). They seem to be either just slogging through the daily grind with no time to think or anything else. Or they’re completely convinced that the OTHER mainstream political party is the cause of all the problems in the world.
Truth is that BOTH the mainstream political parties are in reality the SAME and they ARE the cause of most of Americas problems. Try getting people to see the truth to that, keep on banging your head against the wall.
Yes, we ARE living in a police state! Thanks to Ron Paul for all his work, from another head-banger. 🙁
I really don’t know what I would do if I was seriously threatened. Would I censor myself? Would I stop doing something I loved? I can only HOPE not. I admire those people who can and do stand firm for the rest of us.
I am amazed that these nutjobs (religious fanatics) are allowed to roam free around the world today. They have proven over and over that they can NOT act in any kind of civilized manner. IMHO they should all be locked in a cage and FORCED to live out their year 600 fantasies they want to impose on the rest of us! A bunch of sick bastards should NOT be allowed to run the rest of the world, should NOT be influencing it in ANY way and absolutetly shoud NOT be forcing the rest of us to restrict our liberties or our lives in ANY way!
Good for them! If I was a cartoonist I would be up in arms too! I’m not a cartoonist but I’m pissed as hell at these so-called muslim fanatics. I wish I could do something to put a stop to their insanity. It’s just amazing to me that so many people in so many places have put up with their ridiculous use of ‘religious freedom’ to take advantage of others.
I just got in from my regular Tuesday night meeting. Lately we’ve been going to the Mediterranean Gardens, a local Greek/Cajun restaurant. They have the best gyros in town (and really great French Dip sandwiches). Also, the baklava is really good.
But I don’t actually go there for the food. I go there for our weekly Campaign for Liberty meetups. I go there to get my weekly political fix. I can go out, have a good meal and talk politics with people who (mostly) agree with me. That’s a nice change. 😉
We talk about all kinds of things… The history of the United States, the proper function of government, the role of the Federal Reserve, the situation with our money/dollar/debt, who’s running for office (local, state, national) and do we like their plans or not…
Then we try to come up with projects to work on and things to do to increase our membership. We started a community garden (pesticide and GMO free), we’ve shown a couple of movies (Behold a Pale Horse, Atlas Shrugged), gone to a few rallies, etc. It’s really hard to do much if you don’t have a very large group of people involved. People are just so busy trying to survive now, they don’t have the time to get involved.
It’s a catch 22 situation. People are too busy to get involved, but if they don’t get involved, things will only continue to get worse and they’ll have even less time to do the things they would really like to. Instead they’ll be working harder and longer to pay the bills (and TAXES).
I have to admit. I don’t have the ability to do as much as some of the people that go. I just don’t have the energy, but I sure am glad that those other people are working so hard to keep it all going.
I wish more people really understood and took to heart the founding documents of our country. We are unique in the history of the world. These principles, that the government is made to serve US and NOT the other way around, are what made this country special. The Declaration of Independence says it perfectly…
This (principle of self ownership) is what I was referring to in my earlier post (treasure).Yes, I REALLY DO treasure freedom and individual liberty above everything else.
Please watch the little video and let me know what you think. I’d appreciate hearing your objections (if any).
Also any thoughts on why you think we have (as a society) come SO far from this principle.
I’ve been busy with other things again and falling behind on blogging. Here’s my post for Day 16: Treasure of the photography challenge.
No, not the flag (or the moon). In fact, I treasure my (and your) right to trash it if you so choose. What I really treasure are the principles that flag (or the country behind it) represents. Or, I should say, USED to represent.
Principles we mostly seem to have forgotten. Principles “our government” now seems hell bent on squeezing out of us.
The most basic of those principles is not stated explicitly in our founding documents, but it’s there. It is the principle of self-ownership. This simply means that YOU own YOUR life. No one else. Period! All else derives from that (fact).
The founding principles of America were all based on that very simple premise.
Principles announced to the world in statements like these from the Declaration of Independence:
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.
–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Those are the things our government was established to PROTECT. Today, it does everything it can to destroy those things. So, I treasure what little there is left of them.
I’m home. But only for a short stay. I got home from my FRC (fast rescue craft) class last night. I’m leaving for my course in Leadership (management level) on Sunday. FRC was only 3 days. Leadership is 5 days. All these courses are required (by law) for me to keep my license.
So, I really only have today and tomorrow to catch up on a lot of stuff. I’ve got to go for an eye exam this morning (also required for my license- yearly). I’m going to the dentist tomorrow morning. I need to get a haircut. I need to try and get my computers fixed. I need to see about getting my house exterminated (pretty sure I’ve acquired mice since I’ve been gone- and some sort of LARGER creature that is rampaging around my attic at night).
When I get back from the leadership course (in Baltimore at MITAGS), I’ve got to get my USCG physical done (required yearly so I can keep my license). That entails blood tests I’ve got to get done for my Dr to renew my prescriptions. I’m trying to do that through an online service since it’s MUCH cheaper (and I REFUSE to get sucked in to the Obamacare trap!!)
After I get done with all the medical crap (and “training” crap) I need to do in order to keep my license (without it I am not ALLOWED to work), then I need to try to figure out my tax situation.
Since I am not working for an American company now, they don’t take anything out of my paycheck for taxes. This is the first time I’ve been in this situation. I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to pay my own taxes quarterly now. All I know is, I’ve got to get my accountant on it so I don’t get screwed (any more than usual) by the IRS next year.
I’m still in the pool at work so I’m figuring I’ll be due back around Dec 4 (leave Houston Dec 2). That means that in my “month off”, I’ll have had 14 days at home. That’s pretty typical now a days, considering all the required courses and not required (except by the company) “training” we have to take in order to keep working.
How the HELL did it come to this? A free country where most of your time is spent trying to complete government mandates (license to work, TAXES)? A job at sea once was the ultimate in FREEDOM. You just had to do your job and nothing else mattered. Now, it’s almost the complete opposite.
First of all, if you piss in the jar and it somehow ‘fails’ the test, then you’re OUT, completely and totally. You can not work for ANYONE for a LONG time. You might as well forget about ever working at sea again. What that piss test has to do with your job is totally beyond me, it’s just a bunch of pure BULLSHIT that has tied it to your ability to do your job, but it has become all important. 🙁
After you manage to pass that hurdle, of the company deciding that they OWN your time OFF the job as well as on it, then you can try and pass the ‘physical’ hurdle. Some (very few now) companies are happy enough with the required USCG physical (which gets harder and harder every time there is some sort of incident that gets some news coverage).
Most companies now have their OWN standards. They have their OWN doctors they send you to for things like MRI’s and even psychological tests! Here’s an example of what one recently thought was important that I could do: balance on one foot on a trampoline for a couple of minutes. Another thought I needed to be able to climb up and down the stairs for 20 minutes while carrying a weight of 50 lbs (for a company where it’s not allowed to carry weights of over 35 lbs)! Remember, you can’t set off the BP/pulse monitor either while you’re doing all that!!
Then, once you pass all that and you’re actually allowed to show up on the job, you have to complete a ream of paperwork before you can actually START even the simplest job (JSEA, risk assessment, PROMT card, etc). Oh yeah, you have to be dressed to the hilt in all sorts of ‘safety’ gear: steel-toed boots, hard hat, hearing protection, safety glasses, coveralls, gloves, lanyard for your hard hat.
But NO knife! They are ‘prohibited’ as DANGEROUS. WOW! What twisted logic we have to live by offshore.
So, here I am, a person who chose to go to sea for the FREEDOM it once offered, now suffering from an overdose of ‘safety’ which has completely destroyed the freedom. The same thing is happening on shore. All over the country.
What the HELL has happened to America? A country founded by people from all over the world who once valued their FREEDOM above all else? We’ve turned into a country of whiny-baby scaredy cats, willing and able to sue anybody and anything and blame anybody but ourselves, we need to be ‘protected’ from the big bad world and even ourselves. 🙁
I wonder is it some sort of disease? Something that causes people to lose their common sense? Or is it some kind of intentional mind control, something put out by ‘our leaders’ to get us to stop thinking for ourselves and just do whatever they tell us, no matter how stupid (no knives, airport strip searches, etc).
I tired to vote on election day. I always try to (even tho I seriously doubt it does any good). Since I knew I would be at work on the ship, I filed for an absentee ballot. I sent it in. I even checked off the box for EMAIL. I had some slim hopes that the mail would deliver my ballot in time for me to vote in this election.
It seems they can’t get an envelope from Texas to Angola in 3 weeks, never mind that I never would have been able to mail it back to them in order to be counted before it was too late. So, NO, I did NOT get to vote in this election. 🙁
I am very disappointed, mostly because in contrast to the people who constantly tell me I’m wasting my vote by choosing to vote Libertarian, I am NOT wasting my vote at all. In fact, my vote counts 100 times more than theirs will.
By voting 3rd party, I am making my voice heard. I am emphatically stating that the way things have been going for the last 100 years is NOT acceptable!!!
I try not to pay any attention to politics. My friends will probably disagree with that statement. Especially since it may seem like that’s all they ever see me posting about on Facebook.
Sometimes I get carried away with it in personal discussions. Some have even accused me of ‘ranting’ on certain issues.
Yes, I have to admit, it’s almost impossible to avoid the politics any more in the USA. I have come to envy certain people. I really don’t know how they manage to do it. To completely ignore everything that’s going on in the world around them.
They’re happy to just live in their own little world and ignore all the continual and constant additional rules and regulations being piled upon us every day. The constant violations of our ‘god-given’, or as I prefer to call them, natural rights.
It helps to be retired, or otherwise not concerned with a job. It helps to not have to leave the house. I think even if I could live that way I would still be bothered just by the fact that any time they want, the government could choose to destroy you personally (KILL YOU on a WHIM, read up on the PATRIOT ACT and/or NDAA) and everything you’ve ever worked for in your life (Google asset forfeiture).
I’ll never understand how so many people just continue to totally ignore that fact and just go on with their lives like everything is perfectly fine.
Well, I made it through another security theater without blowing my top.
I waver between frustrated anger at the fact that these people all think they’re doing me some sort of favor by stripping me of my ‘god-given’ (Constitutional- Natural) rights along with my clothing and my dignity, and incredible sadness and depression over the fact that the American people put up with all this TOTAL BULLSHIT with barely a whimper of submission.
I wonder how in the hell did a country full of risk takers, who ALL (other than the Indians) came here from somewhere else, leaving everything behind to make a new life for themselves in the land of the FREE, turn into such a bunch of whiny, irresponsible, scared shitless morons every time ‘our’ government whips up a fear frenzy?
I wonder how many people REALLY believe that “our government” has our best interests at heart, is only doing what it “has to” to ‘protect us’, is only ‘doing its job’? I wonder how in the hell they could POSSIBLY still believe all that CRAP when it’s been proven over and over and over again that ‘our’ government is full of evil bastards who would kill their own grandma if it would get them even an ounce more power!
I wonder how is it possible they’re still willing to give ‘our government’ the benefit of the doubt when it’s been proven over and over and over again how it has stolen our wealth to grow it’s own power. It’s committed numerous unjustifiable attacks against too many countries to name here. It’s committed crimes against humanity (against it’s own citizens, not just against foreigners)- MANY times in its history.
Doesn’t ANYBODY pay attention to history? Doesn’t ANYBODY think about what the hell they’re REALLY planning?
Does anybody think Americans will ever grow some balls like the people in Hong Kong have?
I wish them all the luck in the world over there. I hope they can save themselves and their country. I hope the Chinese rulers turn out to be more sensible than ‘ours’ are here. I hope they’re successful in saving their freedoms in Hong Kong and I HOPE the Americans can learn a lesson and STAND TOGETHER to fight our common enemy!
