So I went to this website about the Maine caucus:
http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012/02/romney-wins-maine-caucus-and-cpac-straw-poll/
There were some great/funny comments on that page. Surfisher was classic. Here are some of them:
Surfisher
February 12, 2012 at 3:32 pm · Reply
Will —
Spot on! We used to send US observers in Nicaragua to monitor fairness of elections there.
Maybe it's time to ask some Nicaraguans to come here and do the same for us….
Surfisher
February 12, 2012 at 4:49 pm
Steve L —
The only way to prevent real voter fraud is to get a receipt.
When I invest into a product — buying a steak at the supermarket per say — they give me a receipt for my investment (shows the item code# and the date and time of my investment (purchasing in good faith, upon accountability by vendor, that I received the right product))!
Elections MUST be held to at least the same standard as buying groceries — when people invest into their Right To Vote, give them a VALID receipt for their investment!
If States can issue millions of Lottery Tickets weekly, that cannot be forged — why not be FORCED to do the same during the rare elections?!
Only way to prevent the "foul play, voter fraud" cry.
notMitt
February 11, 2012 at 10:51 pm · Reply
"A conservative, a liberal and a moderate went into a bar and the bartender says, 'Hey Mitt, how you doin?"
Surfisher
February 12, 2012 at 1:08 pm · Reply
LOIS — correct. But the media awarded a victory to Mitt. That is the perception they want (since even if Ron Paul is declared eventual winner in a few weeks, it will be "old news").
Since it is all perception (and not truth) that elitist believe win elections, it is the main media's job to create illusion (what they do best).
Monday, February 13, 2012
voting fairly
It's true, I would like my candidate of choice to become next president. Even if he doesn't become the next president, I'd be at peace as long as the "winner" won honestly. There have been allegations of fraud in many of the caucuses and primaries. Behind-the-scenes deals, dead voters, and miscounts have plagued the Republican party this go around.
So what do we do? Vote in your precinct for honest, good, and wise people. After a time, the leadership will be slowly replaced by honest people. At that point, I can see the vote being more honest.
And I didn't even mention problems with voter machines. My brother and I were considering doing online voting for an international academic organization for which we worked. My brother joked that if the US can't get their voting right (e.g. fraudless/hackerless), then how can we expect to get it right either.
Here's a serious film about voter fraud:
"Hacking Democracy" (it's a documentary about 1 hour 20 minutes)
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Interesting scripture
For those of you of other faiths, you may have heard of the Book of Mormon. Well, I read from that book of scripture every morning. I read from it because I know through the Spirit of God that it is true and the words of that book and the Spirit of God renew me daily.
There are many interesting scriptures in that book. Here is one relating to liberty:
Alma 8:16-17
16 And behold, I am sent to command thee that thou return to the city of Ammonihah, and preach again unto the people of the city; yea, preach unto them. Yea, say unto them, except they repent the Lord God will destroy them.
17 For behold, they do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people, (for thus saith the Lord) which is contrary to the statutes, and judgments, and commandments which he has given unto his people.
The people were studying to "destroy the liberty of [the] people." That was their sin. Wow.
Something to think about.
I know it's late, but I've been delinquent for a day or two and I couldn't go to bed with this scripture twirling around my head.
There are many interesting scriptures in that book. Here is one relating to liberty:
Alma 8:16-17
16 And behold, I am sent to command thee that thou return to the city of Ammonihah, and preach again unto the people of the city; yea, preach unto them. Yea, say unto them, except they repent the Lord God will destroy them.
17 For behold, they do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people, (for thus saith the Lord) which is contrary to the statutes, and judgments, and commandments which he has given unto his people.
The people were studying to "destroy the liberty of [the] people." That was their sin. Wow.
Something to think about.
I know it's late, but I've been delinquent for a day or two and I couldn't go to bed with this scripture twirling around my head.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Morality & education
This post does not come from "objective" history, but from my own understanding and view of our history.
You know what our Founding Fathers had that we don't have? A majority of people that were more moral and more educated. I'm not claiming that all modern Americans are immoral; there are many people that are moral. I'm just saying that their level of morality was a bit higher. For example, they honored the Sabbath of the Lord (and I'm not just referring to the sporting event that occurred a few days ago). They also took sacred oaths more seriously. They also were more willing to take care of themselves (They didn't expect the Feds to send out agents to help them if their Montana homestead was struggling).
In terms of education, they read a lot more than we do (and read more sophisticated books). We watch a lot of things and think we've been educated--one of my friends said that in the communications world, much of what we see on TV is "infotainment" (we think we know something; it's entertaining to think one has learned something). The people back then actually read the Federalist Papers and Anti-federalist Papers and actually had debates about ideas.
Instead of just voting and hoping that our candidate become president, we should educate ourselves and others about liberty and be involved in our precincts. Liberty does not take a bunch of people voting every 2 to 4 years for it to be maintained. It takes constant vigilance.
I sure hope I haven't alienated all my friends with this "fiery" blog.
You know what our Founding Fathers had that we don't have? A majority of people that were more moral and more educated. I'm not claiming that all modern Americans are immoral; there are many people that are moral. I'm just saying that their level of morality was a bit higher. For example, they honored the Sabbath of the Lord (and I'm not just referring to the sporting event that occurred a few days ago). They also took sacred oaths more seriously. They also were more willing to take care of themselves (They didn't expect the Feds to send out agents to help them if their Montana homestead was struggling).
In terms of education, they read a lot more than we do (and read more sophisticated books). We watch a lot of things and think we've been educated--one of my friends said that in the communications world, much of what we see on TV is "infotainment" (we think we know something; it's entertaining to think one has learned something). The people back then actually read the Federalist Papers and Anti-federalist Papers and actually had debates about ideas.
Instead of just voting and hoping that our candidate become president, we should educate ourselves and others about liberty and be involved in our precincts. Liberty does not take a bunch of people voting every 2 to 4 years for it to be maintained. It takes constant vigilance.
I sure hope I haven't alienated all my friends with this "fiery" blog.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Penny candy
Do any of you remember when you could go to the store and buy penny candy? How about nickel candy? Dime candy? How about when the candy in the vending machine was 40 cents? Yes, for all you youngins' (I guess you could say, look who's talkin'), there was a time of which I speak.
What has happened to the prices? If any of you have learned from the Austrian School of Economics (or have talked a person schooled in that school of thought), you will know that devaluation of the currency happened. Inflation also happened.
Here's how it goes. The government wants to buy or pay for something (a subsidy for pineapple growers in California, for instance). Because the government doesn't have any savings or surplus, it borrows the money. The government creates bonds (promises to pay) and lenders buy the bonds (i.e. lend the government money with the understanding that the lender will get paid back; this lent money has interest attached to it). The lender gives money to the government (either money the lender saved, or in the case of the Federal Reserve, the money it prints/creates out of thin air). The government spends the money into the economy. The groups that get the easy money experience a "bubble." As time passes, the market (anthropomorphized of course) realizes there are more dollars (increased supply) now than products, and so the value of the dollar (i.e. Federal Reserve note) is less and it takes more dollars to buy the same products. Thus, inflation, better understood as devaluation of the currency, occurs.
The problem is that the whole system (not just the government) is a debt w/ interest based system and so all the loans must be paid back with interest. There is no interest created by the lenders and so there is never enough money for everyone (the principal paid back to the bank no longer exists once it is paid back).
So, I think competing currencies (including commodity currencies, LETS, and interest-free money created by the government itself) would help to alleviate our economic and social problems. Most of us use money (I can't think of anyone that doesn't) and so our current system affects everyone.
Here are some great sources of information about money and monetary policy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc3sKwwAaCU
http://www.amazon.com/Whatever-Happened-Penny-Richard-Maybury/dp/0942617312 (great book)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_currency
if you have 4 hours, this is an interesting one - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936
What has happened to the prices? If any of you have learned from the Austrian School of Economics (or have talked a person schooled in that school of thought), you will know that devaluation of the currency happened. Inflation also happened.
Here's how it goes. The government wants to buy or pay for something (a subsidy for pineapple growers in California, for instance). Because the government doesn't have any savings or surplus, it borrows the money. The government creates bonds (promises to pay) and lenders buy the bonds (i.e. lend the government money with the understanding that the lender will get paid back; this lent money has interest attached to it). The lender gives money to the government (either money the lender saved, or in the case of the Federal Reserve, the money it prints/creates out of thin air). The government spends the money into the economy. The groups that get the easy money experience a "bubble." As time passes, the market (anthropomorphized of course) realizes there are more dollars (increased supply) now than products, and so the value of the dollar (i.e. Federal Reserve note) is less and it takes more dollars to buy the same products. Thus, inflation, better understood as devaluation of the currency, occurs.
The problem is that the whole system (not just the government) is a debt w/ interest based system and so all the loans must be paid back with interest. There is no interest created by the lenders and so there is never enough money for everyone (the principal paid back to the bank no longer exists once it is paid back).
So, I think competing currencies (including commodity currencies, LETS, and interest-free money created by the government itself) would help to alleviate our economic and social problems. Most of us use money (I can't think of anyone that doesn't) and so our current system affects everyone.
Here are some great sources of information about money and monetary policy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc3sKwwAaCU
http://www.amazon.com/Whatever-Happened-Penny-Richard-Maybury/dp/0942617312 (great book)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_currency
if you have 4 hours, this is an interesting one - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936
Friday, February 3, 2012
Writing for the Lord
God likes to use willing people to move forward His work. It's only been a few days since I've started this blog. Before I started, I thought in my heart that I wouldn't have enough ideas in my head or words in my fingers to write every day. I've learned that ideas come as I have writing time every day. There's a great book that talks about this (How to Write a Lot, by Paul J. Silva).
I also think that God has inspired me a bit. I don't know which words were inspired and which are just my political viewpoint. I guess the Holy Spirit can tell you and I which words we write or read are inspired.
I encourage any of you that have 15 minutes to dedicate, to pick up the keyboard and write. It's not only therapeutic (or "therapetic" as Barney Fife calls it), but perhaps the Lord will inspire others (or even you) by the words which flow from your fingers.
I've even heard that writing pen on paper is supposedly really good for the mind.
Thanks for reading,
Avendack
I also think that God has inspired me a bit. I don't know which words were inspired and which are just my political viewpoint. I guess the Holy Spirit can tell you and I which words we write or read are inspired.
I encourage any of you that have 15 minutes to dedicate, to pick up the keyboard and write. It's not only therapeutic (or "therapetic" as Barney Fife calls it), but perhaps the Lord will inspire others (or even you) by the words which flow from your fingers.
I've even heard that writing pen on paper is supposedly really good for the mind.
Thanks for reading,
Avendack
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Republic or democracy or dictatorship or something else?
What are we these days? A lot of people say we are a democracy. I don't know if I like a democracy, based on my Poli Sci 201 class (have you heard the idea of the two wolves and one lamb voting on what they should eat for dinner?). Are we a republic? The rule of law? Everyone's rights must be respected, regardless of what the majority says? Are we a dictatorship? I don't think so.
Maybe we are what Edward Griffin said, a democratic dictatorship. We vote for who dictates what we should do.
What do y'all think?
Maybe we are what Edward Griffin said, a democratic dictatorship. We vote for who dictates what we should do.
What do y'all think?
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