Littlestuff Weekender-1-14-2012

This Saturday leads into a final frenzied week in South Carolina for the GOP hopefuls. Given the angst and anguish displayed by so many over the Perry and Gingrich attacks on Romney’s venture capital career, it is interesting to note that as of today, they seemed to have had an effect…a positive one for Newt. Mitt seems stalled with an under 30% number, but Gingrich and Ron Paul appear to be climbing in the polls. Rick Perry is languishing in the 5% range. Perhaps he’s being punished for his fierce slam on Romney, or more likely, his tepid finish in Iowa and his failure to work New Hampshire have convinced Gamecockers that he is no longer a serious contender. Santorum is projected at roughly 15-16% as of today and has room to move if he can use the coming week advantageously. Any movement for him would have to be whittled from Romney, Gingrich or Paul. Rick Santorum probably prays nightly for another Gingrich misstep. Fasten your seatbelts and tune in the Monday night debate (isn’t this #212?) on the Fox News Channel.

The global economic situation took a slight turn for the worse as Standard and Poors warned 15 of the 17 EU nations that they faced a potential downgrade. On Friday S&P did lower the rating for France…which is really not good for the overall economic health of the European continent. France and Germany have been negotiating and structuring the deals to keep some of the weaker nations afloat. The entire global system is so intertwined and propped up by massive borrowing that a small crack in the dike could open the floodgates. Our U.S. economy could be rescued by default. Every other nation could fall in the tank, and our vast resources, food and fiber production and top-end technology could make us the strongest in a world full of weaklings. Even so….if a massive global disruption should occur, our exports will dwindle and the currency exchanges will be extremely volatile and shaky. Globalism could mean that all nations get clobbered because of our interdependence.

Four U.S. Marines are being charged for allegedly urinating on Taliban corpses. If our Congress had the decency, honor and courage to declare war, this decade-long “engagement” in Afghanistan might have ended long ago and our military personnel wouldn’t feel so frustrated. Instead we pussyfoot our way around a hostile terrain while propping up a corrupt and ineffectual regime following rules of engagement (ROE) that are so politically correct as to be nearly unworkable. Yes, it was a despicable act, but much less bothersome than the blatant cowardice exhibited by our political class. Yes, they should be punished. I recommend a 32 kilometer trot carrying full gear. As for the gutless wonders who send them there without the full support of the nation….fire them all. Semper Fi!

 The Russian Mars probe is due to crash on Earth Sunday or Monday. Wear a helmet when you go out.

Another debt ceiling deadline has arrived (no, that’s not an echo), and the President has asked for the $1.2 trillion addition that was part of the last deal. He didn’t have to ask. If Congress doesn’t act, the increase becomes automatic. If Congress votes NOT to increase the debt ceiling, Obama has only to veto the legislation and the debt gets increased. His asking for approval was strictly political. He put the onus on Congress, and he can react to their action or inaction. This fine mess is a result of the negotiating skills of Mitch McConnell and John Boehner. When you get outsmarted by a dimwit like Harry Reid, you should be forced to trade your IQ points in for McDonalds’ coupons.

Now that winter has finally arrived here in NW Ohio, I am reminded of two of my least favorite words: Alberta Clipper. Cold and quiet are relatively easy for me to cope with, but cold and windy….Oh Boy. Frosty doesn’t like it either because I have bribe, beg and threaten his sorry tail to get him to go out and do his business. Shoot, if only he’d learn to use the potty for something other than a water bowl……..

A judge has ruled that 4 GOP Presidential candidates ARE bound by the restrictive candidacy ballot access laws in Virginia. He ruled that Huntsman, Perry, Santorum, Gingrich had ample knowledge and time to qualify for the ballot therefore they failed to meet the criteria and will NOT be listed. The result is a head to head contest between Paul and Romney. To the four musketeers: as a third-party member in Ohio, I know all about restrictive ballot access laws. Either deal with it, or spend all your resources trying to correct it.

Does God care about pro football? I believe He does because He cares about everything. I also believe that He is more concerned with Tim Tebow’s ministry and walk than He is with the final score of any game.

Have a great remainder of the weekend.

Comment;  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Another Government Dustup

There was a rumor flying around the agricultural community (that would be farming community) that the Federal EPA was implementing a new set of rules and regulations governing “dust.” It was speculated that the new guidelines would negatively and severely impact production agriculture and ancillary vendor and service industries. Following the outcry that reverberated through the U.S. agricultural sector, various elected officials, Cabinet Secretaries, agency directors and bureaucrats scrambled to deny that such action had ever been under consideration. Congress responded by passing H.R. 1633, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011. Just what does it suggest for the future of our liberty and our Republic when the “people’s” Congress must pass national legislation forbidding the bureaucracy from rule making and regulating………common barnyard dust?

Based on my personal research I can find no constitutional mandate, allowance or justification for the federal government to dictate the allowable content and volume of farm dust. If the right exists, why didn’t the Congress and bureaucracies control the infamous and deadly Dust Bowl of the 1930’s? Despite the inefficiencies of wind power, our government still has not yet learned the lesson that humans do NOT control the wind. Attempting to regulate dust in rural areas (and urban ones as well) would be a futile exercise because of the vagaries of the wind and air patterns. If the EPA were to sample the dust particulate on my small property in Northwest Ohio, how could they positively prove that it was produced on my property, drifted from an Indiana neighbor, was airborne from the Province of Ontario across Lake Erie before settling on my little plot, or was agitated by my grandson playing with his little toy truck in the back yard? They can’t, but the very existence of the offending particles on my land could make me subject to fines and restrictions. This is not merely stupid government policy but it is also an insane government attempt to control something that cannot be controlled. What next? Regulate sunlight?

Now, I know the political class and their political appointees have disavowed any prospect of implementing such an irrational regulatory scheme. That’s why I’m nervous. Bureaucrats propose oppressive rules and politicians go along with them unless the public angrily reacts. Some bad-dresser with road kill breath sitting in an 8x8 cubicle has come up with this ingenious idea for controlling all the air on the globe to benefit people with respiratory problems. As the memo worked its way up the chain of command, the rumors started and the Big Dogs could deny the idiocy before it had been presented for hearings and public review. The lunacy of the idea and the speed with which the President, the EPA and the USDA scuttled the plan….proves to me that it is lurking in the bowels of the bureaucracy waiting to be attached as an insignificant amendment to a little-noticed bill. It will lay there….festering and molding….becoming more toxic each and every moment until some shaker and mover in the government decides that independent-thinking farmers and small-town businesses need to be taught a lesson.

Our government is broken. It is too big to be effective and efficient. It is similar to a 500 pound man with size 3 feet. It is wobbly and tottering, but if and when it falls, it will be devastating. Despite corruption and incompetency the government continues to hum along by inserting itself into every imaginable human endeavor….denying our liberty and diminishing our prosperity. As its failing systems clatter and fall, the bureaucracy and the politicians march on creating new barriers to freedom. The pace of the governments’ grabs for power will accelerate as the apparatus is crumbling. Just as a drowning man will clutch a straw the gasping bloated tyrannical mass will lash out with silly rule after stupid regulation in attempt to maintain its power and control.

Penalties will grow stiffer and fines will be larger as they seek to hold the trembling reins of power. Police powers will be enhanced as a “preventative measure” to protect the citizens from the potential of discontented mobs. For example: Assume that government decided that seatbelts in automobiles would enhance motorist safety. They encouraged auto makers to include them as optional equipment and ran numerous public information campaigns to encourage their use. Many people ignored the slick PR efforts and didn’t wear their safety belts. Governments decided to mandate use of the belts, but motorists could not be stopped for failing to have theirs buckled. If, however, they were pulled over for another violation and were observed without the seatbelt connected, they could then be cited for failing to fully engage the device. Nevertheless…many drivers and passengers continued to ignore the seatbelt requirement so the governments responded the way governments always do………

If you live in a rural area, you may wish to consider investing in a complex sprinkler system for your property. You know….to minimize the dust. Be careful….your property might become a designated wetland.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

   

The Firecracker Effect

The Match is the spark that begins it all. It’s a mere tiny flicker of flame that by itself can do little good or harm. It must be struck with force against an abrasive resistance and its little light should be coaxed into a glimmering yellow filled with promise and potential. Left to its own devices the match will weaken and disintegrate, but when treated harshly and challenged, the little sulfur tipped stick springs to its own defense….lashing and lunging toward the abuser. Failure to respect a peaceful match could result in the aggressor getting burned. If one wishes to extinguish the match, kid gloves will not work. One must shake it, blow on it and stomp it into submission while being certain its spark has been extinguished for all time.

If the Flame is permitted to flourish, it will rise upward with increasing heat and growing intensity. It will range around the glowing match looking for additional fuel to accelerate its growth. The flame struggles for life as it begins to consume its host…the match. At its outer limits it burns a burnished yellow, but as one’s sight slips toward the inner core, the flame shifts color to blue then to a white-hot center. While entrancingly impressive, the little match flame has no real power. It does however have immense potential if it comes into contact with any highly combustible material. Its tiny combination of heat and light could be transformed into a towering conflagration that could consume everything in its path. It would become dangerous, deadly and undeterred.

The quiet but critical member of the firecracker is the fuse. Although it is combustible, it is tightly wound to limit and control the flame. The little fire must struggle and squirm as it consumes its way along the fuse. It emits a distinctive but misleading sizzle as it sucks the life from the silent string. The “hiss” we hear is a near-silent reminder that the task is underway, but the goal has not been reached. The outcome has not been determined. We anticipate the end. Some of us do so apprehensively, and others gleefully await the fateful contact. As the fizzling fuse continues its climb, the tension mounts. Those who fear the result become to tremble, and those who yearn for it quiver with excitement.

The Boom ricochets across the land. The fearful hold their ears and turn their heads. The hopeful ones snap to action after the explosive concussion has subsided. The sound has meaning. It represents the loud booming voices of the discontented, the abused and those who yearn for freedom. It also suggests the collapse of the old regime, and the crumbling of the House-of-Cards constructed by out-of-touch self-appointed elites. The boom is loudest at the point of ignition, but its reverberating echoes cascade far and wide across the land. Others hear the faint sound and stand in wonder as it becomes louder and more distinct with each wave. The boom is the signal that causes the people to spring into action to rebuild it all. They thoughtfully and determinedly scramble to “form the more perfect union” that once upon a time was their heritage and their comfort.

Nearly concurrent with the boom the Flares arc into the sky. The array of intense colors can be seen throughout the land. The streaming lines of light appear to cover the country in a canopy of color. The frightened elites, bureaucrats and their willing minions can be viewed as they scurry for cover of darkness. Meanwhile the citizens who had been trapped in the darkened dungeons of dependency could observe that the land was a place of glowing opportunity when seen in the full light of the flare. In the beginning the brightness was painful because of their entrapment in the gloom, but as their eyes were opened to the glorious brightness, they began to detect that indeed this was a better world.

The afterglow remains when the flare has subsided and the boom has traveled to its furthermost extremities. The pungent smell of cordite pierces the air as the people begin to assemble and reconstruct the nation. They debate. They cajole, shout and whisper as they attempt to convince one another to support their views of what a “more perfect union” may look like. The citizens review the old regime and its successes and its failures. They seek the good and discard the unworthy. Because the elitist leaders and their flunkies have gone aground, the people can openly dream, discuss and decide which path to pursue toward liberty and prosperity for all. But first…..they build a new firecracker.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Friday, 3-6:00pm, 1370 WSPD, Toledo  www.wspd.com

Doubling Down

If pounding your head against a brick wall for 10 minutes doesn’t make you smarter, you should do it more vigorously for 20 minutes. That would indeed make you smarter according to the logical reasoning used by our “double-downing” governments. If a touted program isn’t working according to projections, increase the budget and extend the program into perpetuity. That is government double-downing. If it doesn’t work….spend more. If it hasn’t made a dent in the defined problem then extend it until you can find a problem to dent. “Double down” is a term often used to describe a gambler who is facing massive losses so he doubles his bet in an effort to get back to zero….if he wins. We should be as lucky as the unfortunate wager. It seems that every time the government doubles down, we compound our losses. That is not the way things are supposed to work for sensible people. As Kenny Rogers croons “know when to hold them and know when to fold them” makes sense to ordinary people, but government always “holds” and rarely “folds.”

While the governments who control us continue to double, we the people are going down. The geometric growth of an unfathomable number of programs causes whiplash for those of us who do “double-takes” while trying to grasp the immensity of the monster. The unquenchable appetite of the federal leviathan trickles down to our states and communities. Through its mandates and grants the federal monstrosity tantalizes the locals with a carrot and stick approach in order to get them to expand and swell…..thus the influence of the federal manipulator is far, far greater than its bloated national footprint. What the Feds do not directly execute, they force the more local governments to perform by creating a web of governmental interdependency and cooperation that blurs the distinctions between federal, state or local. Our confusion about the relationships between the various levels of government across innumerable programs and initiatives makes it nearly impossible to attack and remove the offending agency.

For example, let’s assume that you believe the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is unnecessary in today’s environment. A large portion of production agriculture and agribusiness is conducted by huge enterprises which could be enveloped into other existing agencies. Fine….but what about the Cooperative Extension Service? You know….your friendly county agent who was in FFA with you back in the 80’s. Or the Soil and Water Conservation Service (SWCS) that helps farmers and communities engage in sound and safe practices. Then there are Food Stamps (or whatever they call the credit card these days) and WIC…..both are vital programs for the health of our nation and provide ready markets for our agricultural surpluses. In addition they and other nutrition initiatives comprise more than 75% of the USDA budget. Where are the offices and administrators for all these programs? Are they local…state…federal? The answer, dear Alice, is all of the above. The webs and tentacles of massive government have penetrated every opening, crack and void in the body politic. It is somewhat reminiscent of a python-tapeworm cross. Squeezing us on the outside while denying our sustenance on the inside….double trouble.

Although we are quick to condemn those who directly benefit from the multiple entitlement programs because they represent the looters who take from the producers, we should also be cognizant of the tendrils of dependency that infiltrate every level of government and every community in our nation. In a sense…the mindless, soulless, heartless impersonal blob of government has attached itself to each of us…similar to a deadly parasite projecting its venom into our very bloodstreams killing the cells of liberty and self-reliance. We must brace up and attach the leeches of freedom to remove the poison. We cannot honestly plead for constitutional government and allow the entangling tendrils to choke our local communities. We must start at home, and we should either finance the entire federal/state/local cooperative locally or have the courage and integrity to insist that it is eliminated. Having our cake and eating it too can be doubly dangerous because we consume toxins as we pack on the calories of big government. Stop the bloat. Expel the poison. Reclaim our communities. Re-assert our state sovereignty. And…..rebuild, renew and restore our constitutional republic…the United States of America.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com