Heaven Is For Real Movie Review

23 June 2014

It seems we have a flood of children illegally crossing the border we share with Mexico; in fact, it seems the White House is willing to sign a executive order, bypassing Congress and the current laws on the books, to all this and give them some type of legal status. I am sorry but I have a very difficult time accepting the chief law enforcement officer of our country is going to become an emperor and decided he can make up the law as he goes along and ignore laws passed in a constitutional way.

I am all for legal immigration, part of my heritage is written by those who immigrated to this country in the 1600's, but nearness to our borders shouldn't give anyone a pass to the front of the line. There are people from every country in the world who would love to come to America, yet they must go through a time consuming and invasive process to qualify. For some reason, people from south of our borders are allowed to walk right over the border, in violation of existing law, and a blind eye is turned. They are allowed to flout our laws and given every benefit of the social safety net; yet, our veterans die on waiting lists to receive needed medical care.

I want a better immigration policy, but not at the risk of our national sovereignty or security. Before any new laws are passed, rigorously enforce existing law. The government will not enforce existing law, how can I be expected to trust them to enforce any new laws which are enacted?  

May 14, 2014

We must repeal the 16^th amendment and do away with the income tax and institute the Fair Tax.
We must enforce immigration laws as written before introducing more immigration laws. Show me you will enforce these laws executive branch, then I will believe you would enforce any new laws passed.
Start selling some of the federal lands held in individual states, back to the states they are in for parks and reserves.
Remove Common Core curriculum which is a travesty in education.
The President needs to stops issuing executive orders to create laws which he knows Congress will not pass to bypass the Constitution. It is a violation of his oath of office.
We must stop supports groups we know are terrorists such as the rebel groups in Syria which are Al Qaeda by another name.
We need to label the group which kidnapped those Christian girls in Nigeria as a terrorist group and treat them accordingly.
Sharia Law must never be an accepted practice anywhere within the borders of the United States of America.
We need to elect people who are loyal to the country and the constitution it is based upon instead of a political party.
This is just a start, but a good one.
May 13, 2014

I am trying to figure out just what we, as a people, really want from our government because it has definitely changed from the type of government our founders put in place. Our founders understood a government who could give you everything could also take it away. We seem to have lost that understanding.
We no longer believe in the rule of law which is a principle which ensures everyone is legal in the eyes of the judicial system. We have forgotten the necessity to have this inviolate principle in place, because once we throw the principle out the window, the rest of the foundation of our legal system goes away. Public officials no longer feel obligated to enforce those laws they disagree with or against their chosen few who might violate a law. This will lead to disillusionment in the system and eventually sow the seeds of rebellion.
We cannot have a fair society by passing unfair laws. We cannot target groups because of their ethnicity, religious belief, economic status, or political affiliation. All must be equally accountable under the law and not exempt from any portion of those laws. This is why sharia law, which is a form of Islamic law, should never be permitted within the confines of the United States of America. A rape victim should never be punished for being forced into a sexual act, this happens under sharia law. A person should never be kept from a benefit of the constitution such as how they dress or precluded from obtaining a drivers license if they are a citizen, this happens under sharia law.
There cannot be a multi-tiered legal system based on political affiliation, religious creed, or ethnicity; but we are starting to have that in this country.
May 12, 2014
I received an email Friday or Saturday which discussed my earlier posts about being the brunt of ad hominem attacks and response with logical argument to those attacks. In the posts I was responding to one of the words to describe those like myself who oppose certain policies was “racist”. The individual who sent the email basically said if I was responding to the use of the word, maybe I was and needed to check myself. I'm sorry, but I can't let that pass.
Just because an individual disagrees with a particular policy or idea doesn't make them racist. Now if they used that as an excuse to be against the policy, then maybe there would be a reason to use the descriptive term. If, however, they have a logical, fact based reason for their opposition; then pejorative terms shouldn't be used. Rather, attempt to refute their reasoning with logic and fact.
Otherwise you are the reason we cannot have real, constructive political discussion in this country. The use of ad hominem attacks are meant to stifle debate and shut down your opposition and not allow them to express their ideas, which is their first amendment right. You are also admitting the weakness of your own position. Saul Alinksy is wrong to have suggested the tactic in the first place.
May 9, 2014

One of the byproducts of socialism and communism is a need for control. To ensure you collect the production of those with the ability, you have to increase control over their production which ensures the authority in charge of redistributing the production gets that which it feels it is entitled. Think about this, control over what you produce is given over to an authority to ensure you get no more than your “fair share” of what you have produced. You don't have control over your own production any longer.
This control doesn't just extend to how much you produce, but also to how you produce it, how you get the materials and labor you need to produce whatever you are producing. If the authority feels a job is a right every citizen is entitled to, then you will not be allowed to automate to produce your product more efficiently as that will put another citizen out of work. Of course, to ensure you are following their guidelines the authority will have to institute an oversight capability which will increase your overhead to enable the authority to pay for the structure they create to oversee your production. This further decreases the pot available for you to pay your workers and yourself.
Imagine this across the link and breadth of every business in the country and then extrapolate that across society. It will have to invade every aspect of society to ensure there are workers trained to do the jobs the authority say are needed to keep the country functioning.
It will creep into what we hope is freedom of speech, because it will be in name only. If you disagree with their agenda it will no longer be a discussion or debate; rather, you will be attacked with ad hominem attacks, shouted down by plants in the crowd, or pushed to a “free speech zone” where no one will be able to hear or see you. Another way to shut you down is to appoint people who agree with them to the judiciary and then call the constitution a “living document”, which means it will mean whatever they say it does as opposed to what we know the written words mean. What was meant to be a contract in which we the people gave the governmental authority a limited amount of power, is totally remade without an amendment or discussion on its true meaning and the actual context in which those words were written.
Think about these words and where we are today.
May 8, 2014

Yesterday I was in a conversation with some people who told me I didn't know the meaning of the terms I was using, when what they meant was I understood it too well. I was using the term socialism to describe the underlying philosophy of the current administration and his political party.
Socialism and communism spring from a central thought, “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need”. It sounds good until you start thinking through the ramifications of what it means. Wealth redistribution is its central idea. It is what the phrase means. You take from those who produce to give to those who don't.
It is the philosophy behind the trophies for participation but no trophies singly for those who were outstanding or who actually won the championship. It tells those who want to push for outstanding achievement in whatever they do to not worry about it, it means nothing to be outstanding, achievement gains you nothing.
What an individual earns through their hard work and sacrifice shouldn't be ignored, it should be lauded and put forward as an example of what someone can do when they seize every opportunity, delay gratification, and make the world a better place in the process. Their success becomes a motivation to others; the possibility exists they themselves could achieve something greater than their current station if they work, sacrifice, and delay gratification. It used to be called “The American Dream”.
Our society no longer understands the concept of delayed gratification. We want instant gratification. It is borne out in our low savings rate as a country, as that is what a savings account is representative of. A savings account is there to save for a rainy day, in the process, the bank uses those funds to make loans to local people to start businesses, buy equipment, home improvements, expand businesses, or any number of useful things to a local economy. The bank in turn charges the people interest and passes part of the interest to you which increases your savings account. You money will grow over time but it isn't a short amount of time.
True capitalism is built on the concept of delayed gratification. You work, save, invest, and sacrifice to build familial wealth over time; and it may take generations. When you do it this it builds yourself and those around you. It is the concept of “a rising tide lifts all boats”. This concept also doesn't take from someone to give to someone else. You give and receive. You invest and get to see the investment help someone else fulfill their dreams all while earning a return on the investment you made.
May 6, 2014

Today I am taking a break from the heavy stuff and will get back to it tomorrow and just leave some observations and questions to think about.
Young people today that I have come across are less ambitious and less respectful of themselves and others. Why is this? What have we done as a generation of parents and elders which have led them to believe this is the type of behavior which will lead to success?
People of my generation, I turn 50 in September, seem to be more interested in toys and the outward appearance of success than building the infrastructure for true familial wealth building. I know I was guilty of this for the longest time. Why is this?
Our government believes we have to have everything given to us and told what to do in the smallest of issues with no explanation? Why is this? Why must we be treated as children?
Just some questions to think on. At least, some I have been pondering lately.
May 5, 2014

The rule of law is the foundation our founders built this nation upon; but, what is the rule of law? The rule of law is simply that every law applies to every person present within the boundaries of the United States of America; and that would include members of the United States Government. There would be no exceptions. This is no longer the case.
We all know you get the legal representation you can afford; which just follows in a society in which you get the quality of merchandise you can afford. It is just capitalism at work. Every copy, every filing, every brief, and every consultation is a cost the legal professional has to pass on to their client and make a profit to support themselves and their families. It is the American way. An individual's expertise is worth remuneration.
Anyway, a good case in point is the Affordable Care Act, perhaps better known as Obamacare. The members of congress passed this law without reading it or really debating it; how could they debate something they didn't read? Congress exempted themselves from abiding by this monstrosity of a law and would like us to believe it is okay for us but not for them. This is the corruption of the process our founders were afraid would happen. It is why they didn't envision needing career politicians much less having them. Government was to remain small.
It happens when politicians start taking on party affiliation instead of representing their district or state. The party system has had a hand in undermining the principle of the rule of law. Most of our elected representatives first allegiance is to themselves and and maintaining their goals. If that goal is to remain in their current position, or reach a higher elected office, they must raise funds to campaign and win votes. The political parties and lobbyists control the majority of funds for this type of thing for those in political office. It is only human nature to turn to these sources for the means to maintain one's dreams.
There is a price to be paid for their largess and it is in the form of fealty to their cause. The representative has to vote as the party or lobbyists request to maintain the source of funding. Oh, the party or lobbyist doesn't require 100 percent loyalty because they know this would lead to the representative losing their perceived independence and, soon, their seat. No, loyalty is only required on the big issues like the Affordable Care Act or Immigration Reform or Minimum Wage.
This is enough for today, we will continue this tomorrow. Just a little something to think about.
May 2, 2014

Let's get back to the subject of this entitlement thinking being a product of greed and envy because it is; it has ever been thus. We see someone of greater means has more stuff than we do and we want it. We see we can't have it right then and will have to work for it, and save, and put off other things we may want to save the money to get what they have. We become resentful.
We then hear someone tell us it isn't fair they have more than we have, they are no better than us. Why can't we have it. They then say, well, we can't just take it that would get us arrested. We haven't been able to appeal to those with means better nature to just give it to us either. The constitution doesn't say they have to and really doesn't say anything about it in general. Let's pass a law and tax them for the amount we want and force them to give it to us.
They are the ones providing the jobs; so, how do we get this passed. We have to demonize them. We say they didn't really earn it, we did by our work to produce the goods. They just inherited the money or stole it by not giving us living wages and we aren't able to support our families.
What isn't realized in this talk is often, the business was started by a member of the family now running the business. The individual who started the business started small with himself and maybe a few others. They built the business over time and saved the profit, reinvested in the business. They were smart enough to invest the money they earned and build a nest egg of wealth for their families to give their families opportunities they themselves didn't have. This is suppose to be the American way.
What also happens, and I must write this, is those descendants of the individuals who start the business, forget the lessons learned by their ancestor. They maximize profit at the expense of the employees and cut corners in safety and other areas of the business. They forget the lessons they learned in business school or just the golden rule. This sows the seeds for the envy and greed and allows outsiders to come in to water and nurture those seeds until a crisis forms. Successful companies take care of their employees and anticipate their needs to continue to have a productive workforce. Or to put it simply, if you take care of your people they will take care of you; a lesson I learned in the Marine Corps.
What happens is the passing of the 16^th Amendment to the Constitution which allowed the income tax. Which led to the installation of the socialist idea of income redistribution which is nothing more than what is described above, legalized theft.

May 1, 2014
The sense of entitlement which has permeated our culture is rotting it to the core. I was taught no one owes me anything other than the respect one would show to another human being. I am not owed a job, internet access, health care, capital, a place to live, education, food, or a laundry list of other things we all think we are somehow owed.
What we fail to realize is, if we don't earn it ourselves it has to come out of what someone else has earned; which means, it is either be given freely by that individual or is being coerced from them in some other way. If it is being coerced, it isn't being given freely; so, it is being stolen. I know that goes against everything we seem believe in the world today, but it is simply truth. Oh, and one thing to remember, the list of items I mention above aren't covered by the Constitution of the United States.
I want you to think about the mindset of the people who migrated or immigrated to this country back during the several hundred years before the revolution which led to the birth of the United States. They were coming to a largely unsettled land; they either had to earn passage through hard work or indenture themselves as servants for a period of time. There were some wealthy individuals who saw an opportunity to increase their wealth and take the risk of coming to the untamed land and carve out a business for themselves. Very entrepreneurial don't you think?
They settled this country through hard work, risk, and delayed gratification. The mindset of people was one in which this land was worth the cost to have the chance at freedom in one of the many forms it takes; be it religious, political, or entrepreneurial. These people believed in earning it for themselves and their descendants because it wasn't going to be given to them.
They had lived under a government which had grown large and corrupt. They had lived through religious persecution and understood the problems with a rigid stratification of society. They wanted out of that type of existence. It is the reason they found ways to leave wherever it was they came from to have the chance at a new life with freedom to either succeed or fail in a very harsh environment. These are our ancestors and what they bequeathed to us was a representative republic with a constitution which embodied those principles they struggled so mightily for.
We are throwing it away. We are allowing ourselves to forget they wanted all to have to a chance and be accountable to the law with freedom to pursue their individuals goals. We aren't groups in this country, we are individuals who can choose to stay in their perceived groups or try a new one (freedom of association). We can choose to leave the faith of our families and choose a new one (freedom of religion). We can own a firearm and protect ourselves and our community (2^nd Amendment). We are safe from government intrusion into our homes without showing cause to a magistrate (4^th Amendment). These are things they understood were needed by experience.
We have seen our country grow into the most powerful nation on earth because the of the freedoms they guaranteed us in the Constitution. We are throwing those things away by allowing the undermining of that very same document.
We think those which have accumulated wealth should have to give it to those less fortunate; so, we created a way to force them to do so through a graduated tax structure and the various social programs we have instituted. By doing so, we created a lucrative tax evasion industry in the form of lobbyists to create tax loopholes, accountants to come up with unique ways to write off “expenses” and a bloated government agency with extra-constitutional power in the IRS. Oh, I almost forgot the corrupt politicians who are in the pockets of the lobbyists to write the loopholes into law. All this is the product of envy and greed.
That is enough for today. I will pick this up again tomorrow.
April 30, 2014
I remember the Rodney King statement after his beating by police officers, “Can't we all just get along?” What he was really asking is can't we all just accept we are all different; we all have different goals, different lenses through which we view the world, different ways of communicating, different cultural and behavioral norms, and different ways of doing things. We just don't think about things the same way. People within the same cultural setting don't think of things the same way much less in a truly multicultural society as the United States of America.
The basis of our country's culture, whether we like it or not, is the Constitution which our founder's put into place; yes they were a bunch of old white guys who did not have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. They hadn't yet come to the conclusion that slavery was wrong; though that discussion was started to come to the fore. They didn't feel a woman had a place outside the home or that her opinion should be even considered in public discourse.
They did have the sense to understand government which has the power to give you everything also had the power to take those things away and wrote a document which limited the power of government. They also understood the need to codify those rights which individuals should have, and government could not abridge, and wrote the first ten amendments to guarantee such. They knew the document might need to change, but wanted to make it difficult so whims of culture didn't overcome the need for reflection, and wrote an amendment process which makes one think before acting.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the Constitution, protect we the people from an overbearing government which might try to silence our voice or restrict our expressions of faith, non-faith, political will, freedom to gather, or the freedom to live a life of solitude if that is our choice. This freedom is the basis of how we are suppose to live in a society made up of those who, for whatever reason, weren't happy where they were. All our ancestors came from somewhere else; even the Native Americans' ancestors came across the land bridge between Asia and North America.
The ability to disagree with your neighbor, to debate the issues and then reach a compromise solution, is the gift the founders of this country endowed to us through the Constitution. It would be foolish of us to not embrace those freedoms and allow the power of whatever constituted authority to squelch even one voice. We must allow differing opinions if for no other reason but we are all fallible human beings and make mistakes.
We can only guarantee those freedoms by truly being “a nation of laws and not of men”. Every law must be viewed through the lens of the Constitution as written and not as we want it to be. Every law must be enforced throughout the depth and breadth of our social structure. If not then the rule of law is meaningless and of no value. Just something to think about.

April 29, 2014

I guess I want to delve into private property today as I keep reading about regulation, government take over of land, and the use of eminent domain.

Think of something small, to start with, when getting into the subject of personal property. A child has a piece of candy, it is their's, they were given it as a gift or they bought it with money they had earned in some way. The piece of candy is theirs and no one else has the right to just take that piece of candy. The child may choose to eat the piece of candy or save it for another day; whatever the decision is, it is theirs and if someone takes it without asking that is stealing. STEALING!

Now let's say the child decides to build a house out of all the candy they have saved. Everyone around them says they shouldn't do that as it is a waste of good candy and tries to stop the child, but the child is adamant. The other people then try to force the child to stop building the house with the candy by getting together and deciding to stop the child by force and take the candy away to use as they see fit. This is essentially how eminent domain works.

The people, in the form of a local government, around a property owner decide they can find a better use for an individual's property than the person can themselves. They then take the property, pay the person they are taking the property from a price they deem to be adequate, and use the property.

Now you may say this isn't stealing as the owner was paid a price. Well, you miss they whole definition of stealing which is taking something without the owner's permission. Permission from the owner was never obtained, the property was taken by use of force in the form of government.

The candy house wasn't going to hurt anyone, the others just didn't believe the owner was using their assets wisely. Is this going to be the criteria for taking from someone else; are they using their assets wisely? If so, then we never truly own anything if someone can take what we have acquired because they don't like how we are using it. This isn't what the Constitution was written by our founders to mean. This is socialism. It is wrong.

There are several things on my mind today which I will go into, and which I will probably have to delve further into as the week progresses. They are things which are ripping our American society apart and are antithetical to our continuation as a nation. We are no longer truly tolerant, we no longer respect private property and privacy in general, we believe things should be given to us because someone else has it, and others through government taxation should fund our way of life.

When I say we are no longer truly tolerant, what I mean is we cannot seem to agree to disagree. We are coming to the point where if someone disagrees with our point of view about something they are evil and should be ostracized or made to disappear. There seems to be no room for people to actually engage in a thoughtful debate with respect for the other people involved in the discussion. There was once a time, in my remembrance, where disagreeement about issues didn't mean we were total enemies. The villification of people with opposing views has made real discussion almost impossible.

We also seem to be too enamoured with worrying about what someone else is doing on their property or in their private life. If truth be told, I don't want to know your sexual orientation as a first step in getting to know you. Tell me your name and let's have a discussion and find out about each other that way. I don't need to know what your religious affiliation is or even if you have one unless that is the basis of our first contact. We will learn those things from each other over time during the process of building a friendship.

What you do on your property isn't my business unless it is causing physical harm to other people or affecting the surrounding property. I should be concerned about taking care of my little corner of the world in a manner which conforms to my belief system and ensuring my own integrity before worrying about anything else.

There is also this overwhelming sense of entitlement. Somewhere the idea that equality of opportunity must lead to equality of outcome came to be expected; which just isn't the case. I can put 100 people in a room, give them the same training and access to information, and there will be 100 different results. This is because we all have different skill sets and ways of doing things. Some people are faster, some slower, some smarter, some who couldn't find their way to the bathroom with arrows on the floor pointing the way. We are different and will have different outcomes no matter what.

This next item stems from the previous, you should not use government to take from those who are successful just because you think it isn't fair they should have more. Someone in their family, if not they themselves, somehow acquired that wealth. What you should be doing is looking at how they managed to gain the wealth, and find a way with that knowledge, to do it for yourself.

Just a few things on my mind this morning. Would love to hear your thoughts.