Back once again

So it has been a while since I posted last. Life has a way of keeping you busy at times. For me it has been working long distances from home that has kept me busy. It's a sad sign of the times when you consider yourself lucky to have work and your willing to drive 10 hours away from home just to get work. While out on the other side of the state I met several from around the country who had traveled even farther there just to find work. So is life in these times I guess, it could be worse , just look at Japan and the horrors going on currently in the aftermath of a major earthquake that ruptured several nuclear reactors.
This natural and man-made disaster is going to send shock waves around the globe. First is the obvious threat to the immediate population from radiation poisoning. At this time they are struggling to contain it the best they can but it has serious potential to spread massive radiation globally. We can only hope that they get things under control before the situation gets worse. Second is the economic impact this will have as the worlds third largest economy is ravaged by the road bumps of dealing with not only the ongoing radiation crisis, but the immediate after effects of the devastation left in the wake of the quake and resulting tsunami as well. My prayers go out for the people in that region. Seeing the photos coming out of there is a very sobering and humbling event.
I sometimes think our society has numbed us to situations such as this as many simply ignore events like this. They do nothing to secure their future safety in the event that an situation such as what we have seen in Japan happens closer to home.
I know the world is overwhelming and with a simple glance around its easy to see how people get overwhelmed and simple shut down, tuning out the world around them.
The middle east has gone from a simmer to a soft boil as demonstrations flair up across that region. We have seen the toppling of leaders in Egypt and Tanzania. We have watched as Gaddafi slowly regains his grip on the reigns of power that briefly slipped from his grasp. Baring international intervention it is almost certain he will succeed in extending out his dictatorship for a few more years. The African continent as a whole has seen so much hardships that for the most part we tune it out and only see little blips. Conflicts in Africa are simply so common place , just like conflict in the middle east that we have grown numb to the carnage.
The continuing economic turmoil certainly dominates most peoples attention as it directly effects us all. It to has its numbing effects as we tend to often look locally instead of realizing the vast extent of the problem at hand. The slowdown of the third largest economy will certainly have some impact on us all.
Though it is easy to grow numb and put on blinders to the rest of the world ,now is the time to be even more vigilant regarding our personal responsibility to provide for ourselves. When disasters , either natural or man made strike you simply can't depend on others meeting your immediate needs. Granted , if a tsunami takes out your whole neighborhood your probably screwed but if you have food stocks stored securely you can possibly provide some immediate relief in lesser situations. At the base of everything we need food, water, shelter and heat. It's basic common sense survival 101 but it is amazing how many are totally clueless on basic preparation. I am neither a big fan, nor a harsh critic of Darwin but in the near future I do believe we will see a survival of the fittest event. Unfortunately the fittest isn't always the smartest or most refined. Barbarians took down the roman empire and many advanced cultures have been succeeded by lesser , more adaptable peoples.
Personally I believe we are headed towards the great tribulation referred to in the christian scriptures. There is also the Mayan and Hopi predictions of the changing of the age around this time. Combine the ancient superstitions with modern science and world events you can read the writing on the wall for a period of serious upheaval.
Fortune favors the prepared in times like these. We are all at the mercy of our times but we can take steps to lessen the impact on ourselves and others. This is life, there are no guarantees but it is better to not go softly into that dark night.
Where there is life , there is hope , and the possibility of a better tomorrow.
Hang in there , Until next time
Lasco X

Signs of life in the land of "The Edge"

I poped over to the Edge webpage to get a link to a site and what did I see but signs of life! John Stokes is coming / has come.. to the Rences Radio network broadcasting on the Web from 12:00 to 2:00 pm Monday threw Friday. I have yet to be able to tune in yet as it was Sunday night but I was glad to see the announcement that John was taking to the airwaves again.
I'm sure some are not going to be happy at this news as John has his detractors (to put it mildly), but I know the edge family will be glad to see him back in action again.
Welcome back John , I look forward to listening in whenever I can.

Our fading right to privacy

I read today that the 9th circuit court ruled that it is lawful for the authorities to sneak on your property and install a gps tracker on your car without a warrant. That notion is being challenged over on the east side of the country so the issue will likely end up in the supreme court but it certainly is a sign of the times. We live in an age of unwarranted wiretaps, sneak and peek searches and implanted surveillance devices such as cameras and microphones in computers that can be accessed remotely. Satellite imagery is refined and programs like google earth has been reported as monitoring wireless computer networks. There is a push to move to cloud computing systems - basically your information will be stored on servers off in cyberspace and not on your own computer. Programs like this and other programs like "Go to my PC" and the countless backup programs that store your PC's data off at remote , supposedly "secure" sites are becoming common place and accepted by a naive and unsuspecting public. The public at large does not see the implications of what is going on around them. The notion of "If your not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about" is being spread across society. But what about the right to think freely, going across the grain and norm. What about the right not to conform to group think and to think for ones self! The infringements into personal privacy will one day hobble society to the point where people will no longer think freely, great concepts will not be pursued as society will push people into conforming with the "norm". Freedom of privacy should not be a luxury item afforded only to the rich of society. Our constitution guarantees our right to reasonable privacy in our own homes and persons. It is not something we should give up willingly or lightly but so many are willing to do just that! "Those who give up liberty for security deserve neither liberty or security" - Ben Franklin. Our liberties are being attacked with greater and greater attacks, the hand writing is on the wall! To bad people seem to stupid or lazy to read the warnings these days. To put it another way, the frogs in the pot aren't bobbing trying to swim! they are already dead in the water moving because the water is boiling!
Just food for thought on a sunny day
Until next time
Lasco X

Borrowed money , borrowed time

I read two articles on Drudge today about how the USA is basically bankrupt and doesn't realize it. I also read and article yesterday talking about a former Regan staffer talking about how republican policies over the past 40 years have lead us to financial ruin (he included the Democrats as part of the problem as well). I read another article on how the restructuring of the housing / home loan sector will probably be changing where it will be harder to purchase a home in the future. None of these articles really came as any great surprise to me but did resonate with me that big changes are heading our way very soon. The world is teetering on the edge of a great depression and financial collapse that is going to shake the foundations of society as we know it. It's not going to be the end of life as we literally know it but it will radically reshape the world.
The things we are probably going to see happening in the near future are the result of decades worth of assault on American society. Some has been set in motion by design and others have just been pushed along by society at large as we willingly take the road that is wide and well traveled. What can we look for happening very soon? #1 - Higher taxes ! - Expect to pay more in taxes to pay down the national debt. It is stupid to think that we can keep borrowing more and more money from the rest of the world without having to pay the bill at some point along the road. Ever since Nixon detached us from the gold standard and paved the way for printing our way into deeper and deeper debt we have been digging a deeper and deeper hole. Common sense tells you if you find yourself in a hole you need to stop digging down and start digging in a manner to work yourself up and out. Yes the hole will get wider but it will start to fill in and you will get to a point you can get out and fill in the massive gap you have created. To think we can get out of debt without paying more taxes is naive. The USA needs to get spending under control , give tax breaks for job creation in the private sector , bring production jobs back to America and yes , pay a little more taxes to get out of this mess. The Bible tells us the Borrower is the slave to the lender. Americans don't need to be slaves to anyone, we need to pull ourselves out of this mess we have helped create by living beyond our means threw credit cards and borrowing from foreign entities to run our country. #2 - Expect it to be harder to own your own home - Giving unsecured home loans to anyone so that the lender can sell bad loans off to someone else has to stop! It should have never been allowed to happen in the first place. When you have companies giving N.I.N.J.A. loans (No Income , No Job , No Assets) to people to buy houses there is bound to be trouble. Banks and Mortgage companies were loaning people money and flipping the loans to Fannie and Freddy and Wall street knowing they would probably default because they were loaning more money then the people could realistically afford to pay back! Personally I think banks and mortgage company's need to be required to hold on to the loans for at least 3-5 years before they can flip the loan to someone else. It would make the lenders hold responsibility and insure they were not doing bad loans to begin with. Don't expect the US government to keep backing bad loans! The downside of this is going to be the government is now going to start subsidising more rental incomes , another bad decision but one that will probably happen! It will put more people under the government thumb as they rely on Uncle Sam to take care of them! This isn't good and counter productive to the recovery as a whole. #3 - Social Security will probably fail! - Don't count on seeing your social security, the hand writing is on the wall and has been there for a very long time. It is prudent to plan for the worst and hope for the best in the long run. The boomers are about to overwhelm the system and the government has known this for quite sometime. The best thing you can do to try and insure retirement is try to own your own home and plan to live a modest life. Even this can be wiped out all to easy with an illness that puts your medical bills threw the roof. The safety net is soon going to be filled with many bodies and will stop giving the protection it one had! Don't think Social Security will help you to fulfill all your needs in the future, if you do you are going to be disappointed! #4 - Expect a massive shake up in the world financial structure and a leveling of many currencies. This is in the process of being engineered for a long time now. Strong currencies will weaken , weak currencies will gain ground and the process isn't going to be pretty. Food is your friend when this happens so stock up now and don't expect the store to always be there. If you only relied on the nearest store for your weekly supply of food what will you do if the shelves run dry due to a massive disruption in the distribution network. If shipping pauses while currencies are balanced and finances are straightened out what will you eat? Don't expect the government to feed your family when things go south and disasters strike. Be prepared to help your family and if you can your neighbors. We the people have more strength then the government if we chose to exercise it. United we stand , divided we fall, and if we fall, we fall into chaos and misery.
#5 - Expect false profits ,saviors , attacks on faith and beliefs. Expect people to push God away from people and at the same time exploit religion even more then they do now. Society and sound values have been under attack for a very long time. These attacks are going to get more intense as God and faith are driven from us and exploited! Remember - the Golden rule is "Treat others as you would like to be treated!" ....NOT!... "He who has the gold rules."
Until next time
Lasco X

WTF, get the rubber boots , it's getting deep.

In my last rant I applauded Arizona for actually having the guts to do something about illegal immigration. Now we have a district judge basically gutting the intent of the bill. What was the intent... to protect the citizens of Arizona by enforcing existing federal law statutes. What the hell!?!? So let me get this straight... Arizona police are now not allowed to ask for immigration papers, even though federal law requires immigrants to carry them? Police in Arizona can't determine if a person is in the country illegally and enforce US law? I'm sorry .. but what the hell is with that? This is ridicules at best and criminal at worst! We also have word of the Obama administration talking about doing back door amnesty for illegals circumventing the legislative process. I guess the fact that most Americans are tired of the federal government doing nothing on the illegal immigration issue doesn't matter. I guess the people in power are thinking .. Hey , we will do something! We will appease the illegals and pick up a few more votes for us in the elections and to hell with the people who are here legally and are actual citizens. What kind of twisted nightmare scenario are we living in? So.. hows that hope and change thing going for you about now America? Unemployment is leveling off on job losses but are the jobs coming back? The ones that are appearing are with downgraded pay. (Don't worry, you don't need to make as much as you use to... after all you don't want that job at that wage and we have plenty of illegals..err.. future amnesty entitled citizens that will take that job just waiting in the pipeline. Don't you know illegals are just doing the jobs that Americans don't want to do! You really didn't want that decent paying job you use to have did you??) So much for the federal government doing their job, I guess what else is new. Maybe we can take all the red tape coming out of Washington D.C. and use it to build the border fence we were promised a few years ago!

What else do we have going on hmmm? Well it was recently reported the the SEC (Securities exchange commission) is not subject to the freedom of information act.This means that the shady dealings on Wallstreet and the lack of oversight by the SEC will never see the light of day. If you thought what happened in the past was bad just wait until next year since they no longer have to worry about things being brought to light. Weren't we promised the most transparent government ever by Obama and the likes of Nancy Palosi? Strangely enough , things just seem to be getting more and more opaque. Also in the recent legislation the Federal Reserve was given even more power. Here we have an agency that also is above scrutiny that is veiled from public view. It seems more and more power is being drawn into the shadows and consolidated away from the public. That isn't a good sign!

They finally capped the oil spill and so far it is holding. At least we have some good news though it will probably be bad for domestic oil production. I am all for promoting renewable resources, we should have been doing it since the 70's when the first big push for it started, but, we are still living in the oil age! We need to promote more domestic oil production. I have never seen an oil spill that big on land so maybe it is time we reconsider opening up drilling in Alaska and other parts of the lower 48 states. Also, make sure the protections that are suppose to be in place on the ocean rigs are actually on and operating on the ocean rigs. We need to make sure the skimmers are ready to go like they were suppose to be instead of having to scramble for them to contain the spill. Hopefully we will learn from these mistakes of the past few months. Unfortunately the human race is a greedy forgetful lot at times so I don't know what will actually happen. I hate to say that, but it does ring true much of the time. More often then not ,the masses chose to forget the past and are doomed to repeat it.

Also recently reported is that China is now officially the second largest economy as they have overtaken Japan. Never mind that the average yearly wage in China is only 4000$ a year or less. As marketers like Wallmart will tell you "It's all about volume". China in context is still a developing country with much of it's 1,330,141,295 population living in what would be considered backwards living standards. This is changing though as its urbanization comprised 43% of the country's population. China is still a rising power in the world scene. With a average age of 35 years old and a life expectancy of 75 years China is hitting a strong stride going into the new millennium.

Such a Rosy world we live in these days. The world is being pushed towards a common currency in the hopes of further power consolidation. This is being done by old strategies of Divide and conquer and From chaos comes order. One has to wonder at times how much is planned and how much just happens. It reminds me of the lyrics of the old Temptations song "Ball of confusion" - "run run run but you sure can't hide" The future is coming at us fast and what do we have ...we have idiots protesting Lindsy Lohan being jailed "unfairly"(their words not mine)for not complying with the court system rulings. I'm sorry she has to spend maybe 15% of her 90 day sentence but the people protesting this will be the first lemmings over the cliff as the world goes to hell. Hey! Natural selection does have some advantages! The smart and strong survive better then the ignorant and stupid do!

Oh well, keep your eyes open, your hearts in the right place and pantry stocked. The darkest before the dawn is still yet to come.

Until next time
Lasco X

Good for Arizona!

I for one am glad to see Arizona enact their new legislation regarding illegal aliens. It's about time someone did something to crack down on the problem instead of just giving it lip service. The new Arizona law basically just supports law enforcement doing the job they are suppose to be doing under existing federal guidelines and yet we see the administration calling the legislation misguided and racist. This coming from people who didn't even take the time to read the 12 pages of legislation that made up the bill! As the governor of Arizona was quoted as saying "If the federal government would do their job regarding these matters we would not have to enact this legislation (I am paraphrasing the comments, but that was the basic content of it)". She was right! The federal government has been AWOL on this issue for a long time! They have put band aids on issues that require stitches! They have put corks in issues that require turning off large valves and building dams! They have simply not done enough and continue to stall efforts at fixing the problem.

When we read reports that drug cartels are maintaining lookout posts in the Arizona mountains to help facilitate drug and human trafficking we have serious problems! When Arizona and the other border states are having the Mexican drug cartels infiltrate and operate out of their areas , we have a major problem! It's about time someone did something about the issue! Now we have groups calling for boycotts of Arizona because they dared to do something about the issue. How dare Arizona try and combat an ongoing problem that the federal government does little to resolve. People who don't even read the bill are jumping on it claiming it's racist and discriminatory. Perhaps if we didn't have millions of illegals in the country disregarding our laws then it wouldn't be an issue. The Mexican president came out against the law saying it was unjust but his country is much harder on illegals then ours! Personally , on an emotional level I have to say , Fuck him and the horse he rode in on ! Who is he to accuse Arizona of injustice when his own country is harder on people who enter his country illegally! I think we should hold the Mexicans entering this county illegally to the same standards they use in their own country! Just because Mexico is so corrupt that they can't generate decent jobs for their citizens and relied on dollars sent from our country isn't an excuse for him to enact a double standard regarding immigration!

What do we get from our own administration? Basically we get more bullshit pushing for amnesty instead of enforcement. We get the US Attorney General talking shit about Arizona without even taking time to read a measly 12 pages of legislation before commenting on it! The folks in Washington will ram threw over 2000 pages of a health care bill that is going to possibly increase health care costs tremendously without reading it so why bother reading 12 pages of well crafted , thought out legislation! This is bullshit on a major scale! What happened to the fence we were promised? That seems to be a dead issue now. Why can't we have reasonable enforcement of existing immigration polices that are already on the books? Arizona should not have had to write a law basically saying it is OK and required for the police to enforce the laws that are on the books!

I say good for the legislators of Arizona for addressing an ongoing issue that plagues our country! I fully support the people of Arizona in their struggle to bring some order out of the chaos caused by the illegal flow of drugs and people into our country. To the detractors of the legislation that Arizona had to enact I say piss off! It's not racist to want existing laws enforced. Just because millions of Mexicans decide to ignore U.S. law doesn't mean they have a right to. If you were caught as in illegal in Mexico you would be fined, jailed , and then deported! So why do you think Mexicans and OTM's have a right to come here and ignore the laws of the United States?

I don't have a problem with anyone who immigrates to this country legally. We are a nation built on immigrants. I believe in the concept of the melting pot but we don't need the continued flood of illegals across our southern border. We don't need politicians who try to please illegals in hopes of securing future votes. We need more actions like we have seen by the legislators of Arizona! We need to enforce existing laws rather then enacting new ones. The only law I would personally like to see changed is the anchor baby provision where illegals can come up here, give birth and then suck off the welfare system because their child is automatically a US citizens. This is a law that is abused big time!

You see a lot of celebrities crying for boycotts but they often jump into issues to sell their product and to look PC. Are these same celebrities looking at all sides of the issue or are they just pushing a liberal agenda regardless of facts. I can understand and appreciate the concern for civil rights violations. I'm big on civil rights, but where is the liberal outrage over issues like the Bill of Rights being dismantled by the Patriot act and the Military commissions act now that Obama is in office? He has the ability to undo this misstep but has he? No he hasn't! How about unwarranted wiretaps? He hasn't done anything about that either! Why is everyone who supports tougher border enforcement branded a racist regardless if they are or not? It's sad and comical that the left wingers drop all regard for much of the same issues they cried about when Bush was in office but it's fine when Obama follows the same policies and does nothing to correct the situation. In many ways those issues are now getting worse because they are getting more entrenched and accepted. Where is the liberal outrage over those issues... Oh yeah , that's right... it's now directed to the Arizona issue and they have seemed to forget about the civil rights issues that affect every single person in this country! It's amazing how short the liberal attention span is at times! It's OK for the case against the Black Panthers who did voter intimidation to be thrown out but if it had been people in white sheets and pointy dunce hats doing it the issue would not have been dropped would it!? Personally, I won't be boycotting Arizona! If the state of California (Who is being crushed with financial burden from illegals) wants to , that's fine. If celebrities want to support a boycott.. that's their right! Just don't call me a racist just because I support secure borders, legal immigration and sound immigration policies! I consider myself a child of the dream, I judge people by the quality of their character, not the color of their skin. I don't believe in pigeon holing people into categories! Why is it that the supposed open minded liberals are so quick to categorize others who might disagree with their opinion?

I miss the Edge radio

Since the Edge radio program went silent I have been reduced to listening to the talk radio programs on 880. It has reinforced my convictions that I miss the Edge and the alternative programs it broadcasted. I have always looked at a multitude of sorces of information to get a picture of what is going on in the world. The programing on 880 is the Fox feed of Limbauh , Hanity, Laura and Beck. They also carry voices of Montana which is one of the better offerings they broadcast. The formentioned programs on the Fox feed definatly have a right wing/conservative/ neo conservative slant. Though I agree with some of the view points they put out I realize they are primarily driven with the intention of putting the republicans back in power. Not everything in the world is Obamas fault as they would have you belive. I'm no Obama fan but it is important to realize the Republicrates have been walking lockstep together , slowly stripping away our freedoms and liberities for years. This is not a left verses right issue, it's a slow errosion of liberties that is being orcistrated by the few at the top of the finacial food chain to insure power over the many by the few. Those right wing pundants are just as guilty of pushing this country towards restricted freedoms as the left wing people we have in power currently in Washinton and that have a death grip on the mass media. The concept of divide and conqure is blatant in the broadcasts from the left and the right. Where is the middle ground represented? Why must everything be black and white when the many shades of grey represent the majority so much better then the hard views put forth for mass consumption. I sometimes wonder why liberals call into a program like Hannity when all he does is the equivalent on putting his hands over his ears and yelling "na, na, na, na , na, na , na , I'm not listening" and then cut them off as he has rudely been talking over them trying to make a point. Don't they realise they are only being allowed on the air to provide liberal fodder for him to shoot like fish in a barrel. Hannity doesnt want discussion, he wants to tell you what to think. The man is basically a right wing shill! The left is no better! Where is the middle ground represented? At least on Johns old program he would let a desenting oppinion be voiced if put forth in an inteligent manner so a legitamate discussion could be had. That's one of the reasons I miss the edge! I also liked the alternative programs that it offered, though, one needed to take those with a grain of salt as well. Like all media you need to look from all sides to get to the heart of the matter. Just because something goes against the grain doesnt mean it's incorrect and just because it fits your current mind set doesnt mean it shouldnt be concidered. It pays to keep an open mind and heart in matters. I appreachiated Johns attitude of "don't take my word about it , do your own research and decide for yourself." The edge gave the Flathead valley a good public forum to discuse the issues around us. I miss that! Besides , I found it to be entertaining radio. It saddens me to flip the button to the sound of static at 600am. I still miss the edge and what it had to offer the valley.
Until next time
Lasco X

Post note: 6-30-10
I went to the Edge website today only to find it was not there. Not a good sign! I hope all is well with John and Pam.