Want more government control on health care?

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=15945
Medicare should be scrapped, eventually
Posted: October 16, 2000
1:00 am Eastern

By Jon E. Dougherty
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com



As the Nov. 7 election nears, senior citizens have been treated to a host of Medicare-funded prescription drug plans offered by the candidates of both major political parties.

I have a better idea. Instead of adding another huge, expensive, inefficient and burdensome layer of bureaucracy to the bloated Medicare program, let's just scrap it instead and begin to teach Americans once more how to be self-sufficient and plan for their own retirement.

Crazy? Politically, perhaps, but that's the problem with Medicare in the first place, isn't it? It's too damned political. As long as it stays that way -- which will be forever -- then the program will remain broken, expensive and inefficient.

Think not? Well, consider that Medicare has been a government-run program from the outset. Through the years, has it become better or worse at delivering on its original promise of unfettered, universal health-care coverage for senior citizens?

I dare say if it was getting better, both major party candidates wouldn't be spending so much time in Florida and elsewhere, trying to explain a new drug benefit package that is simply going to be too expensive on our youth and younger workers in just a few years.

It's free market "cause-and-effect," much like the government's guarantee for student loans. Prices for colleges skyrocketed when politicians began "guaranteeing" loans for college-bound Americans -- as if every American really does "deserve" to go to college or is suited for college.

Speaking of medical care, the "guaranteed payment" principle once applied to hospitals and insurance companies. At one time, patients with any kind of insurance were often admitted to hospitals for dubious and inappropriate conditions. Many didn't require hospitalization, but doctors admitted those patients anyway because they knew insurance companies would simply write a check for the bill. The result? Escalating medical costs and draconian insurance "reform" measures in the mold of problematic HMOs.

Voters should not allow lawmakers to foist yet another burdensome layer of Medicare bureaucracy on our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. They won't be able to afford it.

Granting more "subsidies for initial levels of drug spending will only increase incentives to over-use Medicare benefits and increase the cost of prescription drugs," wrote Tom Miller, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, on July 17, in discussing the House Republicans' prescription drug plan.

He's right. Medicare is incapable of being "fixed" as it is. Enlarging it will only make it worse -- and more expensive -- which will eventually cause Uncle Sam to cut it back again, just to "save money." It's a vicious circle, and it's getting us nowhere except further in debt and more reliant on Washington's "generosity." To hell with that.

Medicare was a bad mistake. We can repeat it -- over and over -- or we can scrap a program whose time never came.



Jon E. Dougherty is a Missouri-based writer and the author of "Illegals: The Imminent Threat Posed by Our Unsecured U.S.-Mexico Border."

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Change

November 21st, 2004. I am sitting in a yellow, beat-up Cheverolet-turned-taxicab as it sputters up a giant, treeless mountain. The cobblestones are making the ride wickedly bumpy, and I stare at the huts dug into the side of hills and the dirty, barefoot Indians who walk along the road carrying stacks of vegetation for their animals.
It was another world, a world four hours away and a century apart from my own. Little did I know that, even among so many physical differences, the real differences between my world and that of Ecuador would not be apparent until much, much later as I began to scrutinize and contemplate the relationships I would have with my many Latin companions. My trainer's name was Elder Alvarez, and from the get-go we seemed to clash. I wanted to work, he wanted to sleep. I wanted to study, he wanted to cook. I wanted to be 100% obedient, he wanted to bend the rules a bit. I wanted to teach, he wanted to watch. We had so many arguments that sometimes I even, in my own little mind, accused him of not even wanting to be a missionary.
Eventually, I began to learn a little more about my trainer, and it wasn't until then that I was able to really see him for who he was. It is funny to me now, the fact that I never knew him until I never saw him again; sometimes we don't understand the lessons we've learned until after the experiences are gone. For example, I judged Elder Alvarez too harshly. Though he wasn't as gung-ho as I had been, he was in the process of a mighty change of heart, a change that I refused to see because I was looking too hard. We will never see our children grow if we only compare them to the day before, and that was the problem with Elder Alvarez. My first transfer was also a first for him, as a senior companion. Many of his friends had been excommunicated from the church for rules broken on the mission, and though he had been somewhat involved, there was certainly a change of heart for him to stay on the mission and complete it, even though he was well-known in the mission for deeds committed by his peers.
He was training for the first time. His entire family had been excommunicated from the church, and there was no one waiting for him when he arrived home. Though I didn't see it at the time, now I am amazed at how well he did as my trainer. We weren't perfect, but we worked and studied very hard, and though I judged him harshly he never returned those feelings.
Who am I to say that he didn't have enough faith? Faith is a relative term. For me, perhaps serving a mission was not as great a leap of faith as it had been for him. Faith is improvement, and frankly if our performance is measured that way than Elder Alvarez had me beat, because though his level may have been on a different scale his improvement could hardly be compared to my skimpy advancements.
This is a lesson that has helped me in my marriage. We are all from different backgrounds, and it is not our place to judge. It is our place to love, influence, and learn from each other, and all that is required is steady improvement. As it has been said, the Lord is not looking for flashes of lightning acts of faith that briefly illuminate and then fade; He searches for the candle that is set on a hill, steadily lighting the way for others. If anyone ever feels unequally yoked, they should realize that it is a blessing to be yoked at all. Joseph Smith, with his wonderful wife Emma, was a wonderful example of a righteous, charitable, loving judge of character. Do you really believe that Emma always understood why Joseph had to do what he did, why they had to suffer as they did, and why he had to die as he did? Yet I have never read a word of complaint from his mouth regarding his marriage, never a word of unrighteous judgment, only consistent and loving influence. My wife is that influence on me, and I hope I am that influence on her, and if we can continue to love each other and to clumsily, consistently, and carefully progress on our paths to eternal life, then that will be the greatest satisfaction and success than I could ever dream about.
“And the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature; for I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
This is a gospel of change. Let's work for that change, and not focus too much on the past.

READ THESE ARTICLES

The previously posted three articles I found extremely interesting. Read them (from the bottom up, preferably), discuss them with your spouse, family or friends and make some comments to me about what you think when you read them!

What We Can Do to Prepare for our Economy, by Glenn Beck

For documentation links and other articles, see the following website: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/16799/?ck=1


Glenn Beck: What Can I Do to Prepare?

October 15, 2008 - 3:00 ET

Guys,

Here is the third letter I promised you. In my earlier letters I've explained "what happened" and "what's coming." Today, I want to answer the questions you've asked regarding "what can I do to prepare myself and my family."
Related Articles:
Glenn Beck: What happened?
Glenn Beck: What's Coming

The focus has to be on 'value' and 'values.' These are the concepts that too many of us have forgotten, celebrities dismissed as old-fashioned or politicians tried to convince us were no longer necessary.

The good news is that our current economic mess is manmade. We did this to ourselves by continuing to elect politicians who sold our country to militant community activists, greedy mortgage brokers and Wall Street types who placed profits above anything else. We were all involved, Republicans, Democrats and Independents. We made this problem by choosing to believe the lie that we could have it all and have it right now. But being manmade means we also have the capacity to solve it.

It is not going to be easy. I believe that the economy is going to get a lot worse. The 'experts' are telling us that we're headed towards at least 10% unemployment and a possible 10 year period of economic stagnation. I fear it could be much worse and so do many of the people that advise me on these matters.

What follows are the things that my family is doing to prepare for substantially tougher economic times.

Your Finances

I'm not a financial expert but even the 'experts' didn't know what our grandparents knew: unnecessary debt is something you have to avoid, it is not a good thing. In our version of the Roaring 20's, the financial elite had lawn parties in the Hamptons where invited guests arrived via helicopter. The parties we had didn't involve helicopters and other excesses but our job as responsible Americans will be to identify our 'helicopters.'

Soon, the Wall Street crowd will turn to the actual economy and the conversation and pressure will change to consumer spending. Remember, YOU are the engine of the US economy. Wall Street NEEDS you to spend. I pray that we hold fast to the 'storm clouds' that are still gathering and ignore the lures and lies that will attempt to hook you back into your old style 'lawn party.' We will continue to spend and consume. We just need to focus on a few out of fashion American values such as thrift, value and moderation.

You know what your family can afford and what it needs. Kids still need to go to college, broken cars still need to be repaired and worn-out appliances still have to be replaced. What needs to change is how we shop. We need to look for value and we MUST live within our means.

How do you know when you're getting something for a good value? Just imagine buying it (whatever it is) in front of dad. Can you imagine telling dad that you 'need' to spend an extra $3,000 so your car can come with that 'must have' automatic self-closing sunroof option? Or paying an extra $650 on a washing machine option so it can connect to the internet? I'm beginning to think that if dad won't spend the money on it, I probably don't need it. Dad is great at spotting value and it's his sense of values that makes him so good at it. I always try to think like my grandfather when I want to buy something, if in my head, he says, "Why, you've got a perfectly good one now," I know I don't need it.

The economy is in for a very rough landing. I think it's more and more probable that we hit a major long-term recession. That's not a reason to panic but if we know what's coming we can start to prepare now.

I don't know who you get your financial advice from (advisor, friend, on your own) but you need to ask these two questions:

First, what caused the current economic crisis?

If you can't answer this question or your financial planner can't give you an easily understandable answer, please get more information or think about replacing your financial planner. You need to know what got us here because that will help you understand what's coming.

Second, how bad will things get?

No one knows what's specifically coming our way but I do know that all possibilities are on the table. Whoever you're getting your financial advice from must be willing to admit that he or she doesn't have all the answers and that we are in relatively unchartered waters. If they don't think that this is a once in a lifetime event and just about anything could happen, move on.

Hyperinflation: Printing Money is Not the Answer

This is the real devil in our 'bailout' packages that seem to be coming every day. The same people that told me that there is no way we could go into a recession, let alone, a depression now tell me Wall Street and our politicians are too smart to create these doomsday conditions.

I don't know about you but I sure haven't been impressed with the Wall Street and Washington genius so far. After all, they weren't smart enough to figure out that 0% down on a 125% loans to individuals that were not required to present ID or a paycheck stubs was trouble.

I do know that if the answer was just to print more money our politicians would have solved this crisis $1.8 trillion dollars ago. But printing more money is not the answer, in fact, it's causing other problems and possibly setting us up for a long-term disaster. Every American must read up on and ponder what I believe is the real possibility of hyperinflation.

This past summer we had a $152 billion stimulus package, followed by a combined $123 billion bailout of AIG, which was followed by another $700 billion bailout bill. As I write this, politicians are promising swift action on yet another stimulus plan and the government has announced a direct injection of $250 billion into several large banks. No problem has ever been solved by just throwing money at it but plenty of problems have been caused by doing just that.

Countries that have tried to spend their way out of an economic crisis have always triggered inflation (i.e. Argentina, Israel and Iran). Hyperinflation is caused when people lose faith in the value of a currency, too much money is printed and there is no corresponding increase in productivity. So instead of printing $50 and $100 bills the government prints $300 and $500 bills but your $500 bill only buys $50 worth of goods. Soon the $500 bill is replaced by a $1000 bill.

One of the best examples of hyperinflation is the Weimar Republic where that government actually printed a one-trillion dollar bill and you still couldn't buy a newspaper with it.

Germany took its first inflationary steps when it decided to fight World War I on borrowed money. It didn't want to raise taxes and there was relatively little in national savings so it borrowed money to build and arm its war machine. Does this sound familiar? It should, it's what we're doing now.

The War which started in 1914 officially ended in 1919 and during that same period of time the prices of goods in Germany doubled. In other words, inflation was running about 20% a year.

Three years later, in 1922, those same goods doubled in price in just 5 months! The process continued to accelerate until menus in cafes had to be re-written throughout the day just to keep up with rising prices. When someone got paid they were met by their spouse who would literally run to spend the money as quickly as possible and no one saved money because the longer you held on to it the less you were able to buy. With no one saving and no countries lending any more money, the government did the only thing it could do, crank up the printing presses and print more money.

The same economic laws that applied to the Weimar Republic apply to America today.

Our government tells us that inflation was recently running at 5.4%. What they don't tell you is that in 1983 government changed the way they measure inflation. If the government used the same inflation measures that it used in 1983 inflation would be running between 10%-12%. Naturally, when the government altered the way it measured inflation it coincidently found that it wouldn't have to pay out as much money in Social Security and other benefits pegged to inflation.

We won't see a true spike in inflation until next fall. It's coming unless the government makes serious changes. If we continue to borrow billions of dollars a day from foreign countries while printing trillions more we are inviting, no begging, for hyperinflation to come and pay us a visit. Please consider this as you decide who to vote for in this upcoming election. Anyone, at any level, running for office who isn't talking about REAL and considerable cuts in government programs and avoiding new spending is either a fool or lying about what's coming.

You can prepare your family for economically tighter times. Our family has been preparing by buying food now that will last us for another 3 to 6 months. I want to be clear: we didn't run out and buy it all at once. Instead, when we went shopping and saw something on sale that we new we would be using in the next 3-6 months we bought a few more than we normally would. We're in the process of doing the same thing with our kids' clothes and shoes. They're growing-up and will need the next size-up in pants, shirts and shoes so Tania and I keep our eyes open for sales and when we see something that's a good value we buy it now knowing that in a year or two our kids will be able to use it and that prices could be substantially higher.

I think this is a good investment and a good way to spend money today that may be worth less tomorrow. Don't run out and liquidate your savings or assets to buy shoes and shirts for the next 10 years, plan and purchase with prudence and moderation.

Guns

You've asked me if you should go out and buy a gun. This is a very personal decision and I struggled for over 2 years trying to make this decision. I never wanted a gun in the house but after discussing it with Tania (and Adam) we decided it was the right decision for our family to have a gun in the home for self-defense.

Before we even thought of buying a gun and bringing it into our home, we spent countless hours at various gun shops asking lots of questions. We also reached out to the NRA (which, as you know, is one of the only organizations that I believe in and belong to) and took several courses in shooting and gun safety. If you're willing to make that kind of commitment then, and only then, can you start to consider whether or not you should purchase a gun.

If you decide to buy make sure you have a home safe that can be easily opened by you and your spouse. Also, when selecting a gun, make sure you ask your dealer for a gun that doesn't take exotic or hard to get ammunition.

The gun laws may DRAMATICALLY change with the election of the next President and a new Congress. Time may be of the essence on this issue so vote with that in mind.

Values

Why are we so different from grandma and grandpa? Remember how they made our clothes? They knitted sweaters and gloves, mended tears and placed patches over holes in our jeans and shirts. What do we do today? We go out and buy our kids clothes that are intentionally faded, frayed or torn. Our grandparents would think we were nuts for doing that.

How many times did we hear, "who left this light on" or "turn off the light when you're not using it." They didn't say this because they were swept up in the latest environmentally friendly fad; they said it because they hated waste. They didn't see themselves as conservationists but at their core they were the first truly 'green' generation.

It's their example that inspired me to re-discover the traditional American family eating plan in our home. This plan applies to mom, dad and all four kids. It's simple: if you don't finish your dinner, it's wrapped and put in the fridge and the next day you have to finish your leftovers.

What a great decision this has been because I'm more careful about what I put on my plate and have already had dinner table discussions with my kids about being grateful for what we've been blessed with and why it's important to avoid wasting food.

Gardening

Tania and I are planning on planting our very first garden next year (yes, I promise to send you pictures to prove it). We've already bought the fertilizer and seeds. In a way this is going to be our modern day Victory Garden our parents and grandparents planted during World War II.

A lot of people think we're planting the garden just for the food and although that's part of it, Tania and I really believe that our family will grow closer by all gardening together. Our hope is that our children will have a greater appreciation for the meals they eat when they experience the work in growing the food they will eat.

We've got so much to learn. I've already learned that there is a difference between heirloom seeds (not genetically modified) and those seeds which have been genetically modified. There are advantages and disadvantages to each type, so familiarize yourself with their respective pluses and minuses. Research what grows well in your area and what you will need to keep your plants healthy and growing.

I do want to share something I learned about seeds. Heirloom seeds are capable of producing viable seeds. So you will always have seeds to plant for the upcoming year. Several genetically modified seeds have 'terminator technology' (that's their phrase, not mine) which will prevent these seeds from reproducing viable seeds.

I'm for reasonable and safe genetically modified seeds and food. They allow people to grow crops where they normally wouldn't be able to and are more robust against disease and predators. Coming-up with all that technology is expensive so these seed producers recoup their costs by limiting the ability to reproduce. You need to have those seeds that are capable of reproducing.

Out of everything I have planned for next year, I can tell you that gardening ranks at the top. It is long term, it brings the family together on a project and it not only teaches my children science but the value of hard work. Does that make me a true sick freak?

Good Books

This is going to sound hokey but we all need to read the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers. We need to go to the original sources, not someone's interpretation of them. Reading these documents will remind us of what our Founding Fathers really intended for us. Their words will inspire us and renew our faith in America.

We need to familiarize ourselves with the founding principles our country and Constitution are built on. We need to better understand the Founding Fathers, what they believed and how they lived their lives.

The books we read should teach us about our heritage. They should inspire us and educate our children. We need books that tell us the greatness of America's past and the promise of her future. We need to read about the mistakes the government has made so we can avoid taking those same paths. The books that I think best capture these principles are:

* The 5000 Year Leap
* The Real George Washington
* The Real Benjamin Franklin
* The Real Thomas Jefferson

Each of these books dramatically demonstrates that America was built on the collective sacrifices of individuals who willingly gave their "lives, fortunes and sacred honor." They remind us that real power rests with "We the People," not Wall Street, Washington or Hollywood.

Also, read books on history that can help you see what may be coming based on our past. The parallels are truly frightening. We are going down the same path by making the same mistakes. These books include:

* The Forgotten Man (on the mistakes of the great depression)
* Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism (arguably the world's first fascist leader and one reason why our children are now taught in school that the Founding Fathers and the Constitution are irrelevant)
* Liberal Fascism (reveals the real danger and roots behind the nanny state mentality and what it means to America's future)

Family Time

As a country we've neglected our most important asset and resource: our children. We've become so busy trying to provide the best for 'things' and opportunities for them that we work longer hours, spend more time away from home and too often don't give them the attention they need and deserve. If the economy starts to sink, this situation will get worse.

One of the best things we can do now is to build stronger ties with our spouse and children. Our family gets together once a week for a 'family night.'

This past week Raphe had the lesson, "my favorite animal." I was in charge of the game, everyone had to imitate their favorite animal and Tania baked cupcakes for our snack. It's amazing what miracles have taken place in those short 30 minute 'family night' get-togethers. We may have forgotten this in our 'Roaring 20's' mentality but it remains true: simple things have real and lasting value.

Tania and I also set aside time for just the two of us. We have date nights where just the two of us go out. It's usually nothing fancy. Sometimes we go out for a walk or just window shopping. We've even gone on a 'date' to the grocery store to pick-up some groceries. It's not really what you actually do but the fact that we spend time together. It refreshes me. It brings us together. I love this time.

Finally, just continue to seek out those sources you trust and continue to ponder and think the unthinkable. While these things hopefully don't ever take place, they are certainly possible and unfortunately becoming more probable everyday.

The good news is that there's still time to prepare ourselves and our families. We created this problem and we can solve it but there won't be any shortcuts or an easy way out.

We must vote for those candidates of any party that reflect these values: hard work, self-determination, smaller government, fiscal responsibility and honesty. Look to the character of anyone you chose to support. Their past does matter if they haven't learned from it. Their personal life is as relevant as their public one. We must be able to trust those who will be advising and leading us on what our country must do next.

The problems we face in this country can be traced back to the lack of trust. Our whole system fails if we do not trust it and right now we do not have that trust. In the last 20 years we have lost trust in our presidents, congress and court system. It was lost when politicians argued over the definition of 'is,' the duplicity on our border security, during the OJ trial, by a renegade 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the 2006 Republican Mark Foley sex scandal and the 2008 Democrat Tim 'more moral future' Mahoney sex scandal and so many other hypocrisies and double-crosses. Our lost of trust was inevitable.

Our political system was not designed around the people in power or really even us. It began with the core belief that we were created and given rights by God. For America to truly fulfill its promise we must restore our faith in the only thing that is solid, unchanging and real: God.

As we find ourselves not trusting our leaders, institutions or even our currency, remember the secret is simple and found as close as your pocket or purse. How appropriate that on the symbol of our present troubles we find the answer: IN GOD WE TRUST.

Only those who are mentally, emotionally, spiritually and temporally prepared will be strong enough to help themselves and others. Many will be fearful if these things come to pass but if you prepare now, fear is the one thing you will not have to worry about. You are not a victim. You are not a survivor. You are a leader. You are an American.

We are all Americans. Let us recommit that, regardless of where we stand politically, we will do the tough things to save our nation because the task at hand requires no less.

The Americans of the past did not look for leadership to come from the politician in the White House for they knew American leadership only came from your house.

Fear not, stay strong and lead the way.

glenn

What's Coming, by Glenn Beck

For full information pertaining to this article, including links of documentation, see the following website:
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/16278/?ck=1

Glenn Beck: What's Coming

October 9, 2008 - 3:58 ET

Guys,

If you thought my first email letter answering the question “how did we get here” was on the scary side you’re really going to find this email letter that answers the “what’s coming” question very sobering. I promise you though, my next letter addressing “what you can do to prepare you and your family” will be positive.
Related Article
Glenn Beck: What happened?

Here’s my answer to your question of “what’s coming.”

The economy is going to get worse. I know that’s hard to believe considering that in the past 15 months Americans have lost over 2 trillion dollars of retirement savings, that Iceland which has a GDP of $14 billion and liabilities in excess of $100 billion held by its banks and is on the brink of bankruptcy and the International Monetary Fund has just warned of a global “major downturn” in 2009.

A Second Great Depression?

Just how bad will things get? Recently, I had an off-air conversation with one of the titans in the business community. He has been in the thick of what’s happening on Wall Street, the credit crisis and the economy. I’ve been speaking with him about these issues for about two years and he has always been an optimist. Every argument I would make about how bad things were going to be he would counter with an equally optimistic economic prognosis. For the first time he’s now told me that our economy is in for a very “rough landing, at best” and that if our politicians don’t get the bailout exactly right we could see our GDP (a measurement of the total value of all the goods and services produced every year) falling between 15%-20% in one year.

So what does that really mean? A 15%-20% reduction of GDP would be like wiping out between $2.1 to $2.8 trillion dollars from our $14 trillion GDP. To show you how big that number really is, consider that in one year we spend about $583 billion to run the entire Defense Department, $43 billion to fund the entire Department of Homeland Security and have spent less than a trillion dollars fighting in Iraq since that war began.

By way of comparison, in the Great Depression, our national GDP fell 29% over a four year period (1929-1933) and in that period we saw 7000 banks fail, a 25% unemployment rate and a Dow Jones industrial Average suffer an 80% decline. And that was when the pain of a shrinking GDP was spread over 4 years!

About three weeks ago I had the opportunity to walk with very successful billionaire who has spent over seven decades doing business in America. I asked him what it would mean if our economy suffered a 15% reduction in GDP in one year. He stopped mid-stride, thought for a few minutes before saying, “I can’t begin to imagine how bad things would be if that ever happened.”

Credit Card Debt and Greedy Politicians will Prolong our Problems

All the financial ‘experts’ are telling us that whatever is coming our way will be short-lived. Yes, times will be tough, but we’ll quickly emerge and be stronger. I agree that we’ll survive and that we’ll be stronger, but I don’t think it will be a quick recovery.

Unlike the Great Depression we don’t have a large industrial base that will assist in our recovery and too many people don’t have the savings to help them weather the storm. Instead, the average American household carries at least $8,000 in credit card debt. Lastly, our political leadership will be a burden, rather than a help, in getting us back on track. Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi, President Bush and Secretary Paulson wake-up each morning and gobble-up larger pieces of the economy and American businesses. They tell us that ‘we need to do this or things will get bad’ but none of them have gone on record and told us that if we follow them we’ll be better off.

The Great Depression showed us that government intervention, at best, will only delay the eventual belt-tightening and pain that must take place to bring the marketplace back into balance. The overbuilding and liquidity excess of the past 10 years has to be brought back into balance. Despite 10 years of government programs under Hoover and Roosevelt accompanied by massive government spending it was not until World War II began that unemployment fell below 10%. It was not a coincidence that the stock market finally regained the strength it had in 1929 only when the prospect of global war appeared to be inevitable in 1939.

How Hedge Funds Could Make things Much Worse

If the government regulated banks can be in as much financial trouble as they are now, just imagine the problems lurking in the unregulated hedge fund world. Hedge funds are a 2 trillion dollar industry. That 2 trillion has been leveraged by several multiples giving it much more influence than the 2 trillion would suggest.

The super-rich invest their money in hedge funds because of their traditionally higher returns. Along with the super-rich, teacher unions, government employee unions and large mutual funds invest in hedge funds, in short, if you have money invested in the market there’s a good chance some of it is held and managed by a hedge fund.

In September, hedge funds around the world recorded their biggest drop since August 1998. Investors that wanted to pull their money out were prevented from doing so by mandatory ‘lock-up’ periods imposed by hedge funds that prevent investors from pulling their money out without giving advanced notice, typically 60 or 90 days. I can only imagine that lots of people have given notice and when they can, will be pulling out their money. When that happens the smaller hedge funds will be wiped out and the larger ones will take big financial hits. The next big test for hedge funds will be October 23rd when an estimated $400 billion in Lehman related credit-default swaps will have to be auctioned and settled, those hedge funds that can’t come up with the money will be wiped out.

Our Politicians keep Playing Politics while our Country is on Fire

Look for our politicians to take advantage of this crisis to promote their own agenda. They keep treating this like a game and are taking actions only after weighing whether their action will help or hurt ‘the party’ at election time. Our country is at the edge and our politicians are worried about elections. This can’t be about Democrats or Republicans. This has to be about saving America.

It’s shameful that Obama and McCain haven’t told the American people that there is no money for all of their proposed spending plans. No, our candidates continue to promise us new plans when we don’t have enough money to pay for the ones we already have.

During the last debate Obama told us that America is the richest country in the world and that we need universal health care. Maybe one of his advisors should tell him that this richest country in the world is borrowing 2 billion dollars a day from foreign countries because that’s how much more we spend than take in, and that was before we started bailing out Wall Street, Main Street and homeowners.

Obama is unbelievably still planning on redistributing wealth in the middle of an economic crisis by taxing those who earn in excess of $250,000 and then redistributing that money to those who make less than $200,000, including sending people who don’t pay any taxes at all $1,000 check. His plan has been called a New Tax Welfare Plan. Call it what you want, we don’t have the money to pay for it.

McCain’s plans for revamping our health care system and his support for a carbon-tax plan are also unaffordable. He should come clean with the American people and tell us that. His failure to so demonstrates that he really doesn’t understand what is taking place in our homes and businesses.

Congress wants in on the action too. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd will flood our country with new programs. The progressive ultra-left has taken over the Democrat Party. They are so liberal and so out-of-touch with mainstream America that Senator Lieberman, a longtime Democrat, left the party and is now an Independent who is publicly thinking about no longer caucusing with the Democrats. Longtime Democrat and chief fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, has said that her party is too far left and is now actively campaigning for John McCain.

Politicians Waiting to Exploit the ‘Right’ Tragedy

Too many politicians are anxiously waiting for the right moment to expand government. They’re waiting for the “Megan Law” moment. That moment when the stars align so politicians can pass legislation over any objections, whether it’s good or bad.

Megan’s Law is named after a 7 year old girl who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a repeat violent sexual offender. The public had finally become so outraged that the politicians had to act. Megan’s Law requires the posting of information about sexual offenders to the public. Passing Megan’s Law was the right thing to do but it shouldn’t have taken this tragedy to do it—but it took Megan’s tragedy in order to overcome the opposition from the ACLU and other groups who kept screaming about the rights of the accused.

Pelosi, Reid and the progressive left as well as many Republicans still don’t believe that our very survival is at stake with what is going on today. They still look at this meltdown as just another opportunity to score political points. If the Democrats in the House of Representatives really believed that our country’s economic security was at stake then they would have passed the bailout bill. They didn’t need any Republican support. They had the votes. But Pelosi and the Democratic leadership didn’t want to risk a massive voter backlash so they didn’t push the bill through. That is playing politics. If the Senate believed that our country’s economic security was at stake they would have passed a bailout bill without the $100 billion in ‘goodies’ attached. That is playing politics. Do the right thing for the country, stop playing politics.

As the crisis worsens and takes a higher emotional toll on the public we will see tragic stories. We will see more stories about people giving up hope, losing focus on what’s truly important and ending their lives and the lives of people they love. And when the ‘right’ story comes along, it will be exploited to take away more of our freedoms, to shred the Constitution just a little more and grab more money for the government from the people who earn it.

We can also expect our international/foreign enemies and competitors to take advantage of our current economic crisis.

Inexpensive oil is the lifeblood of our economy. It helps us plant our crops, is needed to make the clothes we wear, and keeps us moving freely by car, plane, and ship. America benefits when oil prices are low. Russia, Iran and Venezuela (along with several other countries) benefit when oil prices are high. Iran recently misreported that it forced a U.S. military airplane to land (it turned out to be a Hungarian plane carrying relief supplies). This was an attempt by Iran to spike oil prices temporarily, and it worked, until the truth came out.

Russia’s invasion of Georgia wasn’t about South Ossetia. It was about sending a message to the West that our efforts to build and maintain an oil pipeline through Georgia relied on the good graces of Russia and they didn’t want the West to forget that. Iran has continually petitioned OPEC to cut back on production in order to keep oil prices high and Venezuela is using its petro-dollars to spread his form of socialism.

Russia is also using its massive petro-dollar supply to buy influence on the international front. Remember all those banking problems Iceland is experiencing? Russia is now working with Iceland on a bailout package in an attempt to leverage this crisis into strengthening its international influence. Russia is also reaching out and strengthening its ties to Syria and Iran. Syria announced that it is dredging its fishing port of Tartous so it can accommodate Russian warships.

Iran will continue to develop its nuclear program. The countries of the world will increasingly be focused on reviving and in some cases, saving, their economies. Iran will take advantage or our collective distraction. I am increasingly in the camp that thinks Israel will have to take unilateral action against Iran before it develops a nuclear weapon and that would explain why we’ve decided to sell Israel 1,000 bunker busting bombs.

In the past four weeks Venezuela hosted two strategic long-range Russian bombers, and held joint navy exercises with a fleet of Russian ships, including a nuclear-powered missile cruiser. President Chavez has also been busy working with Columbia’s FARC terrorists and last week renewed his goal of building a ‘civilian’ nuclear program and has called for revolution throughout South America.

These countries will increasingly use more aggressive methods to drive up the cost of oil and expand their sphere of international and regional influence by generously spreading around their petro-dollars.

Meanwhile, North Korea doesn’t have any oil so it’s using the next best thing, the threat of nuclear weapons to get what it wants. It wasn’t too long ago that President Bush was touting a new ironclad agreement between America and North Korea. Well, after promising to verifiably dismantle its nuclear power plants in exchange for financial aid and fuel, the North Koreans have vowed to resume their suspended nuclear program. You can expect the guy with the crazy haircut and glasses to demand more money, fuel and aid for him to play nice again.

Closer to home you will see that Americans are increasingly feeling isolated and detached from their government. Part of the reason is that we don’t think politicians care what we think anymore. The $700 billion bailout bill passed the Senate at a time when only 30% of the country supported it. We felt that a giant stick was poked into our collective eye!

59% of Americans would vote the entire Congress out of office but due to the self-serving way the politicians have drawn their election districts it’s just this side of impossible to do it. Only 49% of the people believe that this congress is currently doing a better job than a group of individuals selected randomly from a phone book would do and 33% of us actually believe the group selected at random would do a better job!

Politicians play Politics with our Economy by Playing Politics with Energy Policy

But our politicians just don’t get it. Look at energy. We need inexpensive oil to make our country work and maintain our standard of living. To be perfectly clear: without inexpensive energy our economy doesn’t work and our standard of living dramatically falls.

You would think that our politicians, who understand this, would put our national interest above their petty desire for re-election, but they don’t. Look at what happened with offshore drilling. The federal moratorium on offshore drilling legally expired at the end of September. In theory, oil companies could have started drilling the first week of October but instead no oil company is even drafting plans to drill, why? Because they know that the politicians aren’t serious about offshore drilling. They know that too many congressmen are servants to the extremist environmental movement and as soon as the election is over will vote to either prevent offshore drilling or impose onerous conditions on any drilling. So the politicians will go home to their districts and tell the voters they are for drilling and then turn around and collect big fat donations from the environmental lobbyists who oppose drilling.

The same thing can be said about coal and nuclear power. Obama tells a national audience during his nomination acceptance speech that he and Joe Biden are for clean coal. Less than 90 days later Joe Biden is captured on tape telling a woman that coal isn’t going to play a role in an Obama Administration energy plan.

Obama and McCain have talked-up nuclear power on the campaign trail but have done little to actually make it happen in their many years of service in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile China plans on building about one nuclear power plant a year up through 2020.

There’s a real disconnect between our elected leaders and the people, but the majority of Americans are willing to work through this disenfranchisement. We want to reform government. We want to improve our country and communities but there is a fringe that is actively trying to exploit this disenfranchisement. I have someone on my staff that monitors the extreme blogs—stuff that most people, thankfully, haven’t even heard of. These blogs contain a call to revolution. One writer said that we need to “join with your brothers in arms and through force, return what is rightfully the peoples to the people” and another entry encouraged the reader to “rise up and join us before our nation is taken from us by the crooks and bastards that waste our air, one nation, taken back by the force of the peoples militia…”.

Guys, I told you that this was going to be a sobering letter. We are on the edge of a giant abyss that could swallow not only our economy but the freedoms and security we have enjoyed for over 200 years. Believe it or not, I don’t think that this letter captures the urgency that I feel, but I didn’t want to include wild speculation because I can’t see into the future but I wanted to give you a sense of the Perfect Storm that I have talked about and how the pressures that our economy and country face at this time are once again placing our “lives, fortunes and sacred honor” at stake.

Please ponder and pray about what I’ve said and then pass these email letters along to as many people as possible so they can prepare themselves and their families. Then, the more people there will be to help us overcome fear and desperation.

There is good news. We can prepare ourselves and our family for what’s coming and work to prevent the worst from happening. We have to focus on value and values. Those things that our parent and their parents lived but somehow too many of us have forgotten. But that’s for my next letter to you.

With love, glenn

What's Happened to Our Economy, by Glenn Beck

For the full text and documentation links of this article, see the following website: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/16171/?ck=1
Glenn Beck: What happened?

October 8, 2008 - 1:47 ET
Glenn's letter to his family explaining how we got into this economic crisis...
Yes, another email letter from your crazy brother. You raised a lot of questions in your last email and I am going to try to answer all of them.

I think all of your questions fall into three areas: (1) how did we get here; (2) what's coming; and (3) what can I do to prepare myself and my family.

Consider this email as my answer to your first question, "how did we get here?". I'll be sending you 2 more emails answering your other two questions. Since there's a lot of misinformation out there I will document each of the facts in my emails so you know where I pulled the information from and where you can go to read and learn more.

What you shouldn't do is panic. We'll get through this--don't pull all of your money out of the bank but have enough cash on-hand to meet any possible emergencies.

First, you've got to get the stock market's ups-and-downs out of your mind. The recent drops and upticks are short-term. Our economic problems are much bigger and deeper. Too many people believe that if the stock market goes up our problems are behind us and that's simply not true.

Last week the market had big drops and big upswings. In the end, the market ended down more than 800 points and lots of 'experts' were shouting it was a time to buy. I don't see it that way.

Did you know that just two days after the stock market crashed in October 1929 the market actually gained ground the next two days? The New York Times reported that "the market quickly regained its poise and stability...." Today, Wall Street 'pros' are telling us it's a good time to invest because Warren Buffet is investing. A lot of people were probably using the same argument when the Rockefeller family was buying stocks right after the 1929 crash, what they didn't know was that it would take Wall Street ten more years to see those prices again.

Our current economic crisis was caused by politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, who perverted the American Dream by treating home ownership as an undeniable right rather than what it really is, a privilege. President Bush aggressively promoted the benefits of home ownership through various policy positions, including a reckless zero down-payment initiative for some homebuyers and praised Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac even after concerns about their accounting standards began to surface.

Home ownership has always been part of the American Dream. It allows individuals and families to build wealth by having them pay themselves instead of a landlord or rental company and vests people in their communities by grounding them in local schools, stores and government.

The concept that owning a home was a privilege and not a right began to change in 1992 following a flawed Boston Federal Reserve Board study which allegedly found subtle discrimination in loan and mortgage lending by banks and mortgage lenders.

Politicians didn't care that the study was full of errors. The study found discrimination took place when five minority applicants were rejected for special low-income loans even though the applicants were rejected because they made too much money to qualify for a low-income loan, not because of their race. The report also classified as 'rejected' the applications of eight minority borrowers even though these borrowers voluntarily withdrew their mortgage applications. The study's sloppiness also went the other way.

The study reported that a white applicant was approved for a $3,115,000 loan in order to purchase a home valued at $445,000. It was later demonstrated that the actual loan was approved for $311,500, far less than $3 million reported and more importantly, less than the home's purchase price. When these and other errors were corrected no evidence of discrimination existed.

But politicians didn't care. They used this report as the basis to fix a problem which didn't exist. Leading the charge for change was President Clinton who immediately set-out to rework the Community Reinvestment Act to give federal officials the power to pressure banks to make loans they otherwise considered too risky or uneconomical.

Traditional lending requirements were labeled 'outdated' and discriminatory. What 'traditional lending requirements' were viewed as 'outdated' and 'discriminatory'? (1) banks were told that a "lack of credit history should not be seen as a negative factor" and that "past credit problems"
should be viewed and considered in light of any "extenuating circumstances" so loans could be extended when they otherwise would have been denied; (2) banks were encouraged to let borrowers without enough money for a down-payment make-up any deficiency with "gifts, grants, or loans from relatives, nonprofit organizations, or municipal agencies" even though banks considered this risky as the home buyer would have little or no equity in the house; (3) banks were also instructed that borrowers who received child support, welfare payments or unemployment benefits could count that as 'income' for borrowing purposes.

Call me crazy but if you need to count child support money that's intended for your child, or are in such bad economic shape that you're relying on welfare payments to make ends meet or are unemployed, maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't be buying a house. Too bad our politicians and the 'best and brightest' on Wall Street couldn't figure that out!

Community groups like ACORN, threatened to cry racism if banks didn't increase their loans to subprime borrowers. Banks typically avoided subprime loans as they carried a greater risk of default, but with law on its side, ACORN and other groups intimidated lending institutions into making such loans.

Banks soon learned, however, that making subprime loans actually could increase their profits without increasing their risk. Once the banks extended a loan to a subprime borrower that loan could then be sold by the bank to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, two government sponsored entities charged with making home ownership affordable to all Americans.

Banks, Wall Street, and mortgage lenders were soon eager to extend mortgages to subprime borrowers because they could make lots of money without carrying any risk. Fannie and Freddie carried all the risk once the original lending agency sold the loan to them. And once Fannie and Freddie bought the loan this freed up the banks to make even more subprime loans.

So everyone was a winner. The subprime borrower got the money to buy a house. The banks generated mortgages and made a nice profit and Fannie and Freddie executives made tens-of-millions of dollars in salaries and bonuses by hitting their annual goals.

The problem was that in order to keep all of this going lending standards were continually lowered to help the next level of subprime borrowers qualify for mortgages and no one had an incentive to make sure that the new subprime borrowers would actually be capable of making regular mortgage payments. The banks which extended the loans really didn't care because they were just going to sell the loan off to Fannie or Freddie. Fannie and Freddie weren't too concerned because it wasn't their money-they knew that they were insured by the 'full faith and credit' of the federal government (that's government lingo for "you and me").

So when federal regulators began to warn the executives at Fannie and Freddie about the increasing risks of non-payment by subprime borrowers the companies did nothing and when the regulators took their concerns to congress their warnings were met with scorn and contempt. The politicians who received the most political contributions from Fannie and Freddie, by pure coincidence, just happened to be their biggest defenders: Chris Dodd (D-$133,900), John Kerry (D-$111,000) and Barack Obama (D-$105,189).

Representative Barney Frank, who has been a fierce defender of Fannie and Freddie, actually said, while arguing against more regulation, "I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing.... " It's nice to know that he doesn't mind gambling with our money. Senator Chris Dodd, in praising Fannie and Freddie said, "I, just briefly will say, Mr. Chairman, obviously, like most of us here, this is one of the great success stories of all time.
"While Senator Charles Schumer said, "And my worry is that we're using the recent safety and soundness concerns, particularly with Freddie, and with a poor regulator, as a straw man to curtail Fannie and Freddie's mission."

Barack Obama has received more money from Fannie and Freddie than any other senator, with the exception of Senator Dodd, in the last four years. Before entering the senate, Obama filed a class-action lawsuit against Citibank, alleging that the bank was red-lining, or not doing enough lending in certain areas. That lawsuit was eventually settled. Arguably, Barack Obama helped cause the problem he now wants to fix.

The Federal Reserve Board was doing its part by throwing huge piles of cash at would-be home buyers by keeping interest rates too low. With low interest rates speculators began to look at houses as business opportunities, while others began to look at their homes as a giant piggy bank rather than a place where you actually lived and raised a family. Alan Greenspan encouraged this type of behavior and proudly said, "American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgages..." President Bush, responding to September 11th unwisely encouraged us to "go shopping" rather than hunker down financially and contribute to the War on Terror in other ways (can you say home equity loans?).

The SEC also shares in the blame. It failed to do its job (failed to adequately regulate mortgage brokers, the credit rating companies, and naked short-sellers), acted only after the markets froze-up (finally addressed mark-to-market rules) and refused to examine how the credit-default-swap market could grow from $919 billion in 2001 to over $54 trillion by 2008 (which allowed companies to make wild financial bets with the false confidence that 'insurance' would be there if the deal went south).

So what happened? Home-ownership rates which had been relatively constant for 25 years began a 10 year upward climb beginning in 1995, around the same time that government began its push and pressure for banks to make more subprime loans. The politicians, banks, lenders and Wall Streeters were thrilled because they were all making gobs of money.

Today we are all paying the price for the decisions made long ago. I have spoken to people involved at the highest levels and they now are all saying the same thing, "it is worse than anyone knows" and "worse than I even thought." Political and business leaders who I respect have told me that the economy is on the edge of an abyss.

The bailout is an outrage and is designed only to buy time for the politicians. It will delay the real hard times from hitting until after the November elections. Not one politician has said that this bailout legislation will put us on a better financial footing or that our economic problems will be put behind us. In fact, we'll be worse off because our politicians, even in this crisis, can't stop themselves from spending. This bill includes an extension of the rum tax benefits for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands ($192 million), tax benefits for companies which manufacture wooden arrows for kids ($6 million), car racing tracks ($128 million), a provision which forces insurance companies to treat mental health problems like physical problems ($3.8 billion) and many, many more.

International markets don't offer any better alternative. Germany, England, the Netherlands, and Russia have all come out with their own government backed bailout plans. There are now calls for more international regulation (presumably led by the United Nations) and China has taken this opportunity to call for "a diversified currency and financial system and fair and just financial order that is not dependent on the United States." Meanwhile, there is increasing international indications that the dollar will lose its place as the reserve currency of the world.

The politicians from both political parties continue to lie to us. They promise us better healthcare and more government programs. The only thing either party will be able to deliver is higher, much higher, taxes as the debt swells and government revenues fall. The same politicians remain silent, while capitalism, which brought us the highest standard of living in the world, is increasingly attacked and discredited by its enemies.

But it's not capitalism which has been discredited by our current crisis, it's greed that has been shown to be at the root of our present economic uncertainty, and greed is unfortunately a universal human trait and has demonstrated its reach in socialism, fascism, communism and capitalism. The greed of Wall Street is nothing compared to the greed of our politicians who have continued to expand their power and influence at the expense of their country.

Our children and grandchildren will ultimately pay the price for their failure to act prudently and in the best interest of our country because they will be the ones saddled with mountains of debt and diminished standard of living.

I hope that this summary gives you a better idea of how the people who caused this fire are the same ones who are now telling us that they know best how to put it out and a reason not to believe their current promises.

We have faced tough times before. We fought the Nazis in World War II, defeated communism in the Cold War and Americans fought each other to keep our country together in our own Civil War. These tough times require us to educate ourselves and help others understand what has brought us to this point and the grave consequences of what will happen if we let this continue-that is our fight.

In my next email letter I will answer the other question you asked, "what's coming?"

Sis, I know you will always consider me your crazy brother but please pass this message on to all of your friends. There are too many rumors circulating and I want to put the facts out there. This isn't about slamming the Democrats or Republicans--this is about getting the truth out to as many people as possible. The more people we can wake-up the more people we will have restoring the hope, promise and opportunity of our great country. Please pass this on.

It's getting near that time of the decade when my hackles rise at even the prospect of discussing politics. If McCain and Palin don't win, I don't know what America is going to do, because frankly Obama will wreak havoc on our underlying constitutional rights over the next four years. I don't necessarily think that McCain has exceptional ideas for our country, but who cares? Every one of his ideas encourages our government to get back to their proper role, instead of promising to increase already-ludicrous costs and oversee already-ludicrous government control over the people, he actually understands the concept of living in a free country. Obama is so liberal that he has lost even a semblance of his own ideals in a life-long pursuit to please everyone and anyone who complains.
I've been hearing a lot about how horribly injust it is that a CEO could get fired and still receive a severance package of however-many million or billion dollars. Sure, it's unjust. It's ridiculous. But it is not the role of the federal government to intervene! It is the role of the company shareholders and owners to intervene! People discuss conflict theory like it is an evil, hissing snake that will someday devour us. They say that the order of our society is and has always been maintained by inequality, and that inequality must be abolished. I agree that inequality is wrong, but who defines inequality? Also, if inequality is what holds our society together, why are we trying to destroy it? We should find different methods of dealing with it. For example, the cost of local land will usually determine how much money a local school receives, resulting in sometimes huge discrepancies between the quality of schools that are barely miles apart. If they want to fix it, the federal government does not have to intervene! It can be done at a state level. We discuss these types of issues only when there is a presidential election; what about state elections? Shouldn't we be more involved in state legislature so that we can deal with the lower-level problems on a lower-level basis?

My Reflections

Shimmering layers of water slide across each other, gently dragging a swirling array of wind-swept leaves into the tiny, curling currents that leave behind the smooth rocks and rotting trees. The sky is dark and wind caresses the giant aspens while a storm contemplates its arrival. My empty conversation has livened somewhat, bringing a semblance of comfort as I look back on the day's events, and I am finally left wordless as I stare into one of earth's beautiful river engravings, winding itself into a language only God could read or comprehend. The noise of the city can't reach me here; I remain hidden in an embankment, inaccessible by the stress and the bustle and needless obscenities.

Between Life's Wars

Sound drops clean, without an echo
Floor absorbs the tremors.
Gathered pulse grows slowly stronger,
And we await the next.
Every sense strains for perception,
Every instant lengthens.
Patience wanes as intermission
Clutches our existence.

Late Return

Quiet of the city rushing slowly past
Dark of passing asphalt below.
Fingers curled cold in the wind of the night,
Back is bent very low.
Soon to arrive at my quiet home,
Porch light flickers, dim to the eyes.
I wonder at life and the memories I've sown,
And imagine my son's tiny cries.

McCain for President!

John McCain for President! WE SHOULD RULE THE GOVERNMENT, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

Who's for President?

The roars of tens of thousands of stadium occupants during the Democratic convention still ring in my ears, even though its intensity was dimmed somewhat by the media broadcasts. Claims of bringing about change, guaranteeing rights, and glamorous proposals about reforming America ring true in my ears but lack the substance necessary for me to understand how they could possibly be accomplished. Obama's theories? Much better developed than McCain's. The likelihood of our government accomplishing them effectively without compromising our right to control our government, not the other way around? Given the world's track record of tightened government control, these prospects seem slim. At least McCain's theories mostly involve promoting the control that American citizens have over government.

Their websites reflect their respective campaigns. Obama's is very well-organized, appealing, easy to read, succinct, and emotionally appealing. McCain's is more poorly written, less emotionally appealing, and less comprehensive about issues. However, Obama's website goes into little or no detail about how his goals will be accomplished, which is the main focus of McCain's website. How does one choose between a promising future and a realistic present? This, in my opinion, is the question that gnaws upon the American mind.

Senator Obama is young, only 47 years old. Senator McCain is seventy-two, old enough to be Obama's father. This is certainly an issue that can't be ignored: is it better to have someone young and familiar with today's feelings and issues, or is it better to elect a man who is old enough to know the difference between two generations? For example, Obama wants to pull all troops out of Iraq, saying that we need to simply negotiate with the Iraqi government. McCain, on the other hand, is wise enough (and old enough) to realize that to leave a country in shambles is to essentially hand it over to the most powerful tyranny available (this is exactly how Adolf Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon Bonaparte, and others came to power), and the results can be disastrous. Are we more willing to do what is right, or what we want? Because we all want to pull the troops out. We all want to simply say, deal with your own problems. But is it right? Is it an investment in our own future? We supported the war when it began (80% of America), but as soon as reality set in that this was not a short-term glory run, the majority of Americans backed out.

History has taught us several lessons. First, socialism doesn't work, whether it is complete or partial (such as with the health care system). Second, one cannot destroy a nation and leave it in shambles without extremely serious consequences. Third, just because a government “guarantees” something does not mean that it actually occurs.

Sorry, out of time. My duty to a family reunion now calls me, but may the reader bear in mind the implications of this presidential election and what it means for our country, one way or another. I'll have to continue this discussion later, if I get time. I'll be voting for McCain, but it's still very confusing.

A quick update....

School is finally drawing to a slow close. Twelve credits were defeated in the last eight weeks, and the intensity of working as a nurse's aide beckons me for the next four months. Surprisingly, I do not feel overwhelmed. My hard-working wife has decided to give up her position as personal assistant to the CEO of Platinum Protection Security Systems in order to be physically and emotionally prepared to stay home with Braeden, and I am assuming the role of bringing home the chicken. I say chicken because I don't earn enough to buy bacon. Here's to all of the chicken-lovers!

I'll write more tomorrow morning, as soon as I get a few moments. I've got too much to write about and not enough time before work......

Life's Simple Similes

I just wanted to put up a quick post about pregnancy. A friend of ours used it as a metaphor for life; I'm not sure what she taught, but this is Ben's doctrine on the matter:

Pregnancy is like life

• We kind of planned for it in the premortal existence, but I don't think we really knew what we were in for.

• It began with a lot of pleasure and ends in pain and happiness.

• Full of emotions and things we don't really understand. Incredibly happy one day, crazy the next.

• Everyone who has gone through it wants to give you advice, everyone who hasn't gone through it think they know what it's like, and the ones who are really in it have no idea what's going on.

• There are parts that you wish you could just sleep through.

• Some people just shouldn't be participating.

• You always need someone to hold onto for support, even when there's nothing specific the other person can do, except to say “You'll get through it.”

Definitely, Maybe

Last night, Stephanie and I watched Definitely, Maybe. At first glance, I wasn't sure what to expect from the movie. However, because the little girl who plays the daughter is one of our favorite little actors we figured it was probably a fair movie.

By the end of the movie, I was very impressed with the soulful theme portrayed by the story and its characters. They took perfectly real life experiences and molded them into a complex tale of a man grasping at any shred of a dream, somehow getting in his own way while living a life molded with memories of half-regretful events and half-acknowledged gems of relationships. In the end, we were left with a feeling of being able to wholly relate to the slew of his confusion which eventually turns to something akin to success; it gave us all a little hope that time eventually heals all wounds by virtue of its utter patience. The movie itself portrayed a realistic application to the statement “You may not get everything right, but you will never get everything wrong.”

Flag's a-wavin'

The sweetness of the long weekend with my beautiful wife has turned, once again, to the grime of scholastic labor. Someday I will be able to go to work, come home, and actually spend quality time each day with my family without the worry and stress of exams and exorbitant expectations.

I got the chance to jog a few times during our little excursion to Glenwood. I jogged late at night on the dirt ATV trails which traverse the foothills of Cove mountain, and because the moon was mostly absent the sight of the stars was intoxicating. I also watched the sunrise from the summit of what I have unofficially named Volcano's Peak. It was quite the task to ascend straight up the side of a mountain, but the real difficulty was picking a path on the way down. The juniper grass nearly succeeded in eating me alive.

It was wonderful to spend time with Stephanie the past several days. She is definitely pregnant, with a tummy that leaves no one wondering about whether or not she is due in the next few months. I am so excited to have Braeden join us in October or November! Stephanie is leaving her job in the beginning of September, and I will officially be the breadwinner after that. She needs a couple of months before the baby comes; after all, it will be the last time that she really has to herself for many years. I am excited for everything at the moment, and even though it will be a fairly stressful year financially I believe that it will be an experience for all three of us to remember forever. Life is great, there's food in my backpack, dessert in the refrigerator at home, and the big orange ball is shining with as much zest as it can muster!

Twilight Perspective

Today I read a disturbing article in the Daily Universe entitled “'Twilight'” is Pornography.” He said, “The Twilight novels are pornography. Though pornography is seen as a male problem, explicit pictures and romance novels create a quick and fabricated experience of a romantic relationship. For men, pornography creates unrealistic expectations for their girlfriends/wives bodies. For women, it creates unrealistic romantic expectations for their boyfriends'/husbands' actions.”

Well. I am just amazed at the ignorant gall of whoever wrote that message. To compare an innocent, creative and exciting fantasy novel about good-hearted werewolves and vampires-turned-moral to the disgusting pornographic images depicting women as objects to be consumed in sexual lust is absolutely absurd. I am a male, and with my wife have read all three of the “Twilight” saga so far. I have a lot of fun joking around with my guy friends about that fact, but I always admit that the books are extremely well-written. Meyers, though still a new author, seems to have mastered the art of creating true people, with personalities comprised of more than mere characteristics. She has brought reason, fiction, love, hate, and the confusing maturation of a teenage girl into a novel which hooks its readers because, deep down, we can all identify somewhat with the fantastical characters in the book. Let's face it, Twilight Protester, Meyers is not at BYU anymore. She is not morally, ethically, religiously, or legally bound to have her characters keep the Honor Code by having Edward leave Bella's room after 11 pm (and yes, I know that he wouldn't have been allowed there in the first place). Sure, we all know that she is sexually attracted to Edward, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There isn't even anything wrong with her trying to convince him to have sex with her, either, because the cold hard facts of the book are that Edward, in his wisdom of 100 + years, respects her too much to allow that to happen before they are legally married. Meyers is literally writing that people who know what they are doing (like Edward) know how to control their physical desires until the moment is right.

Frankly, I get tired of these people who believe that God is some conservative who thinks that all expression of human emotion is evil and corrupt. Meyers has effectively captured that emotion, and I am grateful to have an author who can enthrall her readers and help so many Americans and people across the world delve into the satisfying excitement of modern literature. To the accuser, try opening that mind of yours before it petrifies from lack of original thought.

Denver and the Jamaican Cowboy

Well, I won the bet. We are expecting a boy! Friday was a pretty exciting day for Stephanie and me. Around two o'clock, we had the ultrasound performed; it was a very special experience for us, and I suddenly found myself much more excited to be a dad. It really puts things into perspective, knowing that my son will watch the way I live my life and perhaps try to pattern his behavior after mine. Ever since the ultrasound, I have been planning camping, canoing, and other high adventure stuff that we can do together someday.

We drove to Denver after the ultrasound. To tell the truth, I hadn't realized just how far away Denver really was, and we ended up arriving to downtown Denver at 12:30 AM. We stopped at several hotels, but to tell the truth they all reeked of tobacco and looked like something out of a horror movie. Driving along the streets, we were a little alarmed to see how many drunk Mexicans that staggered along the sidewalks, not to mention the fact that all the houses and businesses had barred windows and doors. We finally found a Motel 6, but ended up asking for our money back after the electricity didn't work, the bathroom was dirty, and there was hair in our bed. We eventually made it to a Days Inn, where the lady offered to give us a room for thirty dollars off the original price of $90. We took it.

A Latino stood outside his door and greeted us with a drunken sentence as we climbed the filthy stairs toward the door of our room. He persisted a moment, and I spoke to him in Spanish. He offered us some beer and cigarettes, but I told him we were a little busy. He wanted to help, so I told him to go search on the opposite side of the hotel while we searched around there. He took off running, eager as a drunk man could be for finding a room number. Stephanie was scared out of her mind, because the intoxicated man was having trouble with his depth perception and kept leaning in a little too close for comfort, but eventually I was able to convince him to return to his room.

It wasn't the warmest welcome Stephanie had imagined. We didn't know that we had accidentally entered one of the poorest sections of Denver, and Stephanie just kept saying “This is why my parents have always lived in Utah! I miss Mormons!” I laughed until I was almost crying, it was so funny to watch her reaction to the drunkard. I thought he was hilarious, but perhaps it is because I am so used to speaking in Spanish to the borrachos de Ecuador.

Frankly, our visit was probably one of the worst little vacations we'd ever been on, although I am very excited to begin a new life in a place which will provide us with opportunities to grow and learn. I loved how there were several lakes within a radius of just a few miles of where we will be living.

Yesterday, we (the Carr family and us) called 911 on a guy who was acting very suspicious. He looked like a (as Josh put it) Jamaican cowboy crazy man, and was scoping out the area before hastily jumping into a jeep and driving off. He was wearing white gloves and opened the door without a key, so I ran down far enough to get the license plate number (okay, so I was off one letter....M's look like H's from a distance). It made us pretty popular in the park for a while after that; the cops came and the excitement drew other couples in from all parts of the park. The cops eventually figured out that the Jamaican cowboy was this crazy dude they've dealt with on a million different occasions, and they went over to his house. Apparently, he carries a gun, believes listerine to cure herpes (he's dumped it all over his head on a couple of occasions in the middle of department stores), has lead police on slow-speed, forced-stop chases through Provo and Orem, and lots of other stuff. The cop managed to drop the name of the street the guy lived on, so we all drove through there after leaving the park. After annoying just about every driver on the road with our slow, erratic driving, I told Josh to stop because I had seen the back of a gray jeep. It was him, and we drove into the parking lot to check it out.

It was a fun weekend.

Pieces of Perception

Lately I have pondered how my marriage has changed me life. Stephanie seems to be very quickly filling a void which took years to be carved in my soul. When we go for walks (usually to the duck pond), I love how she always curls her hand in mine and talks to the birds, asking them funny questions as well as mimicking their cackles and chirps. I have to hand it to her, she does a better quack than I thought people were capable of doing.

It is so interesting to me to observe how two people, so alike in many ways, have different tactics in personal expression. When we first got married, I felt somewhat like an ice cube. My life had been frozen for a long time, so packed with activities, goals and friends that I had lost the flow of my life. The first part of our marriage (even though we've only been married for about seven months) was a little difficult for me; it was as though I had been outside for a very long time in a heavy snowstorm, and my limbs hurt as I tried to gradually warm up to being at home. I had spent so many years trying to fill up my life so that I could avoid being home that I really had forgotten what it was like to organize my time so that I could be home more.

Every day I realize how lucky we are; we have been so comfortable with each other since the first day we went out, that now when we go through the changes of preparing for our baby in November we feel that it is the right thing for us. Stephanie has given me a completely different perspective on having a baby: instead of viewing it as something that will take away from our lives (concerning finances, time, etc), Stephanie views it as an improvement. Though it is true that our current roles will change, the baby will make it so more special when we are able to do things with each other. I am still figuring out how I will be able to be a dad, but I do know that having a baby will give us countless opportunities to show our unselfishness towards each other. I'm sure Stephanie will be wonderful in a lot of ways, having already half-raised her six younger sisters, and I am sure that I will be able to learn a lot from her, but I can't help but wonder if I am the only guy who isn't sure how good of a dad he will be to his little kid. My nephews and nieces come to visit, and though I love to see them I usually find myself at a loss as to what to do with them after only a few minutes. I have started making lists of fun, interactive things I will be able to do with our baby, because that will help me during the moments when Stephanie goes somewhere and leaves us to ourselves. I think I will be pretty nervous, and that the baby and I will probably observe each other for a while trying to comprehend who the other one is. I am excited for the experience, actually, and plan on teaching it some pretty cool stuff (I think I'll just give him or her lectures on microbiology for the first little bit of life, because I'm not sure what else I would say). Heck, I bet this little baby will be a wonderful study-buddy! I mean, nobody really wants to listen to a review on the function of phosphoglyceraldehyde in photosynthesis, but perhaps the little baby won't know the difference! To tell the truth, that kind of makes me excited....I saw a little newborn in a music video yesterday, and can't wait until it's our baby who is squirming in my arms trying to escape another lesson on macrolides.

Trap of Apathy

Have you ever seen a minnow trap? The two ends are shaped like funnels, narrowing down to a jagged end. The minnows enter the wide end and swim into the trap, unable to escape because they cannot find the tiny opening through which they entered. Really, our minds aren't terribly different from that of the minnow, except instead of being contained by steel mesh we are constantly finding ourselves trapped in our own ignorance. We take an illusion of knowledge and follow its intertwining wires until we are so far along that we aren't sure how to get out. Instead of escaping, we are trapped in the cage of apathy, and can only justify our utter ignorance by saying “I don't care” instead of “I did this to myself.”

There was a time when I attempted to teach a woman in Ecuador how to easily and economically purify her water by adding a tiny amount of bleach. Standing on the gray cobblestones of a steep street lined with cement buildings, we asked her if she would begin to purify her water. She put down her cigarette, puffed out her chest, and boasted to us that she never would never purify her water. I reminded her of the terrible implications of certain parasites commonly found in the drinking water, and she nodded her head and said “I know, I had a son who died from parasites when he was a teenager.” She never did agree to purify her water, and I could see that there was nothing so solid as pride in one's ignorance. She simply did not care, which meant that she was not accountable for change.

Jimmy Buffet effectively summarized the relationship between ignorance and apathy with his famous saying “Is it ignorance or is it apathy? Hey, I don't know and I don't care.” How many people refuse to vote in the presidential election because they claim to not be represented well! It is easier to complain than it is to take responsibility, something which our species seems to have developed beyond any other attribute.

It is always easier to not care, to watch instead of interact. How many of us admire those who are athletic, talented, musically inclined, intelligent, happy, and successful? If we admire them, then we should do something about it! When was the last time you tried to write your own story? Run your own race? Build your own table? Make your own music? As a great man once said, clear water runs on while still water becomes stagnant. Apathy and ignorance seems to be the best method of becoming stagnant, whereas taking responsibility and a little initiative may shake us up a bit but eventually filters out the gold which can make our lives priceless.

Tiempo de lluvia

Rain seems to be seeping into my very brain today; I ended up skipping my last three hours of class after what seemed to be an eternity of constant zoning in and out of the professors' lectures. Instead, I have been laboring away on a few term projects which will be due in the next several days. I sometimes feel like school is no different from a person spending years learning Japanese nouns. After they finish, he travels to Japan and is shocked to realize that he cannot communicate even the simplest of ideas, because he has learned no verbs or other parts of grammar. In other words, I spend hundreds of hours each semester learning material which would be useful if I was in a position to apply it, but in my present position I find myself forgetting everything very quickly.
The only thing of which the man has to boast is that he spent hours and hours memorizing nouns, and if he ever gets far enough to learn the grammar then he will be superior to others who have not learned the nouns. That is why we have certificates, diplomas, etc. They serve the purpose of demonstrating to our peers and prospective employers that we, though we may not understand very many things, have at least the work ethic necessary to learn how to connect the information we spent years acquiring.
I am boring even myself with what I am writing today. Last night, the bishopric paid us a visit; they sat on our extremely low and sinky couch, sliding down until their knees seemed nearly level with their faces. I could hardly keep myself from laughing at them during our conversation; nothing is as uncomfortable as sitting knees-up in a business suit. Stephanie, as soon as they had knocked, fled for the back bedroom to get dressed (she had been relaxing in her underwear) while I answered the door. It was a fun time, and Taylor (the second counselor to the bishop) invited me to go fishing with him and his father later this week, mostly because Taylor hates fishing and doesn't enjoy the idea of being stuck alone with his fanatical fly-fisherman father for very long; he needs an excuse to escape after a couple of hours.
Well, this is all I will write today. Chao.

Introduction

Today, I resolved to try something new. I feel like an old piano whose keys have lost their tone, and there must be something done so that I can regain a little bit of my original sound. I start blogging today in the hopes that perhaps I will be able to reach into the pile of my thoughts and grab ahold of something which may make a little more sense to myself than the muggy objects which seem to always be sinking deeper into my mind, gone before I even recognize them for what they are. I have titled it Determinatio, as in the medieval scholastic method; its purpose will be to help me determine my own motivations, thoughts, and viewpoints.
And so, this blog has now begun. I will include poems, perhaps pictures, and random thoughts or occurrences as they seem appropriate. Any meaningful commentaries are very much appreciated. I am a new client to the world of blogging, and am not even sure that my blogs will be visible to others, but that is irrelevant in that I write for no one in particular besides myself. And so, I begin.