Decision 2006

[Rudi]

Larry:

Now this is a post I can understand, agree with and wholeheartedly stand behind. Well said, well done.. . Not only that, but it applies to Canada as well as the US and probably every government in the WORLD today

Accountablility and Responsibility are two of my favourite mantra's for all those who hold office of some sort that affects their family/community/nation.

Alas, until personal greed, desire for fame and fortune and a yearning to somehow be remembered in the history books is removed from the mix, I am afraid we will have a hard time finding a majority of Good Honest Trustworthy men and women to give of themselves selflessly to serving their nations to balance those who seek fame and self import above the common good.

[Little Indy]

Alas, until personal greed, desire for fame and fortune and a yearning to somehow be remembered in the history books is removed from the mix, I am afraid we will have a hard time finding a majority of Good Honest Trustworthy men and women to give of themselves selflessly to serving their nations to balance those who seek fame and self import above the common good.

This was done at the birth of the USA but seems to have become quite rare. I was given a book The Course of Mexican History by the grateful widow of the author. The father of Mexico was captured by the Spanish and executed although he was a priest and the second in command was also captured and executed. The third in command was a disaster. His first official act was to have himself declared the Emperor of Mexico. He was eventually tried for treason. He was sentenced to death but allowed to leave the country and not be executed as long as he stayed out of the country. We were very lucky in the men who attended the birth of this nation. It has been done and could be in the future. My father ran for office but loss the primary by 14 votes on the recount. His comment: I would have made a better congressman but he (the guy who won) will do ok for OK.

He still thought that way years later.

There are good men and good women out there but they are discourage.

Richard

Mario Coumo was offered more money than Mickey Mantle to play ball for the NY Yankees but chose to go to Fordam Law School. I may not agree with his political philosophy but I have nothing bad to say about his character.

[400lbsonacubseatspring]

Larry...

First off.....idealogically, on an issue-by-issue count, I'm probably in agreement with you on 99% of things...............

The issues I can stomach......it's people who are multifaceted and duplicitous in nature, and cannot be trusted, therefore to be who they say they are. I find this to be particularly true of politicians.......

Yes. From a certain point of view, I suppose I do hide behind a wall of ideology and abstracts.... Perhaps this makes me sound a bit surreal.....

You see that, however is a spiritual matter.....I do believe that one's actions, and one's motivation must be accounted for. This also includes the chain of consequences, through the laws of cause and effect, that come from one's actions, and motivations.....

Eastern religions call this Karma.......

So, if I vote for Bob, thinking he is a good man, Bob wins, and later, Bob is found guilty of sexually abusing congressional paiges.....well, then I am just as guilty as Bob......via the laws of cause and effect....... I go to hell right along with Bob......

I believe this to be true of every man, not just me, by the way........

I find that the current 2 party system makes it too easy for a candidate to conceal his true nature. He could be a real monster, and let's face it, once in a while, we elect one.

Now, as far as suffering goes......who is suffering?? Everyone!!! In one way or another everyone is suffering. Members of our government, even at the lowest levels, are in a position to reduce suffering, or increase it.....(even the lowly clerk at the DMV could make your day go well, or poorly, depending on her choice, can't she??) .........

Reducing suffering everywhere they see it SHOULD be the #1 priority of all good men, and I'll admit that a lot of people do put a great deal of thought into the problem, albeit unknowingly.......

I don't always agree with you, either, Larry.....and isn't that just perfectly marvelous?? Otherwise we'd have very little to talk about.....

[Eugene]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061108/eln_cong ... .html?.v=4

[400lbsonacubseatspring]

Well Eugene,

There's fodder for quite a few threads there, isn't there???

The fuel issue is one that, so far, no one is taking very seriously, although it may mean the survival of our "freedoms" as a race as we know them, as I've warned time and again.

The Bush administration has covered the largest amount of ground on these issues.....in that, there has been the greatest amount of progress working towards alternative fuels under Bush, than any previous administration.

While from my perspective, it is much too little, and much too late, I have to consider the possibility that anyone else might do worse......

The fact that on the mountain above me, they are now constructing massive wind towers tells me that at least the proper incentives are in place, and evidently working.

Are we going to meet the Kyoto Protocols.....well, no....and, predictably, the rest of the world hates us for it.....does it matter??......no, because Kyoto is a joke, and a bad one at that...... It is as if $100 were needed to save a dying child, and Kyoto is offering $0.25, while the US is offering $0.10.......there truly is not much difference......

The fact that the auto industry is now concerned about the environmental impact of the products they make is a good sign......because any "real" tackling of the fossil fuel issue needs to come from the private sector....the fact that they expect the government to help solve the problem for them, however, is regrettable, and is the same claptrap we've been hearing from them for the last 40 years.......

[Eugene]

400. Boy, we are almost in 100% agreement.

My initial take, first read, was that the traditional US auto industry manufacturers was heading back to Congress to ask for another bailout. Funny thing. The builders of foreign named autos, built in the US, appear to be making money.

Alternative energy incentives are in place. Throughout the midwest wind turbines are going up at a pretty good clip. Almost as fast as the wind turbines are going up, state and local governments are looking for ways to extract revenue.

Guthrie County, Iowa recently passed an law exempting the equipment and buildings used to generate electricity from wind from property tax. If I have everyting correct, the land would still be taxed. If I read the article correctly, Guthrie County Supervisors enacted the law to reduce or eliminate efforts by the State of Iowa to capture additional revenue from wind powered electric plants.

Kind of an aside. I was watching an alternative energy program on TV. The program sponsor stated that he/his organization kept records on every gallon of biodiesel fuel and ethanol produced. They pay the federal government 16 cents a gallon tax.

Eugene

[400lbsonacubseatspring]

Well.....

Of course, in the ultimate, alternative energy producers will need to be taxed on the profit they make.....it's only fair....however, a good incentive to change the bulk of our energy use from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources, might be to tax fossil fuel usage more heavily.....

Why not?? We tax alcohol and tobacco because they are bad for us.... Fossil Fuels are just as bad for us.....possibly far worse, in the long run.... I pay twice what the citizens of Virginia pay for a pack of cigarettes, and I know that they are taxed plenty heavy in Virginia to begin with. I don't really get angry over it, because I understand the nature of the tax.....

There is a sad side to all of this, of course, because the US is sitting on coal reserves, of all 3 types, to carry us well into the 22nd century. We are the elephant, sitting before a mountain of peanuts, and expected not to eat any.... In a way, we are an elephant who has become allergic to peanuts.......

Getting our electric power sources weaned off of fossil fuels would be substantially more beneficial than attacking the motor fuel issue.....This, however, does not mean that we should ignore that matter in the meanwhile..... It just seems that we have the technology and the incentives to work on the electric power issues right now, while we're working on the motor fuel problem for the future...

[Peter Person]

Rather than try and come up with some "new" reason to vote, I chose to look back to the wise counsel of our founders.
This from Noah Webster is quite relevant even to this day.

When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, "just men who will rule in the fear of God." The preservation of government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be sqandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.

[Noah Webster, History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1832), pp. 336-337, ¦49.]

Peter

[400lbsonacubseatspring]

When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, "just men who will rule in the fear of God."

Peter,

Of course....but therein lies the rub.....

of course....."just men who will rule in the fear of God." doesn't mean....."simply men who will rule in the fear of God"....does it......it means "men who are just as in righteous of thought, word, and deed.

Find me one of these, on whom you would bet your immortal soul.....seriously......and literally......and I might be motivated........

[Rudi]

Rather than try and come up with some "new" reason to vote, I chose to look back to the wise counsel of our founders.
This from Noah Webster is quite relevant even to this day.

When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, "just men who will rule in the fear of God." The preservation of government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be sqandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.

[Noah Webster, History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1832), pp. 336-337, ¦49.]

Peter

Peter:

These are truly wonderful words which describe why each and every citizen in both our countries must excercise their franchise and vote for every single elected public office. If we do not, then we do not do as we are obligated to do.

I also think that it should be mandatory that ALL public Officials have to take mandatory Civics courses every few years to reaquaint themselves with not only their own obligations as to excercising their own franchise, but what their obligations are in accordance with representing those who elect them. Recall initiatives are fine, but if one does not understand why they are being recalled, then all is for naught.

I am glad you posted Noah Webster's thoughts on this.. as it is a clear definition of our obligation as citizens of our community, our province/state and our nations..

['Country' Elliott]

I voted (and obviously so did a LOT OF OTHERS in this GREAT COUNTRY of ours)!

What I REALLY OBJECT TO IS: Career Politicians (everyone seems to end up being one). AND...Telling us VOTERS about how BAD your opponant IS instead of tellin' us WHAT you're gonna do if we VOTE for ya!

SPIN DOCTORS SHOULD BE SPUN... RIGHT DOWN THE TOILET !!!

[400lbsonacubseatspring]

Of course...

Noah Webster is no particular hero of mine.....having confused 10 Generations on the particular spellings of common words, simply out of a sense of perversity doesn't seem particularly "heroic" to me. In one way, I suppose, he did further the cause of American Education, but by any other, he stamped this nation with his own sense of peculiarity.

The fact that our own Declaration of Independence, as well as our Constitution was penned in a language that none of us now completely understand without some "mental translation" is a testament to that perversity.

Additionally, even though he was of age, he chose to spend the Revolutionary war at Yale, instead of with the Militia.....

Nope........by today's standards, he would be guilty of draft-dodging, and misuse of the educational system......and his crimes in that department were much more injurious than the nonesense of "intelligent design".....

Not a hero of mine, by any definition.....

[Harold R]

Nope........by today's standards, he would be guilty of draft-dodging,

And a possible presidential canditate?

[PKS]

I stated in an earlier post why I believe it is important to vote but clearly we no longer have a representative government. I would be surprised to find many fellow citizens that feel truly represented by their government. Voting is the only way to force change under the current political system and ultimately remove "career" politicians. If we do not, the political climate will never change and the powerful and influential minority will continue to stay the course. The endless supply of "the two evils" or the two party candidates will also continue with the pathetic voter turnout in this country. The "hot button" issues that are repeatedly sensationalized by the media in every election serve to further divide and polarize and ultimately detract as well as demoralize the voters. It is ingenious.

I would love to see the slate wiped clean but the system is too entrenched and corrupt for that to happen. However, if we vote and remove these politicians, the message will slowly evoke change. We will never be able to do this with 35-50% of the country voting. The powerful minority continue to rule because they are the ones who have the majority voting.

Paul

[Rudi]

Tom:

I am kind of befuddled by these comments. I really am....

Noah Webster is no particular hero of mine.....having confused 10 Generations on the particular spellings of common words, simply out of a sense of perversity doesn't seem particularly "heroic" to me. In one way, I suppose, he did further the cause of American Education, but by any other, he stamped this nation with his own sense of peculiarity.

The fact that our own Declaration of Independence, as well as our Constitution was penned in a language that none of us now completely understand without some "mental translation" is a testament to that perversity.

Please clarify..

1. What do you mean by that? Is it the way that the words such as Labour, Honour, Valour, Colour and other examples have been changed to remove the letter "u". Was Noah responsible for that, or was it the later editors of the compendiums that created this new revised spelling

2. I am not sure I understand the rationale here either. Are you refering to the quote above? If so, then I am really confused because I find no difficulty whatsoever in understanding what he wrote. So I would be leary of the words "none of us now completely understand"

However, to me, it would make sense that there might be some difficulty in understanding the exact meaning of his writings, if the majority of his writings today are quoted in Olde English, but then again, seeing as it was written almost 300 years ago, by a man schooled in Olde English.. is would make sense that it would be written in a form and manner that was understood by men and women of His Day.. , and not in a form common to what has become normal usage today.