The Really Big Secret

Some on the Right and a few on the Left are concerned about the over reach of the NSA, I am not. The NSA (National Security Agency) is controlled by the Executive branch of our government with guide lines from our Legislative branch. Any law breaking or overreach by the NSA can be corrected by its Boss at any time. If the NSA is operating on its own (which I will never believe) it is a failure of leadership which to can also be corrected. Secrets are hard to keep even within our most sensitive areas of national security. It is not these secrets that worry me it is the “Big Secret”.

With the help of much of our once vigilant News Media, lust for political power and legislation of the heart not the mind many Americans have created and now protect the “Big Secret”. Politicians knowingly slit Liberties throat in exchange for power. Many Americans think Government printing presses are a good way to generate wealth. Many never think of the consequences of striping future generation’s wealth (vote buying) to fill our needs for today. If adults were sent bills from their children and grandchildren for the trillions we have stolen from them maybe some would change the way they vote but this is doubtful as human nature trumps the obvious when it comes to money.

The “Big Secret” that I am alluding to is the object failure of our 50 year “War on Poverty”. Since the beginning of the War on Poverty, our Federal and State governments have spent $18 trillion (in inflation-adjusted) on means-tested welfare. In comparison, all the military wars in U.S. history have cost a total of $6.4 trillion (also inflation-adjusted). Never mind the proven axiom “You can not do for people what they won’t do for them selves”. On March 16, 1964 President Johnson began the “War on Poverty” the poverty rate was 15% and falling from a 24% rate in 1959, after 50 years and 18 trillion dollars our poverty rate is at 15%. “We have bankrupted our children for nothing”, what a waste, some secret hey.

What is the status of Al Gore’s global warming?

I wonder if Mr. Gore’s God is aware of his lack of humility. Arrogance mainly based on political bigotry, is not a good thing. I am not a learned man but I do know weather predicted by religious prophets, internet creating political hacks and certified meteorologists is likely flawed. Most scientists agree Ice ages are cyclical. I humbly agree with this. It can be safely said we are probably heading into another ice age at some point in the future. The 3 miles of ice above our heads here in Wisconsin started melting about 10,000 years ago and glaciers have been receding with minor natural interruptions world wide ever since. I guess Al feels the co2 man generates will prevent an Ice Age from happening or slow its’ arrival. Maybe he believes we will have palm trees here in Wisconsin. I feel humbly and with very limited understanding that global temperature lags the change of ocean salinity and sun spot/magnetic activity, co2 having insignificant or no impact. I see an Ice Age coming at some point in the next 5,000 years or so, give or take, maybe, not eggs frying on permafrost. Over my life span on mother earth, I have witnessed chicken little’s predict a fast coming ice age, no oxygen, and ozone holes that will cover the earth tomorrow but tomorrow never comes. I have seen enviro zealots destroy peoples’ livelihood with overreaching laws as they dance on to their next Religious rapture. I have grown weary of group think, political driven science, and bull shit. By the way while working as an early tech (1971-1978) to develop multiuser microwave as well as land line data links and associated hard ware, Mr. Baran and DARPA ideas drove the work not Algore. Mr. Gore’s exact words to Wolf Blitzer were “I took the initiative in creating the Internet”. You like many self-aggrandizing politicians Al have created a credibility gap with me. As each successive generation of affluent occurs it seems to me we humans have more and more time to latch on and indulge in dogma and beliefs we are not really qualified to. I think we feel we must make sense of all the new knowledge generated. I do like Al Gore; he gives an old fart a reason to ponder life’s dilemmas. I am mindful we humans are all the same. We all live lives of quiet desperation only some are more desperate than others, at times, maybe, I think. If anyone knows when all the Polar Bears will die please let me know. Do the bears die only when a Republican is in office much like there are only homeless people when a Republican is President, I need to know these things?

 Oscar the Pig

Oil or grease, will I get mine?

Like many I am a little down today after a visit to the gas station. Really need to take a break from political crazies but I will dive in once again. Heard the first Federal Government task force charged to get us off foreign oil was 1973. 7 presidents and 38 years later and we still have no leadership on what some say is our most critical issue.  Our dependency went from 36% to now 66% dependency on foreign oil. There is little we as individuals can do as the Right is afraid to do anything that might raise prices for energy and the Left is busy greasing cronies and other entitled while adding another floor to our house of cards. The answer is outside political party turf as we defend our personal self interest our leaders only fiddle away. No side has done anything “for we the people” on this critical need of our nation. As fuel prices push to $5 a gallon as a result of printing worthless money, Mideast turmoil and purposeful Government action against free people helping themselves, we stand to suffer continued pain from our division and gutless politicians. The answer is not drilling more natural gas, it is not drilling more oil, it is not more nuclear, it is not more hydro, it is not more coal, it is not more green, it is not more conservation; it is all of the above and more. We must bite yet another bullet and sacrifice as we suffer higher energy prices but we must be suffering higher prices while we end foreign dependency and its traps. Now if we could just get our leaders to act and not just give us lip service while they exploit our bigotry and differences for their personal gain that would really be something. I feel our situation in regard to collective action is hopeless and see only continued rancor and selfishness with both entrenched camps slitting our nation’s throat. If current tiny efforts to reduce our credit card largess scheme for buying votes are any indication about “we the peoples” willingness to sacrifice, we are in very serious trouble (WEAC). Our political leaders have the grease thing down well but the oil thing looks like another impossible dream.

Oscar the Pig.

Some history about Public Unions

FDR wrote to the president of the National Federation of Federal Employees in 1937, Roosevelt reasoned: "... Meticulous attention should be paid to the special relationships and obligations of public servants to the public itself and to the government. All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations ... The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for ... officials ... to bind the employer ... The employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives ..."Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of government employees. Upon employees in the federal service rests the obligation to serve the whole people ... This obligation is paramount ... A strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent ... to prevent or obstruct ... Government ... Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government ... is unthinkable and intolerable." FDR had Labor unions in his pocket and his Socialist tendencies swooned many who eyed Government (tax payer) to take care of their needs. FDR’s take on Public Unions should not be ignored. Many of our fiscal issues at the state and local levels are the result of dancing with the devil FDR knowingly warned us of. --- New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. jolted the public sector union movement into life when in 1958 he gave city employees the right to collectively bargain, in the process making them valuable political allies in his reelection bid and igniting a series of similar moves by other politicians in cities and states across America. What happened next confirmed the fears of many critics. The 1960s were a time of government strikes, including several dozen in September of 1966 by teachers that shut down school systems in some of our largest cities. When cities and states responded with laws outlawing strikes among government workers, unions developed a new strategy, concentrating their firepower in state capitals and city halls to elect leaders sympathetic to their cause. Over time they’ve become the biggest players in places like Sacramento, Albany and Madison, and such a permanent presence that every effort at reform is eventually undermined. --- Now we are where we are at with Public Unions. The long term crony relations between Politicians and Public Unions will not go away willingly. Just imagine if the Steel Workers Union was giving union due kickback money to U. S. Steel executives they bargained with, I am sure this private worker union and the executives wouldn’t want to give up their crony relationship either. The national Public Unions want automatic tax payer funds restored for their coffers, apparently they worry their Wisconsin members won’t pay their dues without the State forcing members to pony up the graft. They want the graft in law once again to ensure their tax payer funded payments to politicians. They have Wisconsin “recalls” as a priority sometimes ahead of President Obama’s reelection. They plan to spend as much as they can glean from tax payer funds to accomplish their goal. I would like to thank those who contributed to this history; their words rang true long ago and still haunt us now.

Let us not ignore FDR again. I am Oscar the Pig.

Srebrenica memorial points finger at UN.

Once while taking a vacation to Germany I wanted very much to go to Munich and take in the October Fest. The October Fest is in September and during my two week stay the weather was bright blue skies and 75-80 degree days you could not have asked for better weather so we took the train from Aschaffenburg to Munich. Our host was our daughter she was more than gracious and took very good care of us. The train sped past an old U.S. Army Kaserne near the Town of Augsburg. While in the service I had longed to be stationed there. Augsburg was one of a few possible locations I could get orders for. I thought then and I still think the Hofbräuhaus in Munich is the Eighth Wonder of the World and Augsburg was close enough. Now Augsburg once a cutting edge Flare 9 site is overgrown and abandoned. I felt the loss like a ton of bricks and shed a tear on the way by. The date was September 2002 a year after 9/11 and the U.S. Government had requested us Americans be low profile while in Germany. German soldiers had patrolled my daughters housing area with machine guns as well as manning 50 Cals at the entrances. After receiving the warning about low profile I promptly dawned my Minnesota Viking Jersey and hat and wore them proudly every where in Germany. I thanked German Guards for their service and help at every opportunity. I digress. The train ride from Aschaffenburg to Munich was mainly uneventful even with the three train changes and vomit on the platforms to dodge. October Fest is a busy time in the Munich area and hotel rooms are scarce so we ended up taking a very pleasant room in a small hotel in Dachau a few miles away. After settling in our room we took the short train ride to the October fest. A very good time was had by all as we spent most of the day in the Hoffbrau Tent. A German wearing a Reggie White Packer Jersey translated for us and except for the jersey was great to be with. The singing of “Country Roads Take me Home” was loud and enjoyable and the 200 or so Chinese Men singing along, not missing a word, was very impressive. I later learned the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping had been entertained by John Denver at the Whitehouse and after that the only American music he would allow in China was John Denver tunes. The highlight of the day was when a Finn hockey player that wanted my “John Henry”, so I wrote “Packers Suck” on the back of his Jersey. After another unwanted beer in the Hofbräuhaus downtown we caught the last train to Dachau. The next day not feeling too chipper we toured the Dachau Concentration Camp. My history of the events at Dachau lacking, I was not prepared for the true horror of events there. Dachau was just the main Camp in a Socialist Industry of the torture and killing of people. Dozens of feeder camps throughout Bavaria feed the ovens at Dachau. Thousands of German civilians and military worked in the grizzly business for this one system from H E double hockey sticks. The story that German civilians were unaware of the genocide is a lie. Bought off by a government job and “Free” health care they dutifully did the dirty work for the National Socialists. A big shock for me was the brass plaques enshrined there from many nations. I could imagine the officials from all the countries who attended the ceremony to place their countries plaque, these two faced shriveled little hypocrites from “Socialist Democracies” swearing to the world this genocidal abomination would not be allowed to occur again. Me a simple man knowing full well from 1975-1979 that 1.5 million innocent people were killed in Cambodia because the Regime feared the adults were tainted by free enterprise and thus separated the children from the adults and used the kids to massacre their parents. No one or country helped.  Me a simple man knew 1 million were hacked to death out of bigotry in Rwanda in 1994. No one or country helped. The Balkan genocide, rape camps of Muslim women the entire world watched for years. Too little help, too late.  I had to read the plaque at Dachau from my own nation, the gutless lies before me engraved in stone, the horror. I was and still am haunted by the words in English and other languages prominently displayed on a stone wall “Never Again”. Do people from the former Yugoslavia have a right to complain about the gutlessness of a selfish world, you bet they do?  The Darfur insanity, genocide, rape, and government induced starvation, the children suffering the most, we stand by and watch, I guess it is entertainment for our leaders. That reminds me I still got to check to see if the Government will pay for my Viagra prescription. I do wonder if that Pupfish is doing well out west, they are endangered you know. Oh well got to go to the store, T-Bones on the grill tonight, thank God for them Food Stamp Cards, couldn’t afford steak when I was working.

 I am Oscar the Pig

Nattering nabobs of negativism. Who me?

I see the things around me and I am concerned. I see friends, relatives and a nation seeking drugs to find the easy way out. I watch as parents and the State drug our children to avoid doing their jobs. I have to listen to these same people justify the drugging of our children and justify their use of legal and illegal drugs that are destroying the core of their being. I have to watch the news about the killing, maiming and terror of the drug trade on our borders, in our cities and rural communities. All the horror and destruction enabled by the purveyors, users and justifiers of illegal drugs. These purveyors and users give new meaning to the words selfishness and blindness. I see people using prescription drugs to hide from themselves or society or simply addicts trying to be legal. I had to watch my good friend, forged in the crucible of war, for 27 years justify his prescription drug use and the need for society to accept his drug of choice till his death at 47, no one should have to see this. I have to watch as alcohol users bad mouth drug users, this is very hard to take when I know, and we all know alcohol is the greatest misery creator on earth. I see welfare remove the father from the family. I see the high taxes cause mothers to work even when a father takes responsibility and the children suffer. I see the wealthy get higher Social Security payments than the broken down 55 year old disabled laborer. I see the retired driving fancy cars and motor homes. I see the young families struggle the make ends meet, having to subsidize their retired wealthy neighbors. I watched my Government give hard earned tax dollars, first in welfare checks, and then school lunches, then food stamps, then school breakfast, then after school feeding, and finally WIC, and some children still go hungry with no parental responsibility required. I watched as a mining town had its’ mine closed by the Government and then it’s’ people locked into perpetual dependency by welfare, food stamps, social security, and IRRRB. I see as these same people scramble and cheat to get on disability, all the cogs of a culture of no responsibility created by our government. I watched as young pregnant women were presented with many choices. To get married and move on as a family, to live at home with their parents, to get federal grants for school and move on in life, to kill their fetus, to be given an apartment and receive welfare, all I knew took the apartment and welfare. Most remained trapped for 20 plus years, having kids at the prescribed time to continue or enhance benefits, yes they got pay raises.  I see the gutless politicians never working to correct the failed enabling nature of socialist programs only adding ever more spending and programs. Never understanding you can not do for others what they will not do for themselves. I see as our poor areas in large cities are maintained by the State. The sinister good will of the State destroying people’s live with dependency. I have watched as these “Ghettos” have become places where the local police dare not tread. And no one cares. You may well ask why don’t people move out and make a better life for themselves. I saw this first hand; the State sucks your very ability, self worth and social skills to grow as a human. I see well off retired citizens suck more and more from Nanny Government, never seeing it is their neighbors, children, and grandchildren who must pay. Always thinking the government pays or worse think they paid in for all they get. I have seen young relatives on welfare get grants for school and turn down jobs after because it required them to move or welfare benefits “Paid better”, always easily justified. I have also seen relatives spend their grant money on things other than training and not go to the training with no consequences. I see our governments pick and choose winners and losers, treat groups and people different with no outrage from my fellow citizens. I see my fellow citizens giving their freedom to the Government in the name of their own insecurity not understanding their insecurity will pass when they themselves do something about it or they pass. I see my fellow citizens ignorant of the sacrifice our fore fathers made for freedom and current defenders of freedom. Out of their ignorance I have to stand by and watch as they put their faith and trust into an ever power hungry government. Blinded by the lure of “free” government money or projecting their feelings about others, they will destroy our freedom and many politicians with a lust for power will help them. When the electorate shows a reverence for a leader, it is a truly unnerving spectacle. The Socialist people of North Korea revere their leader while starving and into the grave. Our Socialist fools do not understand they have hitched up to the wrong horse. They are sacrificing their own freedoms too and in the end they will get what all socialist get, a stagnant society sprinkled with government excesses like scapegoating other peoples or countries, choosing winners and losers, the killing of land owners, the killing of the handicap, the killing of old people, the killing of the opposition in general, I guess that’s me. And why is this so, as people become more and more unhappy with the less and less productive nature of socialism, the government in order to give the party members their due, will raise the cost of bread and we will riot in the streets like they do in Argentina. The government, to hold on to power, will then give the people an enemy to blame and the excesses will begin. Remember there will be no religious, moral, or spiritual underpinning other than faith in the almighty “Big Government”.  If you think this is not true, I should remind you the “Left” has already brought forward some “boogie men” by labeling several groups as unworthy of our “Socialist Heaven”. These groups are, Big Oil, Big Medicine, Christians, Wealthy, successful Entrepreneurs and self reliant people or groups. Take “Big Oil” for example. This industry has thousands of evil workers, very well paid, they can afford to send their kids to college and have no need for “Big government”. This can not be, and will be one of the first victims of “Big Socialism”. I see our country having ever increasing want and less and less productive businessmen and workers, because after all, the pays the same. A personal example, while living and working in the Twin Cities area a transfer required my family and me to move to another suburb. I wasn’t a bourgeoisie yet, so I was looking for rental property. We found a new townhouse development and stopped in to check it out. The wife and kids loved it so I sought out the rental office. The office worker told me the monthly rent was $350 per month; I thought wow $200 dollars less than I was paying and a better place. (Ignorance is bliss.) The clerk, I didn’t know why, had me fill out an income statement and then told me I didn’t qualify to live there. What you talking about “Willis”? The clerk told me I made $50 too much, what? He said this was government subsidized housing and I would have to pay the full $550 per month. I ran out of that Commie Pinko hole. I never heard of such BS. I always intended to pay what the rent was, $350 or $550 what is going on? Numbers raced through my head, my Government would never do this to people. I recently got a $75 merit pay raise, for you Socialists and unionists that means, I worked hard and was rewarded for it. The numbers told me my less than stellar co-worker who didn’t get the raise would qualify for the reduced rate and even though he was unproductive and made $75 less than me he would get a $200 subsidy putting his income per month $125 above mine. I found myself wanting to put garlic around my neck and hold a cross out. This was not the way of my Government, it couldn’t be. But it was. That was 29 years ago. By the way this is what the “Left” calls Economic Justice. I guess I had it coming for working hard. I do hope my old co-worker was not permanently locked into low achievement as the result of being paid for it. Why do these Socialists want us to go down this garden path even though a privately schooled 5^th grader knows Socialism will fail? Because they fear their religions faith in “Party”, “Big Government” or “Charismatic Leaders” will prove false and they must push forward with their beliefs to show their beliefs to be true. The same old story, long taught in history to be one of the biggest human failings “Pride”. This is “exactly” the same false pride sweeping the Muslim world and some Christian groups and our home grown Socialist Fools don’t see it. We do not all fit into the same square hole. I am as worried as a chubby girl working in the State Department oops I forgot, oral sex isn’t sex, like economic justice isn’t Socialism. The average wage and benefits for American private sector workers is about $27, the public worker average is $39, I can see the tears of pride in many an old member of the “People’s Commissar”. The time may soon be at hand when we need to “find our Freedom again” if not for ourselves, for the children. I truly believe all of us are trying to be the best we can in life, but we must never let our pride keep us defensive or not seeing the whole picture and consequences of what we do, no matter the intensions. Please choose wisely when voting. Nattering-yes, negativism- yes, and nabob- I don’t qualify.

I am Oscar the Pig.

La,La,La,Bla,Bla,Bla

I believe in low taxes, limited government, strong defense, free markets, personal responsibility, and individual liberty. By the way this is also a plank of the “Log Cabin Republicans” platform. This makes me a political conservative. Socialists believe in high taxes, excessive government, limited defense and controlled markets. This makes them, the current connotation “liberal”. But one must remember we as humans, are all the same. We all have the same wants and needs. So why do some choose be so bigoted and hateful in the political arena. Many are one issue people who are blind or unwilling to see that supporting one side or the other by default forces them to go against their own beliefs on other issues. The lessening of Religious teaching and beliefs has caused many people to worship politicians and political dogma to fill the void. The results are a more selfish orientated society. “Tocqueville” The lessening of Religious teachings and individual growth has caused our 230 year experiment in multicultural freedom to be stressed. By default a free society must have good people who follow the “Golden Rule” “Again Tocqueville” Some are so blind they don’t realize mankind has danced through most human issues before. For thousands of years mankind lived under some form of tyranny. 1776 was a rebuke of tyranny of government, not an easy road or small change. The United States is at a crossroad. Remember all people are the same. Some people put down Homosexuals, some Homosexuals put down Religious People, both are wrong and both point to the lesser side of human nature we all have, neither is applying the golden rule, sad, very sad, especially for so-called Religious people who should know better. As a human I have trouble accepting some people who use their Religious or other beliefs to kill those whom they hate thus fear. The Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths are great and wonderful Religious centers, but some Humans have used twisted selfish interpretations of their faiths to justify bigotry and the killing of the innocent. Humans have twisted all religions. That doesn’t make religion wrong, it makes some humans wrong. As Humans we put other people down to lift ourselves up, it is our nature. But as humans we can use Religion to guide self growth and understanding to overcome this shortcoming and not to do so, speaks volumes of our selfish nature. That is to say, some people can see when we slam or put down others we are only boosting our insecure little fearful minds, (not a good thing to display to the world). I try to remember when I point a finger at someone or groups three of my fingers are pointing at me. I must constantly remind myself, hate is the result of fear, and that fear must be routed out or the hate will consume my human spirit. Group think fits our human nature well too; it adds support to our beliefs. (Politicians use this human failing to their benefit to gain power). But group think laced with judgments and bigotry only shows we can get support for our innate fears and shortcomings (spurred on by power hungry politicians). It is when this lethal combination occurs; we generate fear in others and soon justify the chastisement and killing of them. Religion must be used for correcting our shortcomings and fears, never to garner support or to enhance our fear to hate. Human growth and understanding is a continuous process; it is not easy or for the faint of heart, it is truly the hardest human endeavor. To sit locked into our own fears is a much easier path, but that is not a good thing. Both Religious and Political fervor can lead to the death of others; that is Human nature and can never be stopped. We as individuals can only dampen its’ inevitable outcome and try not to be a part of it. Rodney King said it best with the question; “Can’t we all just get along?” The answer is;” no” if we don’t work to overcome our fears. Remember as humans we seek support, justification and affirmation for our beliefs and fears. We almost never seek to change even when our conscience tells us to. Not working daily to overcome our shortcomings makes us our own worst enemy.

A point of view and food for thought, I am the Oscar The Pig a Portly Grand Mystic Nobel of the Shrine. LOL