Paradise Lost

 

 

Paradise Lost was a poem written a couple of century's ago.  Yet it is applicable today more so then ever.  Based on the Garden of Eden story, Milton writes on how this one little violation of law crumbled paradise. 

When people traveled to the New World there was not any organization of law of the land.  It was do as do used to do in the old world….. maybe.  People point a religious persecution as one of the main reasons to leave home and cross the ocean.  This persecution is a very small reason for people going to the New World.  There was lots of greed and covetousness to acquire riches and live like royalty.

Parallels the story of Adam and Eve to the growth of the United States.  When the New World was discovered, there were no laws.  Adam and Eve had but one law, do eat of the fruit of the two trees.  Live and enjoy the land but the temptation of the forbidden fruit was more then they could resist.  The violation of one simple law brought banishment from paradise.  Even after they left the Garden of Eden, God’s man struggled to follow the rules of God. 

In Exodus, God gives man ten simple little commandments and man still defies these rules.  So later in Exodus, God provides some more rules man on how to live with his fellow man.  Even then man struggles to live in the rules.  So some more rules are added.  The temptations are so great that many fall prey to them.  So more rules are brought forth.  Even after God finished with His commandments, the secular people added more rules.  Soon rules of life filled volumes of books. 

No longer did man live in a paradise of a couple of rules.  Man was now a captive to volumes of laws.  and the slave masters had become the lawyers….. lawgivers. 

Now compare the birth of the United States.  How many laws were there,  Well the first set of rules… The Articles of Confederation were scrapped and replaced The Constitution.  The Bill of Rights was added and all together they filled up maybe five pages.  These two documents have not changed, the Constitution has been amended numerous times and out of this volumes of laws have been written.  Our lives are now regulated by hundreds of thousands of laws. There are federal laws, state laws, county laws, city laws and special; district laws.  Large libraries are needed just to house all the law books. 

No longer does man have a simple life of a few laws or ten commandments.  His paradise has been lost.  Well not lost but given to the lawyers. 

Every time a new law is passed in the United States, some one’s freedom is diminished/restricted. 

A mind set has grown that if we pass a new law, we can solve our problems.  So we go crying to law makers.

If you feel a sting in your foot, it is probably from the bullet where you shot yourself in the foot. 

So how is Paradise Regained???????

Small Town America

 

Scattered across the land are a variety of small villages.  Many have disappeared into ghost towns or been absorbed into a metro-plex.  In my travels, I try to avoid the Interstate and travel the old two land black tops.  Time limits me on haw of these little burgs I can tarry in.  I enjoy the old store fronts, that classic brick buildings and their details and the occasional wood frame that is still standing.

The little towns reveal a character that is disappearing.  So many want big things, including big cities.  So the little towns get left behind, the politicians over look them and they struggle to live on.

What kind of stores were they?  Some are obvious because the sign is still there.  Others is left to the imagination.  The butcher, baker and candle stick maker all had shops.  There would have been harness shops, the livery, shoe repair, moving picture houses, boarding/rooming houses, the drug store and oh yes… the local greasy.

There is the trash barrel a burning, keeping the insects down and doing their earth day trash burning.

Then there is the junk collector, usually disguised as a repair garage and oh yeah, thing are repaired there.  Be prepared for lots of hot air ushering out when passing by.

Small towns operate at a different pace.  They are not toied to the hectic frenzy of the big cities.  Yet they keep their eye on the markets, pay attention to the news around he world and generally are pretty savvy of what happening.   They tend to be pretty independent and take care of themselves, democrat or republican. 

Most are prosperous and many are millionaires.  One thing is the work ethic, they work when it is time to work.  This is the pace the big city slickers do not understand.  For they tend to see them as laid back and moving at the pace of a snail.  Well if that what their crop is, snails, that’s how fast life moves for them.

Then there are the towns that are next to the Interstate.  No longer is there a town center.  Things have moved to the fast pace of the cross country slab.  The highway used to jog through town and business had sprung up next to the road to serve the traveler.  The Interstate left these places high and dry.  A few hang on and survive, clinging to a life dream. 

Yet as long as there are back roads I will travel them, peeking through a window in to a time that is disappearing. 

I will search out the buildings, watch the trains and enjoy the brief moments.  The pace moves with the balance of nature.  It is not forced, hectic and a person does not feel harried. 

As people insist on bigger things, cars, trucks, homes, stores… etc, the small towns will continue to shrink. 

Windows into the Past

 

In my wanderings, I will roam through some of the small towns.  Seldom do I travel the Interstate any more.  I prefer the slower pace of the old two lane highway.  Many I have driven before, now I see things I used to fly past. 

I put some extra time into my trips now so I can pause for a bit at some of the more interesting things. 

Many of the smaller towns are fading, less farms and ranches to support the communities and the with the Interstate, people whiz on down the road.  Many building sit empty, ghosts of another era now walk the floors, open the doors. 

 

 

Other days, they were active little hubs, people came and went.  Now they are collectors of ghostly webs spun from the past.

 

Sometimes these old buildings get a new life.  An out of towner sees one and wants it or sees an opportunity.  Occasionally it is a retiree that likes to fix things up.  A small section gains new life and old falling apart sections gain a new look. 

Then the new owner moves on or passes on and the new life building fades back into the past again. 

Sometimes it is hope faded.  A vision came to fruition soon to fade.  Empty the building sits, reminder of a hopes that was not shared.  There is a lure of country life.  There is also a harsh side of the romantic notions.  Too many people see nothing and pass by, pausing not to savor the country. 

Many a dream sits dimly in repose.  Days of different life, lived at a different pace.  The siren song of the big city drawing the masses.  Listen to the ghosts talk.  hear the dreams lived out, fading into oblivion. 

New desires and wants cover over the old.  Wanting the new, buries the past. 

I trundle down the road, capturing moments, freezing them into pixels.  Later times, I return to see vacancies.  My memories are all I see. 

Short Prairie Clip

 

I have developed a fascination for things that move on the high plains.  This recent video is a contrast between two different types of energy sources.  Note that not all things are not moving or spinning.  Things malfunction/break, hence they stop.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eQPFdYgDVw

The area has become a mini energy center.  There are wind turbines that stretch for about 35 miles and 8-15 miles wide.  The oil filed is even a larger swath across the grassland but it is spotted.  The oil wells are not as large as the wind turbines nor do they look as obnoxious.  Then that’s my opinion.  But both are a blight on what was once a pristine pastoral farm and ranch land. 

Government Programs

 

Today there is lots of conversation over the governments healthcare program, known as Obamacare.   The government has been doing programs like this for years and a few can be traced back to the mid 1800’s.  A few were successful, most were failures and almost all have run their course but still are on the books.  One of the biggest government giveaways was the Homestead Act.  Million of acres was available for those who would put forth some effort and settle in what was perceived as a desert.

The other big land give away was the Pacific Railroad act.  This one made big money for a few moneyed people in the 1860’s and is still paying big dividends to the railroads today.  A railroad has more power then most cities and towns.  It also gave big chunks of land to the barons of the rail.  Today the Union Pacific Railroad makes more money off their land holdings and mineral rights from these government giveaways. 

It was the governments way of promoting businesses to build things, dangle the carrot out there and watch people chase the money.   It became a practice that is still going on today but so few were successful.  When a program fails, it tends to stay on the books and other ones crawl out of the woodwork to fix the goofy ones. 

Yet behind all these programs is big money.  The financial money bags tend to rake in big bucks.  Recently it was reported that some financial company executives had annual incomes of over 2 billion dollars a year.  These are not investors, manufacturers, they are speculators, gamblers.  When they hit big….. it is big….. when they fail, they drag others down with them.

This is what happened to the railroad speculators in the mid 1800’s.  Numerous railroad companies were formed to get money, in various ways but only a few actually built a railroad of any type.  They got big money though and there were all types of scandals. 

 

Hundreds of people hitch their dreams only to see them die in the swarm of speculation and greed.  Railroads advertised land along their route as being great farm land and people traveled out west to settle on the dream of a new life.  Sweat was spent building a life and a few years later the dream was a figment because of failed government policies and greed.  Crop prices had soared through the roof, people farmed more land, financed more property to chase the dollar of big prices on crops,  All based on government houses of cards and fueled by greed. 

In 1929 the market crashed.  Fortunes were lost and farm prices fell right along with the market.  Behind all this was the money people and poor government policy.  The big money markets had speculated  and lost.  Resulting in lots of other people becoming losers.  Greed fueled most of the speculation, individuals get big money and the government gets more money.

Where was common sense, probably on a tropical vacation dreaming of…………..?

When I look back at the bad times, I see government intrusion as being the primary culprit and greed being a motivating factor.  Government interference in the economy has been a failure over the centuries but it is not taught that way in the colleges.

Then the little thing, how we all want just a bit more money.  Greed is a big times culprit. 

Now the big question…… How to get big brother back in his hi chair and out of lives.  The roles of various government levels in not well defined and is understood even less by most people.

The Daily Intrusion of Politics

 

It gets to be aggravating all the runs and corners one travels and there is Big Brother.  It is amazing how many different places government is any more.  Operate a small business, hire a clerk just for the government paperwork.  Send a kid off to school, the teacher spends more time doing paperwork then teaching.  Try to take a tire to a landfill, get ready for writers cramps and open the purse.  Look at all that is required to get a driver’s license.  The laundry list just grows.  Oh my favorite, the smoking laws.

Every time a new law is passed, someone loses a bit of freedom.  People sometimes just do not grasp that.  Laws go cross board and are supposed to be evenly applied.  So if a law is for a special interest, choices around that are lost.  If I pass a law to stop a certain behavior, what other behaviors will it impact.  Freedom in a small space has been restricted, a touch of freedom has been lost. 

But when one gets adamant about controlling other people through laws, they lose sight that the law is just as applicable to them.  That is why some laws have exemptions in them.  So are laws with exemptions Constitutional?

Now we have a new law, referred to as obamacare.  How many freedoms are lost in this so called affordable healthcare act.  No longer can I go out and buy my own health package, I have to go through a government agency.  Forget the costs, look at the duress the government puts on the citizens it is supposed to serve.  If I do not got through a government agency, I am fined, even if I chose t opt out.  It was ruled a tax….. interesting, if I refuse something, I am taxed. 

Taxes are one of the most forceful things the government has.  The government agency that collects the taxes, Internal Revenue Service, has very compelling powers.  It is probably one of the most feared agencies in the government.

Yet that is how other government agencies are headed, fearful.  Many are no longer to serve the people that support them.  They make tremendous demands on the populace and if there is not compliance, the government agents show up on the doorstep. 

So how did we get to this growing police state.  Lots has to do with the politicians.  Most are not interested in government.  They want the perks of the office, become personalities.  So they focus of being re-elected rather then biting the bullet and doing some things that are not real popular.

Look at all of the different penalties that are paid to government and what do we get back……. more bickering.  The federal government gets way to much money and they do not care about the little man any more.  Just who will the next big donor be for re-election and when will they be on TV.  Government is out of control but to get it back to serve the citizens is the next thing.

Things WE Approve Of

 

Read the other day that the president's approval rating was over 60%.  That’s higher then his reelection margin was.  Couple of things strike me, what are we approving and is it a real poll.

To approve what the president is doing indicates what the society wants from the government. 

As a society we say that it is okay to have high unemployment, low job creation and an expanding poor class of citizenry.  There are now over 50 million people on food stamps, poverty, and I don’t know how many of welfare.  As a country, this is what the majority of citizens that live in it want, a growing lower class of citizens, a shrinking middle class.

The citizens also approve of the violation of the law.  Recently the courts stated that Obama had violated the Constitution.  He has been accused of that numerous times.  Look at illegal immigration, the buzz topic now.

Then there is the use of executive order, getting the bureaucracy to make regulations that impose a burden on business.  One of the biggest complaints of business is the excess rules and regulations. 

Then there is the healthcare.   So many want from the government yet who will pay.  The fat cats, the super rich will be taxed at a higher rate.  60% of the citizens approve of higher taxes. 

They also approve of belittling the republican party.  It is okay to demonize others but don’t say anything about me.  It is amazing what people approve of.

So really what does one approve of.

Is it really 60% of the people that approve of Obama’s job.  Do people really like to see others out of work.  Do they like to see people falling into poverty.  Do they like to pay higher taxes so a few can get richer.

Does the media like to twist data around so that people are  glorified at the expense of others while demonizing others.  Why has the media become so hateful.

To me it is embarrassing to see so many people out of work and subsisting on the government dole.  The richest country in the world can not help its citizens find work, help create jobs.

This is the third recession I’ve lived through.  It is also the longest.  Even under Jimmy Carter the turn down only lasted a couple of years.  And then when the next president tried a stimulus it did not work.  Then the government has not been very successful in moving the economy.  Something politicians can't get a handle on.

So What is it we really are approving, poverty and a down trodden society….. is that the legacy you want.

The Myth of Global Warming

 

Found the following article interesting in that it points to things the global warming people do not address.  One is photosynthesis and the heat content of water as opposed to the content in air.

High school science class was learning the process of photosynthesis.  The balance the atmosphere keeps because of this process.  If there was an overabundance of carbon in the atmosphere, breathing would be difficult.

 

 

 by Steve Goreham

Originally published in The Washington Times

December 7, 2009 is a date that will live in infamy. Not only in memory of the attack on Pearl Harbor, but the day the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared carbon dioxide to be a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.

The 52-page EPA Endangerment Finding can be summarized simply. The agency concluded that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases emitted by US industry and vehicles were causing dangerous global warming. The EPA stated that these gases “…threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations.” The agency relied on studies by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations, the U.S. Global Climate Research Program, and the National Research Council.

That ruling is bizarre. Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. It is an invisible, odorless, harmless gas. It does not cause smoke or smog. The rising visible plumes from the smokestacks of a power plant are not CO2. That’s condensing water vapor. We can’t see carbon dioxide.

The EPA ruling failed to include nature’s largest greenhouse gas, water vapor. Scientistsestimate that 75 percent to 90 percent of Earth’s greenhouse effect is due to water vapor and clouds. As any eighth-grade chemistry student learns, burning hydrocarbon fuel produces both carbon dioxide and water vapor. When natural gas (methane) is burned, two water vapor molecules are produced for each carbon dioxide molecule. Since water vapor is a greenhouse gas produced by human industry, the EPA should declare water a pollutant by its own logic.

Rather than being a pollutant, CO2 is green! Carbon dioxide is plant food, a compound essential for plant photosynthesis. Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies show that higher levels of atmospheric CO2 cause plants to grow faster and larger. Wheat, orange trees, pine trees, hardwood trees, prairie grasses, and even poison ivy thrive in higher levels of CO2.

Plants grow larger root systems, produce more seeds and vegetables, and bloom larger flowers with more CO2. Tree wood density increases. Plants grow better in poor soil and drought conditions with higher levels of atmospheric CO2. In fact, if we wanted to put one compound into the atmosphere that would be great for the biosphere, carbon dioxide is that compound. Yet, almost every university and company now tracks the size of its “carbon footprint” and tries to reduce carbon emissions.

But isn’t it true that too much of anything can be bad for the environment? Yes in the case of real pollutants such as carbon monoxide or lead, but carbon dioxide is a harmless compound that is common in nature. The 2007 IPCC Carbon Cycle Model estimated that the atmosphere contained 750 billion tons of carbon in the form of CO2 with an additional 38,000 billion tons of carbon dissolved in the oceans. Mankind adds a comparably small 6 billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere each year.

The current atmospheric level of 394 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide is actually somewhat on the low side. Dr. William Happer of Princeton University points out that atmospheric CO2 reached several thousand ppm in past ages. Geological evidence shows that life flourished during those past times of high CO2.

Over 190 nations are currently gathered in Doha, Qatar, attempting to negotiate a global treaty to restrict carbon dioxide emissions. Future generations will regard the early 20^thcentury as an age of climate foolishness.

Steve Goreham is Executive Director of the Climate Science Coalition of America and author of the new book The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism: Mankind and Climate Change Mania.

 

I visited with a farm manager this past summer when in Kansas.  We got to talking about things and one of them was global warming.  He pooh pooed it.  He said when going to college, if they wanted to increase production in the greenhouse, CO2 would be added.  I asked him, are you saying that all these loose carbon particles, which are being blamed for global warming, actually increase crop production.  He smiled at me.

 

It is amazing how people distort facts for personal gain, fed by greed.  It is amazing how rich some of the global warming advocates are becoming.  Kind of reminds me of the circus guy, a sucker is born every minute.

The Control of Laws

 

So many people are up in arms over gun control.  But is it really about controlling guns.  Think again, Laws do not control inanimate objects.  Laws control the people that use these objects.

Most universal example in the laws governing speed of vehicles.  Do speeding laws keep cars from going to fast or slow.  No the laws are designed to keep the vehicle operator within certain boundaries.  The laws are about people control.

Do these laws prevent cars from driving to fast?  No, The car has no idea of what to slow or fast is.  The law is aimed at the driver, to control the driver’s behavior.  The law tells the driver if he violates the law there will be consequences.  Does the law prevent the driver from going to fast?  Even if the consequences are loss of operators license, do the vehicles operate within the law.

If a person does not want to obey the law, they will use excuses to justify their behavior of violating laws.

So how effective are laws in preventing certain behaviors? 

Look at driving.  How many are in jail for vehicular manslaughter.  Most have had previous convections of driving to fast, driving while impaired and operating without a driver’s license.

Based on that I would say that the laws to control vehicle operation have not been real successful.  Just drive down the roadway, watch the erratic behavior of some drivers.  Yet there are laws to prevent that behavior.

Most laws that are passed are failures.  Think you could get a lawmaker to admit that?

 

So what prevents certain behavior in people.  Does the removal of inanimate objects stop certain behaviors?  From time immemorial man has violated other man in some form or other.  Why is it that all people do not violate others.  They can drive a car, have no problems and operate it with courtesy. 

It is an inner motivation for caring for others.  It is not controlled by laws, it is an internal compass that has evolved over their growth in life.  Many were tutored in Christian values that arise out of the Ten Commandments.

There is nothing that says they have to obey these rules, it has become their choice to follow these rules.

Ex 20:13 “You shall not murder. z 
Ex 20:14 “You shall not commit adultery. a 
Ex 20:15 “You shall not steal. b 
Ex 20:16 “You shall not give false testimony c  against your neighbor. d 
Ex 20:17 “You shall not covet e  your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

These are from the book of Exodus, (NIV).

God knew his creation would make mistakes and he provided consequences for those mistakes.  His rules were not meant to prevent a certain behavior.  Rather provide a guideline on how to live with others.

Look at the last commandment, I starts, “You Shall Not covet.”  What does covet mean?

Does it mean the government can take you property, through taxes, consequences or by law if they do not like how you behave?

Now look at of the laws that have been passed by this country that are designed to control you behavior?  Have any of them prevented you from behaving in a certain manner?  What has prevented you from behaving in certain ways?

Laws are the most oppressive form of government available to mankind. 

God gave man 10 commandments, then later added a few rules, which became known as Mosaic Law.  Later the Jews started what was called the Torah.    Look how oppressive that became to the Hebrews.  And did that really stop the Hebrews from acting in their chosen manners.

As laws are passed, your freedoms are lost.  Your choices are eliminated.  Even taxes limit your freedoms.  When you pay taxes, what choices do you have?  You have only one choice, give your money to the government.

Laws no no boundaries, they apply to all equally.  Whether you are right or left, the law applies the same.  Many laws are like abandoned buildings, not much use any more but they are there t control people.  The 20th Amendment is the best example of people control.  Look what happened?  What gun control laws would of prevented the speakeasy era of the 1920’s.

I would like to see a 100% prevention rider on laws that it would prevent people from acting crazy.  If lawmakers want a control law, give me a 100% guarantee.

Nature or Marx….?

There is a time to reflect back and look at things from the past.  Ralph Waldo Emerson was considered a brilliant philosopher of his time, Mid 1800’s.  In the 60’s a lots of the hippies adopted him for their mantra.  Emerson wanted to live a quiet life in the woods.  His contemporary, Henry Thoreau was of like mind.  The hippies wanted to live in communes and share their toils being one happy family.  Don’t believe any of those communes lasted very long, for a variety of reasons.  But look at what Emerson had to say.

From this transfer of the world into the consciousness, this beholding of all things in the mind, follow easily his whole ethics. It is simpler to be self-dependent. The height, the deity of man is, to be self-sustained, to need no gift, no foreign force. Society is good when it does not violate me; but best when it is likest to solitude. Everything real is self-existent. Everything divine shares the self-existence of Deity. All that you call the world is the shadow of that substance which you are, the perpetual creation of the powers of thought, of those that are dependent and of those that are independent of your will. Do not cumber yourself with fruitless pains to mend and remedy remote effects; let the soul be erect, and all things will go well. You think me the child of my circumstances: I make my circumstance. Let any thought or motive of mine be different from that they are, the difference will transform my condition and economy. I -- this thought which is called I, -- is the mould into which the world is poured like melted wax. The mould is invisible, but the world betrays the shape of the mould. You call it the power of circumstance, but it is the power of me. Am I in harmony with myself? my position will seem to you just and commanding. Am I vicious and insane? my fortunes will seem to you obscure and descending. As I am, so shall I associate, and, so shall I act; Caesar's history will paint out Caesar. Jesus acted so, because he thought so. I do not wish to overlook or to gainsay any reality; I say, I make my circumstance: but if you ask me, Whence am I? I feel like other men my relation to that Fact which cannot be spoken, or defined, nor even thought, but which exists, and will exist.

 

To be self dependent, does not mean to be dependent of government yet this is how the socialists of the 60’s have corrupted their ideals.  What’s interesting is lots of these people accepted Marx’s teaching and wanted the ideal world he espoused.  Marx and Emerson are at other ends of the spectrum.  Emerson talks about being at one with nature.  This has a wide appeal to those who want to be natural, IE the hippies.  Today many of these people are some of the government bureaucrats and lawmakers wanting to tell people how to live.

 

The Transcendentalist adopts the whole connection of spiritual doctrine. He believes in miracle, in the perpetual openness of the human mind to new influx of light and power; he believes in inspiration, and in ecstasy. He wishes that the spiritual principle should be suffered to demonstrate itself to the end, in all possible applications to the state of man, without the admission of anything unspiritual; that is, anything positive, dogmatic, personal. Thus, the spiritual measure of inspiration is the depth of the thought, and never, who said it? And so he resists all attempts to palm other rules and measures on the spirit than its own.

 

Emerson states that one should resist imposing rules on others.  That one should be allowed to live within their own rules as given by the spirit.  Not many people walk this way.  So many have notions on how others should live, both right and left wing philosophies, and for to the government to impose their beliefs on others.  The biggest imposition of others onto others is morality.  The 20^th amendment is a good example of imposing ones views onto others.  Wasn’t very successful, in fact it created an era of lawlessness.  Oh this imposition came from the right, the holy temperance people.

You will see by this sketch that there is no such thing as a Transcendental "party;" that there is no pure Transcendentalist; that we know of none but prophets and heralds of such a philosophy; that all who by strong bias of nature have leaned to the spiritual side in doctrine, have stopped short of their goal. We have had many harbingers and forerunners; but of a purely spiritual life, history has afforded no example. I mean, we have yet no man who has leaned entirely on his character, and eaten angels' food; who, trusting to his sentiments, found life made of miracles; who, working for universal aims, found himself fed, he knew not how; clothed, sheltered, and weaponed, he knew not how, and yet it was done by his own hands. Only in the instinct of the lower animals, we find the suggestion of the methods of it, and something higher than our understanding. The squirrel hoards nuts, and the bee gathers honey, without knowing what they do, and they are thus provided for without selfishness or disgrace.

 

Emerson is fascinating in that he espouses just the opposite of how the left wants to live.  Yet it was the generation of the 60’s lefties that proclaimed Emerson as being the person to live by.

 

Society also has its duties in reference to this class, and must behold them with what charity it can. Possibly some benefit may yet accrue from them to the state. In our Mechanics' Fair, there must be not only bridges, ploughs, carpenters' planes, and baking troughs, but also some few finer instruments, -- raingauges, thermometers, and telescopes; and in society, besides farmers, sailors, and weavers, there must be a few persons of purer fire kept specially as gauges and meters of character; persons of a fine, detecting instinct, who betray the smallest accumulations of wit and feeling in the bystander. Perhaps too there might be room for the exciters and monitors; collectors of the heavenly spark with power to convey the electricity to others. Or, as the storm-tossed vessel at sea speaks the frigate or `line packet' to learn its longitude, so it may not be without its advantage that we should now and then encounter rare and gifted men, to compare the points of our spiritual compass, and verify our bearings from superior chronometers.

 

Emerson says be a participant in society, contribute.  He does not espouse about being a leech.  He truly expected people to work for their livelihood and there should be a variety of doors for people to enter into for a productive society.

The other thing to look at is his reference to a higher power and spirituality.  Something Marx wants to destroy.  For in Marx it is the Federal Government that is the higher power not man’s spirituality.  One of the first thing Marxist’s do is to ban churches.

Attractions of the Roadside

Roadside Attraction

            Overlooking the valley is an oxymoron of a roadside attraction Built in the era of late 1910.  The horseless carriage was taking to center stage and the American traveler was being born.  Highways were being built to accommodate this new machine.  Boundaries were being broken and the country was prosperous.  There were numerous noveau rich living the American dream.  World War one was on the horizon, Marx and communism were popular and the world was an oyster for many.

            Jump in the car, travel cross country, see the wonders.  No longer was tourism limited to the rich.  The automobile had opened up new vistas for the peasants of the land.  Onto the new highways in their new fangled contraptions the populace jumped.

Many a business sprung up along side highways.  Giving the wearied traveler a brief respite, place to refresh. gas up, eat and spend money.  It was wide open country free of many modern restrictions.

            Conversation in coffee shops on the college campuses was about Marx and his ideal dream.  People were discussing on campus how to impose this dream on their countries.  Meanwhile WWI breaks out and the dream is put on the back burner except in Russia where Lenin and the Bolsheviks bring the communism revolution.  Even in the USA there was a small attempt to bring communism to the country.  WWI slowed it down as did the prosperity after the war.

            People had money to spare, there was land so there was no need to overthrow the evil empire of capitalism.  Jump in the car, go visiting.  After WWI there was a new affluence for the average person surplus income to spend lavishly, in particular on the new automobile.

            The roaring 20’s floated in, flappers, speak easies, gangsters and the car.  It was a buoyant age 

 Federal Government policy built the Interstate highway system bypassing many a roadside business and pushing cars onto to super slab cross country speedways.

            On the highways a new enterprise was cropping up, the roadside attraction, and a place to separate the new tourist from their money.

            Communism went to the back burner in the US but the tyranny in Russia was just beginning.  The people’s party, Bolsheviks were ruling with an iron fist.  Churches were destroyed and people disappeared that opposed the new Russian regime.  A new ruling class was formed in Russia.

            More and more automobiles were being built in the US.  More and more people were acquiring money.  The 20’s were a golden age to be in.  Then 1929 showed up because of a government boondoggle and greed on the part of a few.

            What had been a golden period became a depression leading into the dirty 30’s and communism reared its head again.  There were also numerous government programs leading to the claim of socialism, kind of a polite name for communism.

            All the time people were still traveling cross country seeing the sights it had to offer.

Winter Time

 

The drought has mellowed out winter.  It has been cold but no icy blasts so far.  The cold does not bother me much.  Get the parka out n flannel/wool shirts and I shall venture forth. 

It also makes a nice time to capture a few pixels.  The trees are barren, the weeds are shuttered and the grasses dormant.  It is when nature goes for a nap getting ready for spring.

I like the abstract pattern of the trees, the limbs, branches and their twists and turns.  It is amazing the patterns a tree has under all those leaves.  Oh yes fall colors are great but I like the nude tree also.

Then there are the sunsets of winter.  Biting icy fingers crawl over the face, standing facing the setting sun.  Sunsets are a dime a dozen but the hand of man makes it different.

It is amazing how we clutter up the country side with technology.  A cellphone tower sits in the middle of somewhere.  High power utility towers race over the horizon.  Interrupted  by a tree.  On far horizon is the shallow outline of the Rocky Mountain foothills.

All the latest gadgets.  Surrounded in our homes, our cars and in the office. 

To truly escape technology is almost impossible.  An escape in the mind;s eye.

Have a good week and may the Lord bless your travails.

A Few Election Thoughts

Election 

Part I

            Finally the Puffery is over, the politicians can breathe easy for a bit.  The president remains the same and congress did not change much.  Politics has such an impact on our lives, so I want to look at what was voted for. 

            The democrats got the victory and they want a bigger government.  From that want more benefits from government.  They expect the big government to provide for them, expanded welfare, food stamps and healthcare.  There are some that want a dole from the government and more leisure time.

            The democrats also want God out of their lives.  At the Democratic national convention, God was removed from the platform.  When God was placed back in to the Democratic platform He was booed and derided by those who opposed putting God back into the platform.  The Democrats voted for a Godless country.

            They also voted for increased rules and regulations to control the lives of the populace.  They voted for more “Green Energy” programs, more intrusion into personal lives and the focus of life is to come from Big Government.

            Look at what else they voted for.  Continued high un employment, bigger debt, more taxes and increased poverty.

            The past four years of the Obama and the democrat’s reign has not changed the economic outlook of the United States.  Bush was a convenient culprit yet Obama’s regime has buried the hapless, mired many more into poverty.  Economic classes have fallen by brackets.  Obama’s spots will not change, he will spend more money, borrow more and push the country further into debt.  The democrats voted for poverty, no jobs.

            It is one thing to holler about losses but look what the people voted for….. That is where we are headed.

Small Towns

 

No longer am I in a hurry to get there.  Now I plan my trips with some slack time to tour some of the small towns I pass through.  There are a variety of buildings.  I like to capture pictures of them and there are other things that are unique to that town.

State of neglect is the companion of many of these burgs.  Businesses are gone as are the residents.

The old storefronts line the highway.  Most boarded up and awaiting……….?  Some look like they came from the south, others from another era.

Thriving businesses they were.  Serving travelers, tourists and the wanderer.  Travel changes, people flock to the super speedways of the Interstate, bypassing these little villages.

A few have tried to find a new life for them but to little avail.

Wonder where those gates led to, was it a plantation a large business or maybe a mansion.  Today it is overgrown with weeds and care is neglected.  What could the story be, a dream gone bad?

A southwestern style home, gated and protected from unwanted visitors.

Time moves on, these little towns struggle to survive.  The Siren song of the big city calls their children.

 

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