Cato of Utica

No not with a girl! With my treadmill! Technically, it's not love.... and technically, it's not MY treadmill, either. It's the treadmill I've discovered at the gym I joined, and one could say that I have developed a find affection for the machine.

I don't know why I never tried treadmills before now. Maybe because I saw them advertised on TV and I had a rebellious reaction. I don't know. But after trying it at the fitness gym a few weeks ago, I'm thinking that I would like to get one. I have yet to convince my roommate, Theophobe, of my need. Piece of cake, heh. Check out the beautiful Bowflex Series 7 treadmill (here's the treadmill review). This model has the heart rate monitor similar to the one I love at the gym. And the weight, while perhaps a disadvantage for relocation, is helpful because the apartment floors won't rattle when we use it.

I think it's perfect.

Posted: on July 1, 2008 at at 4:48 PM 0 comments

It's official: old people watch TV.

Also, I'm wondering how the Olympics contenders are feeling about the Olympics these days. Between the murder of innocent people, an earthquake, suffocating pollution, and now red tide (from raw sewage, in part), is this what China expected us to see? How many dead bodies can they hide under rocks so no one will notice? And how can fat and happy Westerners pretend we don't see any of it it and play along with the charade? I mean, we hardly shrugged with the lead in our children's toys and the poison in our toothpaste. What kind of toxic brainwashing is this? All in the name of our god, Sports.

Posted: on at at 1:21 AM 0 comments

"Logic demands that there be a link between the stated purpose and the command. We start therefore with a strong presumption that the Second Amendment right is exercised individually and belongs to all Americans." Chief Justice Antonin Scalia

Amendment II

A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.

It's heartening to see that more than half of the Supreme Court justices believe that the Second Amendment means what it says (that Americans have the right to bear arms, and bear them as individuals). But as usual I have a few alternative angles.

1) The decision came down to 5-4. FOUR justices do NOT believe we have the right to bear arms?! What the @%&*?

2) Whether the Supreme Court "believes" this or not, we Americans have the right to bear arms! I cannot believe that we have degraded our Constitution so much. Judging by today's decision (and others like it for the past 100 years), it's not really what the Constitution says, it what the Supreme Court says. How thou art fallen, O noble nation! (can you say "oligarchy," boys and girls?)

3) What if the court had ruled otherwise? And how can those four justices explain away history and original intent by not agreeing with the Constitution?

4) Why does this come up every several decades, as if the issue has not been settled once and for all? Who would benefit from the slashing of the Second Amendment?

5) Most importantly, and something everyone overlooks-- is that the Second Amendment does not deem us the right to hunt squirrels and fight burglars. It is a RIGHT to protect us from GOVERNMENT usurpation and tyranny! Why is this ignored and scorned? Even those priests (justices) who bestowed on us that luxurious right to have guns, qualified it by saying we "may" have guns for "hunting and self-defense"? Au contraire.

"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." James Madison, The Federalist Papers

"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed." Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers

"One of the ordinary modes, by which tyrants accomplish their purposes without resistance, is, by disarming the people, and making it an offense to keep arms." Constitutional scholar and Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story

"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them." Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

"To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them." George Mason

"The great object is, that every man be armed. [...] Every one who is able may have a gun." Patrick Henry

"And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms; or to raise standing armies, unless necessary for the defense of the United States, or of some one or more of them; or to prevent the people from petitioning, in a peaceable and orderly manner, the federal legislature, for a redress of grievances; or to subject the people to unreasonable searches and seizures of their persons, papers or possessions." Samuel Adams

"And, lastly, to vindicate these rights, when actually violated and attacked, the subjects of England are entitled, in the first place, to the regular administration and free course of justice in the courts of law; next to the right of petitioning the king and parliament for redress of grievances; and, lastly, to the right of having and using arms for self preservation and defense." William Blackstone

Shall I go on and on?

Posted: on June 26, 2008 at at 6:18 PM 2 comments

Wondering what Junior or your favorite nephew (who shall not be named) is listening to under those stereo headphones? Do you hear the booming repetition of vaguely-defined music but cannot decipher the words? Have I got a treat for you *evil cackle*. Here's a website where you can access all the rap lyrics of rap songs. They also have a large selection of rap music videos and hip hop. Be prepared, some lyrics are unuttterably explicit. The Rap R&B isn't too bad, actually. But I do like to know what words are being pounded into the youth these days.

Posted: on June 24, 2008 at at 11:52 AM 1 comments

I read an excellent and very thought-provoking post at RejectSociety.com. It is so good that I had to repeat it for my readers here.

Is it okay to own another person? Can I buy you?

No. Slavery is wrong.

What if the slave is treated really well, given a life better than they could have on their own?

No. Slavery is wrong. The conditions are inconsequential.

Okay, okay, what if the slave is treated really well, PLUS given half of their time to do whatever they want?

NO! How do you not get this? Slavery is a bad idea!

I willing to go to 60% of their time, that’s over half, AND the slaves will have a better quality of life. Isn’t quality of life important? Wouldn’t you trade a little freedom for security?

NO! NO! “Give me Liberty or Give me Death”

Alright. We’ll make it consensual. You can choose to be enslaved 40% of the time in exchange for a better life.

That wouldn’t be slavery . . .

But if a potential slave doesn’t consent we’ll put them in jail at gunpoint, you’ve got to give me that, it’s a fair compromise.

No, it’s slavery and it is still wrong, if you don’t get this soon than I’m giving up.

Fine, fine, fine. We’ll only take 40% of the slave’s labor, ensure a better life for most of them, AND let the slaves elect representatives to decide how their confiscated labor is spent. Is that okay?

If you can opt out, sure, that’s a voluntary democratic socialism.

Opt out! Are you kidding! You still get thrown in jail if you don’t consent. It is only fair since you still benefit from the labor of the other slaves.

When exactly did I ask to benefit from the labor of slaves?

Oh, we don’t need your consent for that part.

By all means, read the rest of the post.

Posted: on June 23, 2008 at at 6:16 PM 0 comments

"A man is none the less a slave because he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years."
-- Lysander Spooner
(1808-1887) Political theorist, activist, abolitionist
Source: The Constitution of No Authority (Boston: 1870)
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Lysander.Spooner.Quote.653F


"We will all be better citizens when voting records of our Congressmen are followed as carefully as scores of pro-football games."
-- Lou Erickson

Posted: on at at 5:57 PM 0 comments

Social work is becoming a popular and lucrative career choice, especially the way our country is degenerating. It seems there will never be a lack for social work! But like all professional careers, especially those that deal with the human psyche and human condition, a certain amount of education and accountability is necessary. There's an excellent source for you if you are interested in social work-- and in particular, in passing the social work exams that are administered. Prepare for the exams with the comprehensive study guides and other materials. The Social Work Guide has everything you need to pass the ASWB Social Work Licensing Exam with flying colors. Social work is a noble profession. Study well and learn to proficiently and professionally help others with the Social Work Guide.

Posted: on June 22, 2008 at at 7:50 PM 0 comments

Ah yes. The government messes up the food supply, the energy industry, the home-mortgage problems, and encourages the speculation bubble for oil. What do they want to do? Control all the refineries in the country!

OUTRAGEOUS!

Posted: on June 19, 2008 at at 9:45 AM 2 comments

The Saudis are feeling some pressure about the high gasoline prices worldwide, particularly with its best customer, the United States. While the Saudis did say that oil prices are "abnormally high," they are not so high as to create a fuel shortage crisis. The Saudis are always blamed for high gasoline prices. So are oil executives. Usually the president is, too, but for some reason everyone has been strangely quiet on this. Nonetheless, the number one reason why gasoline prices are so high is because of national policies. Namely, taxation. The Saudis hit the nail on the head, but were virtually ignored:

Saudi Arabia, which has called an emergency meeting of oil producers and consumers in the port city Jeddah next Sunday, says the energy crisis has not been caused purely by market pressures but by a speculative bubble. Saudi Arabia and Opec believe there are no shortages to justify the sudden surge in prices.

Mr Ban held talks with King Abdullah at the royal palace in Jeddah on Saturday evening for more than an hour which were dominated by the energy crisis. The Saudi monarch shared his concern that the oil price was "abnormally high" although he blamed "national policies" in the West, Mr Ban told The Independent yesterday. "He was also suggesting that consumers should play their own role," Mr Ban added.

In other words: Countries, get over your oil obesity and tax orgies. And this only strengthens my suspicions that the "fuel crisis" is a completely government-induced crisis. My only question is "why?"

Posted: on June 15, 2008 at at 10:58 PM 0 comments

"Academies that are founded at public expense are instituted not so much to cultivate men's natural abilities as to restrain them." -- Baruch Spinoza

"To be nobody but yourself -- in a world which is doing it's best, night and day, to make you like everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." -- E. E. Cummings

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." -- Aristotle

Posted: on June 14, 2008 at at 9:44 PM 0 comments

"The peak of tolerance is most readily achieved by those who are not burdened by convictions." -Alexander Chase

Posted: on at at 8:50 PM 0 comments

money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money money

Is this what you want, New York (and other states and cities)? Do you like foreigners owning our buildings, highways, properties, parks? And for what? Because the U.S. government is so defunct and such a slave to the Federal Reserve "bank" (moneylenders) that it's selling out OUR own country under us.

Spain owns the "superhighway" that cuts through the heart of our country; Canada wants to own parts of New York for its power lines; Chinese bankers own a good portion of our national debt; Japanese land speculators own our parks; the list goes on...

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currencies, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their prosperity until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." Thomas Jefferson

I'm no big Jefferson fan, but what he said was correct.

Posted: on at at 12:43 PM 1 comments

The dwelling place had an energy audit today. It's paid for by the local electricity company, so to speak, but our tax dollars fund the thing. It's gratifying to know that for all the taxes I pay, I get a free energy audit.

The guy's jaw practically dropped open when he saw the place. It's a might old, like most of Upstate New York buildings. Many of the grand old homes have been converted-- quite sloppily-- into flats or small apartments. This place still has the old flooring, old windows, and old siding. Not much we can do about that.

The family has been looking into vinyl siding and exterior vinyl shutters. I know how politically incorrect it is to be wanting to slap colored plastic sheets on a house, especially on top of old wood siding... but I don't foresee spending weeks upon weeks painting the blasted wooden exterior every year or two! Vinyl is the only choice in my book! It's easy to install, easy to maintain, and it looks incredible. The Larson Shutter Company's Dura-Vinyl exterior shutters are classy and very high quality. The primed solid composite wood shutters are eye-candy, too, but I think we're thinking vinyl here. They are probably the best bet for weathering the wet and wild New York weather, and all the hot air that politicians from Albany blast out way...

Posted: exterior shutters, vinyl shutters on June 12, 2008 at at 7:04 PM 0 comments

... when you can just buy them cheap?

The Middle East covets American land and buildings. And the Americans are only too willing to sell them off. This time it's the Chrysler Building, that beautiful edifice in Manhattan. Sold for $800 million. Mere pocket change for oil execs.

I'm amazed that Big Business is so readily selling out our manufacturing industry to China and India, selling out our land, roads, and buildings to Canada, Spain, and the Middle Eastern countries, and happily forking over our parks and forests to the United Nations. What the heck is going on in this country?!

Posted: on June 11, 2008 at at 12:37 PM 1 comments

Now that the Obama orgy has begun, you Obama supporters had better watch what you wish for. This messiah wants to tag you like a cow or a donkey.

Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) authored a bill (with 11 co-sponsors, including Sen. Barack Obama) that was incorporated into a housing bill passed by the Senate Banking Committee 19-2 before the Memorial Day recess — a bill that creates a national fingerprint registry.

According to a Martinez press release, the language merely “create[s] national licensing and oversight standards for residential mortgage originators.”

One of the standards, John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute says, may “require thousands of individuals working even tangentially in the mortgage and real estate industries — and not suspected of anything — to send their prints to the feds.”

I'm sure McCain would do the same thing, given enough pressure by his bosses.

Posted: on June 10, 2008 at at 12:44 PM 0 comments

OK, people, enough with the Hillary posts! Man, am I sick of seeing her ugly mug plastered all over Drudge and every political pundit's blog... so she lost the nomination. Believe me, like the flu, she'll be back.

I only wish she'd retire from my state's senate...

Posted: on June 6, 2008 at at 4:12 PM 0 comments

It is an unfortunate aspect of our modern society where we must defend ourselves from millions of legal maneuvers and hassles. Most of the time, Congress does not even read an entire bill before passing it into law. We see, more and more often, where citizens are retaining legal help not for dog bites or spats amongst neighbors, but against government and "law enforcement" that are over-stepping their bounds. And law enforcement is looking for even the slightest opportunity to harvest the DNA of American citizens. Such tyrannical behavior is outrageous, but the only recourse we have currently is to fight back using legal means.

William Fay, DWI Raleigh lawyer based in North Carolina, specializes in DWI, criminal defense, traffic infractions, and immigration law cases. If you need a DWI Attorney Raleigh, you might want to check him out. Of his cases, his website states:

These are the tests that officers use in the field to determine whether a driver is appreciably impaired, and is often the most compelling evidence used against a defendant in a court of law. Detailed knowledge of the reliability of these tests and more importantly the proper administration and interpretation of these tests can be the difference between an acquittal and a conviction.

I have heard of people who were accused of DUI or DWI who had never had any alcohol, but were accused of the crimes by the results of those "breathalizer" tests. Won't garlic pizza set those things off? And there have been news reports here in New York of law enforcement officers who would pull a motorist over and give her a ticket... not because she was speeding, but because she was pretty. There were a few scandals about such last summer, in New York. I know, I know-- incredible as it may seem, the police officer may not always be "your friend." It helps to know your rights and to have a legal means to protect and defend your rights. And there's nothing like a good DWI Lawyer Raleigh to do it.

Posted: on at at 3:51 PM 0 comments

I am very impressed with The Foundation Forum blog, by Hercules Mulligan. The blog has not been updated very frequently of late, but the archived posts are food for the hungry soul. I especially enjoyed the very thorough essay, Thoughts on Theocracy and America.

Our government was founded upon the laws of God. Now, this does not mean that our Constitution is a direct enforcement of the Ten Commandments, but rather that in order for the form of government established by the Constitution to be preserved, the Ten Commandments must be respected and observed by the American populous.

...Our Founding Fathers acknowledged their dependence upon this concept in their writings and in their speeches. First of all, they acknowledged the supremacy of God's law over any laws of man, and they recognized the importance of electing genuine Christians to office.

It's a very appropriate post in light of the presidential elections this year. Mulligan supports Ron Paul, as I do, as the only acceptable bearer of virtue, liberty, and an understanding of the purpose and intent of the Constitution.

There are a growing smattering of liberty blogs rising up. I think The Foundation Forum is one to keep your eye on. I only hope the blogger updates more frequently than he has.

Posted: on at at 12:42 PM 1 comments