Introducing a Friend

Yes, I have friends.  If I don't, that's OK, too.

I know what friendship is, and I'll be a friend to those who consider otherwise.

But, today I'd like to introduce you to Terry Pollard.

He makes me "redfaced" a lot when I spew out some of my garbage, because he's more often right than wrong.

Terry see's things in a different way which is both disconcerting, but also enlightening.

I like him.

Terry is dedicated to his beliefs and stands by them, no matter what.

His life has been threatened and he's been seriously injured because of his willingness to stand up for what was right.

So, I'd like for you to see his blog.

http://pollardsmind.com/Home_Page.html


Eric

SHELL GAME - TAXES

Anyone who purchases anything pays income taxes. (Let's leave inheritance taxes out of this conversation. We'll leave this to some future blog about government corruption.)

So... Here Goes!

If you purchase something, you purchase it from someone in business. Nuff said.

Now ANYONE who is in business is in business for the purpose of making a profit.

Profits are taxed at some level. (Minus deductions which are the result of honest efforts to increase jobs, aka taxpayers, or dishonest efforts by some to get an unfair competitive advantage, aka corruption.)

Honest businesses will pay their taxes and add their tax costs to the price of the product/service you buy.

So, at the end of the day, rich or poor, or anyone in between pays income taxes.. THE CONSUMER PAYS ALL INCOME TAXES.

So, when I hear about "the rich should pay their fair share", I go insane!

If you want something to buy, then you have to have a business to buy it from.  A business must exist to provide the goods and services you need and want.

So, in order to survive, and for a reason to exist, any business will HAVE TO add their costs to the price you pay, including taxes.

All this bickering between left and right, between unions vs non-union, is meaningless. The bickering exists for one reason only:  TO GAIN AN ADVANTAGE over others.

I think we all have a sense of what's fair and what isn't.  Let's just look at the bigger picture.

You don't want someone leaching off of you.  So it is safe to say that leachers should be identified and banned/removed/motivated to NOT LEACH.

We're in this world together.  Let's be good... OKAY?

Addicted to Oil

As I mull over the nonsense I see in politics and our economy, I came to a realization that might explain it all.

President Bush gave us all a clue by saying "We're Addicted to Oil".

Then I see that most of the energy sources we have available on our own land are "off limits" because of some environmental threat. (Most of our Western States are "protected".)

Remember the Oil Embargo in 1973?  The rationing, long lines at the gas stations?

This is when our politics seem to have all gone haywire. More distracting issues and walls put in our way for getting access to our own energy reserves.

All of a sudden we had "global warming", pushes for Solar, Wind, and wave energy.  All much more expensive sources of energy than what we can get out of "carbon" fuel.

Conspiracy theories abounded and are in place today.  Pick and choose which one you want to believe.


Here's what I think is going on......


The oil embargo was an experiment to see what would happen to our country if, all of a sudden, we no longer had access to foreign oil. The result was immediate disaster for the U.S.

Our leaders are given this "bad news" after being elected into office, and immediately see the danger of doing anything that will anger OPEC and jeopardize our nation's security.

So, here we have dance around the whims of our energy suppliers (OPEC mainly) in order to keep our country going. So OPEC says, "Oil will cost you this much, you will pay, or else we'll shut you down".

China sees our predicament as a way to capitalize on our dilemma. They will lend us the money to pay the high oil prices OPEC demands. Now, we are indebted to them. Our only hold we have on OPEC is our ability to defend them with our military.  But, now, China has sufficient military resources to take the place of the U.S. (Using our money we pay to them for our debt to them.)  It is a vicious scheme to control the world.  Our enemies say "Jump" and we have to ask "How High".
OPEC no longer needs us, they have China!

I thought of a way to get around this dilemma, but don't want to publish this here.  This end-run has to be done in absolute secrecy.  (I will pass this info to some people I trust in case I get shut down here.)

So, at this point, The U.S. is toast unless we pay the extortionists.

Sorry for the negativity, hope I don't step on anyone's sensitivities.  But reality is reality and we have to deal with it.

My Paradigm (For now.)

A Comment I Made on Another Post.

(Edited)

As I read the comments here, my paradigm looks familiar. We all have our paradigms. 

Everyone has those ground breaking "AHA'S" throughout their lives.

Life is a problem/solution process.  Not all "solutions" are perfect, but our existence proves they worked.


I have this feeling that, as we all go through this process of learning here, we will all have our own unique "essence" that fits our own existence with a common drive for more happiness, security, and personal value.... we all want that!

The following comments I'll make here is my paradigm... 

no one else's.

 I am not preaching here to get anyone to see things the way I do.

We are all unique and must find our own path to happiness and survival.

The concept of "wealth" fascinates me.
Many of us feel that wealth means money (which is a paper representation of value) that one can use as proof of their own personal value.  The more "money" someone has, the more they feel they have/provide value.


However, my paradigm says
 (and it won't be your paradigm) 

My value is provided by helping my "group" (family, neighborhood, city, state, nation, world) to survive more comfortably. The more I can help my "group" survive, the more value my group gives to me. In other words, the more value you can give to others, the more indispensable  you are to your group which will cause them to assure your own existence/happiness. Remember the phrase "What goes around, comes around"? I feel none of us do this by intent, it just works out that way.


Oh! How different (yet the same) we all are!

Each of us are motivated by the need to be "valued".

We all pursue things to assure our own value to others in our own way(s), be it kindness, getting noticed by doing crazy unusual things, or by positioning ourselves in a place where others cannot do well without us.


No one can provide value through force.

A lot of the problems we face in this world is due to a governing bodies  that want to force you to be someone  they think you should be. (Clumsy, but I think you'll get the point.)


We are all different.

I applaud anyone who is not afraid to be their own person.
Like my daughter said after I asked her (when she was a teenager) why she didn't want to wear the same clothes that her classmates wore.

Here's what she said which made me so proud of her,

"I don't care what others wear, I wear what I like to wear. I'm Heather!"


So, at the end of this I wish you all the best in finding your own paradigm that will bring you happiness, your own sense of value, and your own kind of "wealth".


Eric

Mindsets - A Political Post

The people in our country are being divided, name calling, lieing, attacking each other, with spots of violence showing up.

So, I decided to put together a list of beliefs that I see from the behavior of each faction in the news today.

Here goes......

Faction/Belief based on behavior.

1. Democrat:  I'm a nice guy, but I'm too lazy to be one. I'm also not very motivated to work.  If I could, I'd retire today and veg all day.  So,  I want our government to do my good deeds and take care of me. Then I can be free to do what I want to do.
2. Democrat (Leader): I'm the MaMa. I like taking care of people. It makes me feel needed. If I didn't do my job, then no one will like me and I'll be worthless.
3. Republican (In the house/senate):  I'm too lazy to do the good deeds of others, they should do their good deeds themselves. I'm also against feeding lackeys.
4. Republican voter: Hey! I'm tired of being bombarded by laws I cannot understand and keeps me from pursuing my dreams. I want freedom and my time back. (Too much time wasted to understand and follow laws.)
5. Union member:  It's a dog/eat/dog world. I'm going to do whatever it takes to survive, and that includes making sure I get what I want regardless of who I take it from.
6. Globalist: We'd have much less trouble in this world if there were no enemies. The only way we can do this fast is to make this world consist of only one governement that has absolute control over the behavior of everyone.
7. Tea Partier:  I want to do what I want to do without anyone getting in my way. Don't go telling me how to do things and how to live.  Get out of my face, don't take my stuff, and let me be me. I have a dream and I want to pursue it without complications imposed on my by others who don't understand what I'm doing. And it's MY MONEY... not yours!
8. Radical Muslim/Radical Islamist/terrorist:  I'm a guy, I like sex, and I'm going to get it wherever I want, whenever I want no matter what.  If you get in my  way, I'll kill you. (see http://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_jihad.htm) for explanation of what I mean by Radical.) I'm speaking about permutations (convenient to an agenda) of the interpretations of the Koran (Qur'an.
9. Leftie:  I'm a historian, and we need to give reparations to all the people we've cheated in the past.
10. Left Leadership:  I like the power given to me from the people who trust me.  If I give them everything I promised them, they won't need me anymore. So, I'll have to make sure they'll need me forever!  (Good money in that!)
11. Corporate Leadership: I HATE MY JOB! (but I like the money.) What a nightmare! I've got to keep the investors happy, my employees happy, my wife happy, my children happy, my government happy AND compete with all my competitors, some of whom cheat!.  I have to continuously be on the lookout for attacks from all sides, I have to deal with cheaters (China), politicians, problem employees, and unions. Why can't we just focus on keeping our customers happy so that they will buy our stuff? If they buy our stuff, we can provide better returns to our investors.  But with the EPA, Unions, and IRS getting into our face, we can't do that. That's why I hate my job. 

Is this a suicide note?  Maybe, when we consider the mentality and recent behavior of the factions listed.

Let's all grow up, OK?