Prognostication

Let me tell you something here - if the US Auto Industry collapses then I officially deem this nation no longer a superpower. The long ride we've had as a preeminant global force will be done with if the industry that won World War II for us goes away.

There was a scene from Band of Brothers that leaps to mind where Webster (along with the 101st Airborne Division) is riding in the back of a long convoy of trucks along a highway where 300,000 German POWs are marching in the median going the other way.

They are walking and riding in horse-drawn carts and Webster screams at them, "What were you thinking!? Look at you! You have horses!! Say hello to Ford and General Motors! You ignorant, servile scum! What are we doing here? You interrupted our lives for this?!?!"

The idea that a nation could attempt to dominate the modern world on horseback was preposterous.

Our manufacturing base is without a doubt the central cog in our military machine. The auto industry is the wheel upon which almost all teeth in the industrial cog are mounted. When that goes, the last of anything we actually make is sure to soon follow.

The Grim Reaper of Greed

alternate title - Power Word Kill Rich Whitey

Recession Finally Admitted by the Fed

Finally there are rumblings from Washington that seem to admit to a recession. I think the American people have been tuned into the reality of an economic downturn for quite some time.

As of now, the Dow is down another 502 points. The other day it was up by around 900, but I knew that was mere volatility. This downturn won't stop until the actual fundamentals of the world economy are repaired.

The U.S. especially needs to put its economic house in order. We need to start making things again. That is what is fundamentally at the core of our floundering economy - we don't make anything any more. We make money off of money. We flip houses. We use credit.

There are many things that have gone awry, don't get me wrong. However, increasing manufacturing jobs in America would have the effect of decreasing unemployment, putting more money in the pocket of Americans. Two thirds of our economy is based upon consumer spending.

I think retail stores are going to take a major hit this Christmas. Americans are losing their jobs, their homes, and their confidence. Watch the stock market in late December and early January. Look for a big drop when the retail numbers prove to be abysmal.

I think the turnaround here will take a good long time. I think Americans have been shocked into waking up from a credit card coma. Spending will slow. Savings will increase. Less cheap crap will be bought in stores. Bad news for China, really.

If Americans are smart and we have good leadership we can come through this better and stronger. If the focus is on technology and research into alternative energy we have a chance. If America leads the way with a whole new fleet of battery driven and alternatively fueled cars we can again be the auto manufacturer of the world. If we invest in infrastructure like schools, roads, a new solar and wind electrical grid, and college we can again become competitive.

If our leaders have the political will to raise taxes we might be okay. If we are honest with ourselves then we see that raising taxes is unavoidable if we are to address our national debt and other needs simultaneously. If Americans can change their ways and refrain from spending what they don't have then each of us may yet find economic salvation.

If we hold our leaders accountable on the issues that matter to all of us we can save ourselves from ourselves. Issues like education, roads, jobs, a stagnating economy, and the environment are all interrelated and can all be solved on a single line of attack.

The simplest answer is usually the best answer. I usually denounce Occum's Razor as a means for oversimplification of complicated issues and ideas. In this case, however it is right on.

Problems like crumbling roads, vaporizing jobs and a worsening environment can all be solved by investing in green technology and providing government subsidies for green infrastructure projects. This would lay the foundation for jobs and a revitalized economy. It would allow us to export this technology and put America back on the economic map as a producer and exporter rather than an importer and borrower.

More Americans with good jobs boosts consumer confidence and provides the fuel for two thirds of our economy (consumer spending). More good jobs means a larger tax base. Government subsidies for technology research means many many small businesses getting startup money from either the government or venture capitalists.

And to cement the continued growth of this new economy you invest in education. A smart workforce is an efficient and innovative workforce. You also ensure this new boom is sustainable with massive infrastructure investment in both existing and new techologies (as they come online). Improve roads and build a new sustainable electrical grid. This will create jobs in and of itself as well - this will feed back into the positive cycle by putting more money in the pockets of Americans and growing the middle class.

That is a lot of "ifs." Believe me, I am aware of that fact. Every pay period I am putting a little bit towards survival gear and supplies. I am trying to hope for the best, but I am planning for the worst without a doubt.

EDIT: At close of trading today the Dow was down 733 pts.

The Butt-Rape of Main Street

Mao Tse-Tung and Lenin might have been on to something. How many times do we have to be screwed by the titans of industry before we wake up? When does enough become enough? When do we pick up the gun?

I'm not advocating it - not yet. I'm just wondering when it is that people get so fed up with the bullshit being shoved down their throat by Washington and Wall Street that they go armed into the streets. Bullshit like:

1. "We can't have national healthcare because it's too expensive. But you sure as hell better cough up a $700 billion bailout in just a few days!"
2. "Bankrupt due to medical bills? Well, see we just made it easier for the hospitals to take your house. Oh, you're welcome!"
3. "We have to cut education spending because we just can't afford it. We have this $10 billion a month war of choice we have to fund."
4. "Sorry about college being unattainably expensive, but we just can't afford to help you with that. See, we have these regulations we need to loosen and then we'll be cutting the taxes on those who benefit from that deregulation."
5. "Hey, remember how I outsourced your jobs and stagnated your wages? Yeah, haha! Good times. Hey, I got real fucking stoned and was doing some plain retarded stuff with that mortgage I sold you... yeah, yeah. I repackaged it and sold it for like 20 times what it's worth. Hey... I need to jack your payment by like 120% to try to cover my losses."

These same guys that have had Main Street bent over the barrel, slapping us in the face with the cock of outsourcing and donkey-punching us with stagnant wages now want us to pay the bill for this date rape.

Wall Street to a crying Main Street, skirt torn and dirty: "Hey, sorry I punched you in the fucking mouth, called you a 'whiner', and then ass-raped you in the alley behind the restaraunt I told you we'd eat at. Who am I kidding? I'm not sorry for that. I actually ended up taking Congress out to dinner, Main Street. Yeah - I know you're bleeding, but I need you to pay for my date with Congress. Yeah, and you better pay right now or things will get fucking awful."

Fuck them. No matter what there's going to be pain - bailout or no. There was a bailout during the Great Depression and the Depression still happened. Fuck these assholes. Let them all lie in the bed they've made. Let the chips fall where they may and we'll just have to deal with the fallout.

We don't even know if the bailout will help. This is the actual consensus of the economic intelligensia. They admit it. How did they come up with $700 billion as the pricetag for this bailout? Just a guess...

Grrrarrrr! I could just scream. Nah - I'll go shooting instead.

Patriots, None and All

Don't talk to me about patriotism. None of you. This coming from a man who is not the patriot he could be.

First of all, the word is tainted in the modern context. Patriotism is not a bumper sticker or a ribbon. It is not the hollow words "support the troops." It is not blind allegiance to the flag.

You may believe that you support the troops, but what have you really done but say the words? Did you buy a t-shirt or did you put a magnetic ribbon on your SUV?

That same gas-guzzling behemoth that ships your petro-dollars to Saudi Wahhabi princes who then use that money to fund terrorists? Good job, Patriot.

Do you pay attention to politics? Do you vote? Do you volunteer your time or money? What civic virtues do you believe in? Do you actually know which candidates hold those same values? Do you even know what a "civic virtue" is?

Or do you vote a single issue and listen to slanderous mischaracterizations and vote on who you "feel" would be the best candidate?

Are you so ignorant that you wouldn't even know how to answer many of the questions above?

Enough questions. Too many Americans are satisfied to be ignorant. From rednecks and gang-banging thugs to soccer moms to businessmen in suits; ignorant one and all. Fat, dumb, and happy.

Modern pop culture is an incredible force for stupidity and ignorance. The Paparazzi and the obsession of the moment makes us stupid via distraction. Brad and Angelina adopted another baby? Who fucking cares!? MTV has been turning our teens into idiots for over two decades now.

Millions expend their energy tracking the lives of the famous when they should spend that energy in a way which might actually benefit themselves or their community. Watch C-Span if you must be a voyeur of the famous. You might just learn something.

Patriotism is love of the American Dream, not the flag or a President. Patriotism is a burning fire whose fuel is blood and sweat. With that blood and sweat we purchase freedom and opportunity. It is in serving country and community that we sweat and bleed. Service is the coin of patriotism.

And so we're clear on this - unquestioning patriotism actually goes by another name altogether. It's called fascism and it's completely un-American.

If I have to hear one more able-bodied man under the age of 50 tell me about how he supports the troops and we should invade Iran I will just loose it. Go volunteer if that's the way you feel. They'll take you these days, believe me. Shut the fuck up and put your own ass on the line if you think we should start a war that would spread across the Middle East, because you can't have my kids.

I swear to God, if this war is going on by the time my son turns 18 I will murder anyone who tries to take him off to fight in that tragedy. I mean that - I will stab you in the eye if you try to take my babies to go fight in a petro-war started by a retarded addict from Crawford.

But these same chickenhawks won't volunteer themselves because they are cowards. They are scared all the time because they're ignorant and they believe the local newsman when he says that there's "something in your house waiting to kill your children!!!" So of course they believe the President and other high officials when they intimate that Iraq will detonate a nuclear bomb in America.

These same officials who got six deferments themselves during Vietnam now want to commit our soldiers to wars everywhere. Fucking hypocrites. Fucking cowards. That's what enrages me about these couch-potato commandos: they assume since I don't like Bush and I think Iraq was a mistake that I must be some hippy-dippy left wing pacifist.

And in case you were wondering - yes, I have served a stint in the military myself. I was lucky enough to serve in a time of relative peace and under a President who didn't casually squander the lives of the military. I have spent time behind a trigger in the name of America. Have you?

I am no pacifist, ladies and gentlemen. I own 4 guns and I have served my country. I hate the Grateful Dead and love punk, metal, and rock. There's not a damned thing pacifist or hippy about me. Those who truly know me think I'm a bit on the militant side, as a matter of fact.

I volunteer my time and money to the causes I believe in. I serve on my neighborhood's HOA Board, I volunteer for candidates I believe in, and I put my proverbial money where my mouth is.

I recycle, am energy-conscious, I walk or bike to work, and I instill these actions as values in my children. Because what's more patriotic than taking care of the environment we all share? What is more an intrinsic part of our national heritage than the actual physical nation we leave our children?

And I think I should be doing more.

As A Ray of Hope...

Not to sound too corny, but my kids and the young people coming into the political process do tend to give me some hope.

Why? Well, in terms of my kids I would say that they have it much better than I ever did - at least in the ways that truly count. I love my Dad, don't get me wrong, but I think I'm doing a better job raising my kids than he ever did. We both have the same genetically predisposed temper, but I think I must have realized it earlier on in life and figured out how to control it earlier.

I believe they've lead a much less stressful childhood and had all the right values passed to them: hard work, loyalty to family, critical thinking, and a healthy skepticism in regards to authority.

And when I talk about the new wave of young people I see getting involved in the system I actually have a bit of pride on that point. As a trailing member of the punker generation I like to think that the counter-culture that my generation helped establish laid the groundwork for some of the political common sense that is evident in the 20-somethings who are just now tuning in.

Where the baby-boomer hippy generation failed is in the spirit of their counter-culture. It was too dreamy and Utopian. Such fanciful nonsense never succeeds.

Free love? Pashaw! The contradictions against human nature involved in the free love concept are far too numerous to detail here.

"We stopped the war, man!" Whatever, hippy. Vietnam went on for 13 years. Yeah, you really brought that to a screeching halt, didn't you?

Where punk differed was in it's core philosophy and the spirit of the movement. It was political at its core. It was angry and aggressive. It didn't back down from the pigs and it looked certain truths square in the eye:

• The world is not, and never will be, some Utopian paradise
• People are naturally corrupted by power at the same time that we all seek it
• Power speaks to Power. It's the only language understood by the powerful.
• The entire world is on a collision course with Doom (politically, environmentally, socially)
• People are people - with all the good and bad that comes with that truth. We are all essentially the same.
• Fear is your enemy
• Love does not always conquer all - life is full of tragedy

These punkish principles and the counter-culture developed around them have laid the groundwork for a new generation of politically skeptical (and thereby more aware) voters who inherently do not trust their leadership.

There is nothing more American than a healthy mistrust for those in power. It is one of the cornerstones that the Founding Fathers counted on when building the framework for our nation - the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. They counted on the People to be suspicious of their government.

Fascists blindly follow authority (usually to their demise). They do not question and they do not inform themselves.

I take heart at the fact that a rising percentage of young voters are informing themselves. I am encouraged by the fact that many, many more of them are getting off their asses and voting. 22 million more people were signed up just in the Democratic primary.

I quote that figure not because I am necessarily a Democrat, but because I am not hearing of the Republicans signing many new people up. I also quote that figure because now that we are in the general election season we will undoubtedly see more people signing up. Many of these potential voters stood on the sidelines waiting for the general to begin.

Don't listen to the pundits. They have been wrong over and over again this season. They want you to think this is going to be a close election. It isn't. Don't believe the hype. The new voters coming in are going to skew every poll they've run so hard that they will all be statistically irrelevant.

This has to please the Founding Fathers. Not because it is the Dems are likely to win, but because they believe that a periodic ballot box revolution was a prerequisite for a healthy democracy. Don't forget - our Founding Fathers were revolutionaries. They were the Che Guevaras of their day, striking terror into the royalty of Europe.

Their revolutionary fervor did spread, too. It was a very short time before the revolutionary spirit spread to France and the heads of the powerful rolled... literally. The longest sitting royal dynasty in Europe at the time had been unseated. One of the few royal houses that still enjoyed absolute power had been defeated by the masses.

In 2000 we had a good economy, good standing in the world, a budgetary surplus, a military that stood ready to defend us from any enemy, and strong global alliances. We took a chance on the guy we'd like to have a beer with. We took a chance that leaned towards the right - a conservative promising to be a "uniter, not a divider."

Maybe it's time to take a chance towards the left? Let's risk it on another new face to Washington promising to work across the aisle and change the way Washington works. You might has well get on the bandwagon. Do you think these new, young voters - 22 million and growing in strength - are going to break in favor of McCain? If you do, please share that awesome crack you're smoking.

Bumper Sticker Logic (Cooler War Ammo)

So many people will only grasp and retain "knowledge" if the idea or piece of "knowledge" can fit on a bumper sticker. A classic example of this is the pro-Bush, pro-Iraq, pro-Cowboy Diplomacy argument that goes:

"Well, if Bush is such an idiot then why haven't we been attacked again?"

You could also substitute in "If Iraq isn't a part of the War on Terror then why haven't we been attacked again?" It's essentially the same "argument" (throw in exaggerated air quotes around argument).

Here's the way you respond next time a hawk drops that on you at the water cooler:

1. Make sure they prepare themselves mentally for a response that will take longer than 10 seconds to explain. ("Now you know I'm going to have to talk for longer than ten seconds to explain this to you. Do you think you can handle that without screaming Clinton got a blowjob?")
2. Then tell them that Osama binLaden was a mujahadeen back during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. You may have to explain to them what a mujahadeen is.
3. Next explain that the Afghani mujahadeen bled the Soviets dry economically in Afghanistan, eventually causing the Soviet Union to collapse.
4. Then, go on to explain that 9/11 was a provocation, more or less. binLaden wanted to provoke America into a Middle Eastern war (in Afghanistan). Around this war he could declare another jihad and try to bleed America dry in the same way the Soviets were bled.
5. Unfortunately, the attack was much more successful than he could have imagined. It horrified the world and everyone united behind America. It appeared that his plan had backfired. America, with the aid and backing of the world, would invade Afghanistan. It would not be possible to bleed America dry when calls of jihad would be largely ignored by a horrified Muslim world. In addition to the lack of support binLaden would be getting, America would be assisted by everyone and wouldn't bear the burden of pacifying and rebuilding Afghanistan alone. There was no way the Taliban could protect al Qaeda now.
6. Then, Bush granted a wish binLaden could never have hoped for: he derailed the Afghanistan train and diverted America's resources to Iraq which not only allowed binLaden to evade capture in Afghanistan (a la Tora Bora), but squandered the goodwill of the Muslim world engendered by the horrors of 9/11. It also served to isolate America from her European allies. America would have to go it alone in Iraq.
7. Now America could be bled out in a protracted struggle against a low grade insurgency in Iraq... just like the Soviets were in the 80's in Afghanistan and just like the French were in the 50's and 60's in Algeria.

That's only seven points and it basically sums up the entire case against staying in Iraq. We fell for an old ploy which has destroyed other Western nations in the past.

We cannot afford Iraq. Period. Whatever your ideology we cannot afford it. No matter what you believe or don't believe about this war the simple fact is that we cannot sustain these expenditures much longer. It doesn't matter if you believe the seven points above, either.

Our. Sagging. Economy. Cannot. Afford. This. War.

If we do not begin withdrawing in short order our nation will sink into an economic depression like we've never seen before.

That's my ray of sunshine for the day.

State of the Union

My fellow Americans,

The state of the Union is not strong. As President of the United States of America I feel it is my duty to tell it to you straight. This country has been horribly mismanaged by a two-party system paralyzed by gridlock for far too long.

Corporate interests have pillaged our national heritage for the sake of the next quarter's profit statement. Manufacturing in America is something from an era gone by. Gone are the good middle class jobs that would afford a decent living to people with no college education. These jobs have gone overseas and the corporations who sent them overseas got tax incentives to do it.

The college education that is a necessity these days will cost you far more than it ever cost your parents, starting most graduates off in a state of debt from the moment they take their diploma. The average American family is hard pressed to send their children to college. This sets the stage for a less and less competitive and qualified American workforce in the future. This will put America at a severe disadvantage in the global marketplace.

These are not the only hardships the middle class faces. While all of the other industrialized Western nations have moved on to nationalized healthcare affording coverage to all of their citizens, America's healthcare system has become more expensive and slipped to a ranking of 37th, just behind Costa Rica. The threat of bankruptcy due to illness looms large over the heads of every American family.

After decades of underfunding, America, whose public education system used to be the envy of the world, now has a decrepit system where lower income students are at a severe disadvantage and every student is expected to learn with fewer and fewer resources.

All of these things go to undercut and weaken the middle class, which is the backbone of a strong America. The middle class has always fueled the American economy and with the middle class deteriorating can it be any surprise that America itself seems to be in decline?

The Recession of 2001 was a recession from which we never truly recovered. The "recovery" we experienced was largely fueled by rising housing prices which afforded consumers seemingly free money in the form of home equity loans. This meteoric rise in housing prices coupled with stagnant wages was an unsustainable trend and lead to the inevitable housing market correction we are seeing today.

The lack of regulation in the mortgage industry lead to predictable abuses piled on top of a wildly overvalued housing market, coupled with abusive repackaging and reselling of these loans on the international markets. Millions of foreclosures on American families coupled with millions more American families trapped in their current homes* will only deepen a long-running economic downturn that has never truly and sustainably been reversed.

Oil prices skyrocketing causes food prices to rise, the cost of a commute to rise, and a general rise of prices across the board for all things you buy. Stagnant wages. Falling consumer confidence. The highest debt-to-income ratio in the American household since the Great Depression.

A lack of action from the federal government on global warming has put us further behind on an issue that we should have began work on in the late 70's as envisioned by Jimmy Carter. I myself take issue with many things he did during his time as President, but on this issue he displayed uncanny prescience.

The war in Iraq is a barrier to progress on any of the above issues. While we are bleeding in Iraq we can not undertake any solutions here at home. The human cost in Iraq is a tragic metric which proves the folly of ever going in. The financial cost drains our coffers while the infrastructure in America collapses around us, while Americans lose their jobs, their homes, and their health - while Americans lose their security.

In short, nothing is going right. Liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat we should all hang our heads in shame. We have greviously failed the American people and the American dream. Thankfully all is not lost. Not yet. We can reverse these trends.

We can pull out of Iraq with honor. Our soldiers have accomplished their mission. It is the political leaders who have failed in their mission, not the brave men and women in uniform. I propose that within the next two years that we draw down all combat forces in Iraq, leaving a diplomatic and humanitarian mission in their place. It is our moral obligation, after killing so many innocent Iraqi civilians and destroying their nation's infrastructure to be in the forefront of the humaitarian mission they so desperately need.

For our men and women in uniform returning home, we owe nothing less than the best medical and psychological care that is available. We owe them a chance at a real future in the form of a full ride to any college to which they can gain admittance. We owe them our thanks and our understanding and our sympathy as they adjust to life after war.

We must capture Osama bin Laden and destroy the resurgent Taliban and alQaeda. We must finish what we started in Afghanistan. To that end I will propose commiting 50% more soldiers to the stabilization mission in Afghanistan, granting Afghanistan preferred trading partner status, and creating a collection of special forces teams whose entire purpose is tracking down Osama bin Laden.

Getting us out of Iraq is not only morally correct, but a financial necessity. We do not want to follow the Soviet Union down the path of a bankrupting war in the Middle East. To correct any of the problems here at home will require we stop spending money we don't have in Iraq.

The American people are far ahead of their leaders on almost all of these issues. The need to break our dependence on oil is one of these issues. We need to spark a Green Revolution in this country. By ending subsidies for oil companies and transitioning this money into federal grants for green technology research and low interest startup loans for green technology companies, we can stimulate the economy in a true way creating a new generation of jobs - "green collar" jobs that will pay a good wage.

These jobs will provide the basis for a revived middle class and address our environmental problem at the same time. Restructing of the tax code to end the Bush tax cuts for those who make more than $200, 000 a year will put the federal budget back on track and allow for renewed investment in America's infrastructure and education system.

We must raise the CAFE standards for all auto manufacturers who sell cars in America. To further the cause of the environment, I will propose a bill that will grant tax incentives for American auto makers who exceed the minimum CAFE standards on the cars they make.

In this same bill I will also propose a massive reinvestment in public transportation, the centerpiece of which will be a new national highspeed rail system. Couple this with funding help for municipalities who pursue local light rail solutions and we will reinvent travel and the transportation of goods in America.

At the same time we do all of these things, we must address the national shame which is the inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina. We must rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We must reach out and help our fellow Americans. We must resettle those who wish to return to their homes and reinvest in these Gulf communities, many of which were struck by desperate poverty even before Katrina.

In part this can be done by rebuilding all of the schools in neighborhoods like the Ninth Ward in New Orleans. The federal government should partner with local and state officials to build model schools in these regions. State of the art facilities that will be the benchmark for returning America's education system back to the envied position it once held.

Terrorism and failed states are the new enemies America faces in the 21st century. To face these new threats will require a new national security stance whose roots we can trace to the past. Like Truman at the dawn of the Cold War, we must face these enemies with a strong alliance of like-minded states. We must rebuild the alliances that have suffered so much lately as well as forge new alliances.

With this coalition we must share not only intelligence gathered concerning threats, but we must share the burden of dealing with these threats. Standing together with old allies and new, America will be better positioned to lead the world to a new era of global peace and prosperity.

To earn the right to lead this new alliance, America must reestablish its moral authority. Let me be clear to the American public, to our allies, and the world at large:

America renounces torture in every way. America recommits itself to the Geneva Conventions and will reestablish itself as the world's leader in human rights advocacy. We renounce all policies of the previous Administration concerning "enhanced interrogation" techniques and torture. Waterboarding is torture. Any rendition programs that may exist are summarily terminated as of this very moment.

All detainees at Guantanimo will hereby be given a trial or freed. The legal grey zone that is Guantanimo and its detention center is a stain on America's honor. Let me be clear, this stain was not inflicted by the men and women in uniform who honorably followed the orders of their superiors.

This stain is laid clearly at the feet of the previous Administration. I urge Congress to finally hold the hearings that may bring accountability to those truly to blame for these crimes, not the low ranking enlisted soldiers who have borne the brunt of the punishment to this point.

===================

And so on... I could type for hours. No matter who gets in the White House I will follow them to the bitter end if they give this speech for their first State of the Union speech and then follow through on making it happen.

* Trapped by being upside down in their mortgage, which is owing more on your mortgage principal than the amount for which you could sell your home

In The Shadow of the Founding Fathers

I live in Central Virginia - a land rich with history going back to the very beginnings of America as a nation and back nearly to the beginnings of English colonialism in America.

This idyllic area used to be the Frontier, nestled against the Blue Ridge Mountains beyond which was Terra Incognita. Two of this nation's greatest explorers came from within spitting distance of where I am typing now - Lewis & Clark.

We also had our own Paul Revere type character - his name was Jack Jouett. He rode ahead of Colonel Tarelton and his English cavalry to warn Jefferson (Governor of Virginia at the time) and the Legislature that the Brits were coming for them. You should really read the wiki on him... an interesting fellow.

Also, three of the Founding Fathers came from this immediate area - Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. They were the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Presidents respectively. Jefferson was arguably one of the most notable intellectuals of his age with a list of amazing achievements far too long to detail here.

No, this isn't intended to be a history lesson. All of the people listed above come from within 20 miles of where I am right now. Without many of these people America may not exist. It certainly would be a very different place and it's unlikely that the difference would be good. In many ways, America and the promise of America were born here.

It is in the shadow of this greatness that an anger in me wells. I feel treasonous and small when I see what is happening to this country. I feel this way because with all of the shameful outrages being committed against our liberties and the promise of America, I do relatively little about it.

People from around here risked being hung to secure the liberties we are too lazy to defend these days. After 9/11 the authoritarians in this country saw an opportunity to consolidate power and they took it. Like sheep the Congress passed the USA Patriot Act despite the fact that only a handful of legislators even read the act.

We are being spied on, lied to, and arrested with no charges, no trial, and no counsel in some cases. What are we doing? Ha. We're blogging. I obviously consider myself among these less-than-revolutionary revolutionaries.

I hold myself in nearly as much contempt as I hold most of the sheep out there. The one difference is that I am a sheep who has opened his eyes. I inform myself, at least. I don't know - maybe it's worse to know what's going on and to do nothing than it is to be willfully ignorant. No, I have to believe that informing myself and at least voting from an informed standpoint makes me just a bit better than those who vote against their own self-interest out of sheer ignorance.

I do a little more than nothing. I volunteer for candidates in whom I believe. I am somewhat active in local politics. I teach my children to think and not to follow. I teach them to hold ignorance in contempt.

The saying, "Just because you're paranoid don't mean they're not after you" has never been more true to Americans at large.

What do I mean by that? They know who you've been calling. Oh, yes, friend. The Administration has been pushing for a retroactive law to immunize the phone companies for assisting the NSA in their warrantless wiretapping program. Can you say data-mining? I knew you could.

They also know what your spending habits are. That means the government knows whether or not you like to visit websites about bondage and sado-masochism. They know if you visited a gay dating site. They know if you rented a hotel room last week in Richmond and not Alexandria like you told your spouse. Think of everything that goes on any plastic you own... debit or credit.

Not only do they know what you charged on your plastic, they know where you go on the internet regardless of whether or not you bought anything there. ISPs have been issued orders under the USA Patriot Act to turn over their records. Gag orders come as part of these requests for data. Not only can they not refuse the request from the government, but they cannot appeal to judicial review. Been to WebMD, lately? Got a condition you don't want anyone to know about for whatever reason? The fact that you looked up information on Erectile Dysfunction is now no longer a secret, no longer anonymous.

The one thing that protects us in the mountains and mountains of data they have to sift through. But if your name pops up on some list somewhere, blowing your "cover", they can immediately look up all sorts of information on you. Big Brother sees all. In today's world of technology it is actually possible, unlike in Orwell's time when it was merely a dark fantasy.

In today's world of multi-terabyte databases it only takes a handful of people feeling pressure from the government to cave in and turn over gobs and gobs of data to the feds. It would take entire forests' worth of paper to print the data that could be rapidly and quietly turned over to the government without a single sheet of paper. An innocuous flow of ones and zeroes streaming over a secured pipeline through the internet.

The Information SuperHighway runs through your living room, beyotch.

This spying, this mining of dirty little secrets, is made even easier if a warrantless wiretap or two are placed on a key set of influential people. Maybe they have a dirty secret or two. Add to that the notion that these federal agents are "fighting terrorism" with this information and these executives may turn over the information without requiring a warrant and with no need for blackmail.

If the FBI or the NSA needs this information, it must be important. Right?

With the War on Terror being called the Long War, we are stepping onto an Orwellian stage from which no good can come. A stage that Orwell could only dream of but which is now lit with the harsh glare of technology. A war with no end in sight is a tyrant's wet dream.

• Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.
• If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
• It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.
• No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.

- James Madison

"Camping" Weekend

Saturday morning my brother and I set out on a camping trip. We drove to the Shenandoah National Forest and arrived at the gatehouse at about 9.15 AM. We filed a backcountry camping permit and were on our merry way.

What a perfect day for a hike and camp, too! I'd guess the temperature was in the upper 60's. There was a nice breeze. The trail was mostly empty. We ran into a couple of people but it was pretty easy to get a sense of isolation out there. The trail is a beaten dirt and rock path along various ridges, really. There's no paving or landscaping on this trail.

My brother and I went off the trail at a few points. At times we were going up 70 degree inclines which made it feel more like climbing than hiking . We hiked this way for at least four miles, maybe four and a half or five. Oh yeah - the whole time we were carrying packs that weighed in at 65 lbs.

By one PM we were looking for a campsite. We found a spot off the trail, dug a fire pit, lined it with rocks, gathered and chopped firewood, cleared the site, and then began setting up the tent when tragedy struck. As we were attempting to setup the tent we realized that the poles were way too short. We had the wrong tent poles!

The last time I went camping, my other brother (or maybe my sister) collapsed the tents and packed them away. I'm betting that's when the poles got mixed up. Of the three tents I had the largest two. My brother's tent was smallest by far. Since I brought the middle sized tent with me this weekend and the poles we had were too small, I'm betting my poles are with my brother's tent.

So we were left with three options, as we saw them:

1. Build our own shelter
2. Sleep on the ground
3. Hike back

Option one we dismissed. The method of shelter construction I am most familiar with requires thatching materials and we were on the side of a forested mountain. Gathering enough material to construct a shelter whilst on a slope was not very appealing.

Option two was out since we knew there was a chance for rain that night. Option three is what we chose. But we couldn't leave before we had achieved some sort of victory. We decided that victory would take the form of a fire we'd start and then immediately put out. I mean we had already built a stone-lined fire pit and everything. We got the fire going after two tries (not bad!) and then thoroughly doused it and got on our way.

I can tell you this: what started as a camping trip turned into a Bataan Death March of a hiking trip. I am so out of shape it isn't funny. The way I looked at it was like this: I was carrying a 65 lb pack and about 80 extra pounds of ass. That's me carrying 145 lbs all over the mountain.

At two o'clock we hit the trail again. We stuck to the trail on the way back (after climbing a steep slope for 150 feet to find it again!). Since we had used most of my water to douse the fire we were on the lookout for water on the way back. We found a great little spring full of cold, fresh water bubbling right out of the side of the mountain. Oh, yeah! I cannot think of a time in my life when water was so cold, pure, and refreshing.

After recharging our water stocks we ground on. My right heel was really starting to hurt by the time we tried to pitch camp, so it was less than pleasant to hike the entire way back on a sore foot. I tried not to be too much of a pansy about it.

When we got back I was not mocked by my wife. I have to give her credit on that one. Thanks, hon. She did make a good point, though which made me think a lot. She said, "Maybe the Universe was testing you. Maybe you were supposed to build a shelter and tough it out."

Next time we will not bring a tent at all. The entire point next time will be to camp with the idea that we must construct shelter if we want it. I'll have to see if my brother will be into that. I think he will be.