You are not free if you don't know your neighbor

Did you know that true freedom begins in your neighborhood? Well it does. Think about it. Back in the day, we all knew our neighbors. We played as kids in large groups. We filled the streets with laughter and delight.

Our parents knew the parents of our friends. In fact we often had block parties and cook outs. Sometimes, if we lived close to one of the coast, we would pile in a car or two and head to the beach.

The winter months were filled with warm gatherings. Holidays were shared with the neighbors as well as family. We knew when one of our friends was in trouble. We talked to each other about what troubled us and we gave the simple advise we had to offer.

We looked out for others property when they went on vacation and they looked out for ours. Crime was pretty low back in those days. When a crime happened to one of us it was like it happened to all of us.

When there was a death in the family, the neighbors rallied and helped where, when and how they could to ease the pain of losing the one we loved. When we were inured it was our neighbors who came to our aid. They cooked for us. They offered small donations of clothing and even money to help us wade through the most difficult of times.

Today, we live behind high fences and over scaled homes. We have alarm systems that watch our property night and day because we don't know our neighbors at all let alone enough to ask them to keep an eye on our place in our absence.

We live in gated communities. We drive for hours to work and back again. Often many of us don't even see our homes in daylight during half the year because we leave before the sun comes up and we don't get back home until the sun has set.

We barely see our own kids let alone have time for the guy who lives next door. Crime has risen because we don't know who lives next door or across the street. We don't know when someone has a run in with a criminal.

When we find out, instead of going to that neighbors aid, we instead add another lock to our doors and barricade ourselves inside. We build our fences higher and higher. In fact we are so into our own security that some of the fastest growing businesses in this country have to do with fences and home security.

Is it any wonder when something happens one of the first things we do is ask a politician for help? Is it any wonder then that the politician offers nothing but a new law? Is it any wonder that when financial disaster happens it is the politician that now offers some kind of hope with another law?

I say that if we go back to the day when we knew our neighbor we would have a lot less need for the politician and their new laws which only serve to strip each and every one of us of liberty and freedom. And when we lose some freedom and liberty we lose a small part of our ability to provide for and take care of our own which in turn begs to add more laws on top of the already repressive ones we already have.

Get out this summer and get to know your neighbors. Know the kids in the area. Know the parents. Know the pets. Know the homes. Know what they do for a living. Watch over their property when they are away and they will watch over yours. When one is in trouble you all should come together to help in some small way.

Liberty and Freedom are not just personal concepts. They are community concepts. Concepts like these can only be practiced in public. You cannot hide in your home large or small and expect to remain free and safe. It does not happen that way. In fact history has proven just the opposite.

Get out and know those who live with you, around you.

When you are in trouble, your friends and neighbors will know and will come to your aid. Even if you trouble is financial and you are in trouble of losing your home, you will be surprised to find out what your friends and neighbors can do for you and with you.

The old saying it is not what you know but who you know that really counts. You never know who your neighbor knows. They may, and probably do, know someone who could help you out or help you through. But if you say barricaded up in your home you will never know.

You will be one of those crying for new laws to protect you which in turn entrap you. Freedom is in the getting out. See the greater picture here. Lock yourself behind your front door and you limit your freedom. Open your door and you gain freedom.

How beautiful and free a neighborhood can be.

Stop. Think. Vote!

Who Would Jesus Vote For, and why would He vote for them

What is Liberty and Freedom? Seriously, what is it? To some it means being able to do anything that they damned well please without any restriction. To some liberty is to do things that they think does not affect or effect anyone around them.

Liberty is not being able to do anything you want. Liberty is not something that is GIVEN by government. Freedom is not free nor is it cheap nor does it come without responsibility. It is precious. It is valuable and we are losing it.

Liberty and Freedom are given as a gift to us by God Himself. Uh Oh! Rod is going biblical on us now is what you are probably thinking. Rod is one of THOSE people. Weak minded Christian. Well yes I am a Christian. I do not shirk from my beliefs.

I believe that Jesus was the greatest Conservative that ever walked the earth. God gave us laws to live by in the bible that keep us from bondage. If we follow these things, these laws that God has set fourth we don't need extra laws set out by man.

Look around you. You are being “lawed” to death. Every time you turn around, someone wants to pass another law that regulates your behavior. They propose a law that will regulate your thoughts. You think this is not the case.

We have laws on the books called “hate crimes.” What is a hate crime? And if a deadly crime is committed against you or a loved one but you are not one of the protected classes, does that make your life less valuable? In the eyes of the Liberal, yes you are not worth as much.

You have to be black, or at least look black. You have to be gay, Jewish, fat, etc. You just can't be a regular human being. Why do you think some groups try so hard to get their group included in the classes of special protection people? It gives them power over you.

If you stand up and fight against them, they claim hate speech. If you fight against their agenda, they claim you are a hater. If you try and live your life without them, they claim you are a hateful segregationist.

They pass laws to force you to send you children to schools you don't want your kids to go to. They pass laws forcing schools, colleges and businesses to institute quotas. They pass laws that keep qualified people down in order to raise someone less qualified.

They are most likely less qualified because they pass laws that kept their parents from sending them to better public or private schools.

Every time you turn around there is someone who wants to take control of your life. They want to make it harder or impossible for you to home school your own child. They pass laws that keep your pastor, your preacher, your Holy Father from speaking up or out against them. If they do, they lose their tax exempt and non-profit status.

The worst part about all of this is that you and I vote for these people who wish to limit our liberty. We put those people in public office then scream foul when they do what they told us they were going to do. They were going to help us do this or keep others from doing that. Our taxes go up to pay for this and we have to pay a higher fee in order to do that. Yet we go to the polling places election year after election year and vote for the very people we scream about on a daily basis.

God told us about this. He said if we ask for wicked men we will get wicked men. If we ask for evil rulers then we will get evil rulers. We ask for the wicked, we ask for the evil every time we vote for them.

Why do we vote for them? Because they make us FEEL good about ourselves. They tell us that in order to considered a good person you have to FEEL. Forget logic. Forget about God and His laws. Forget that there is order in the universe. Do what you FEEL is the right thing. Even thought what you feel may change next year, it is what you feel right now that counts.

Even if your feelings don't make a lick of sense, go with it. Feel your pain. Feel my pain. Feel the plight of the wronged. Feel the evil of the good. Feel the hate of the logical. Feel, feel, feel. Forget logic.

Forget reason. Forget the Constitution. Forget Gods laws that protect us. Forget your sense of right and wrong. Forget, forget, forget!

Oh no, we have forgotten too much. We have given up too much. We have given over our very lives and now we wonder how do we get our lives back. And when we say we want our lives back, the one we voted for does not want to give it back. They don't want to give up power over our lives.

So what do they do? They give us more laws. They restrict how we can speak out against them. They offer to take care of us by taking over parts of our lives completely (health care). They want us to turn over our children to them so they can educate them. Forget that their education system has been a proven failure for at least the last 50 years.

They believe us to be children, stupid ignorant children. They should know because they educated us in the public schools. They tell us that Hollywood is more important to watch that Washington, DC. They blame Hollywood for giving us programing that glorified violence instead of telling us how bad violence is.

They want to protect us from ourselves by making laws that force us to do things we may not want to do. (Wearing seat belts, no smoking in a bar) They take over our own property by telling us what we can do with that property.

Oh no, we are to blame for our lack of liberty today. We are to blame for our lack of freedom today. Oh no, we cannot blame George W Bush for the Patriot Act. We demanded to be secure. We demanded that we be safe. We demanded that President Bush act to keep us and our children safe.

He gave us what we wanted. And we voted for those who allowed this law to go into affect. Yet we now complain about this law. But do we vote for those who would get rid of this law? No! We vote for the same people who approved his law.

Oh no, we cannot blame Washington, DC for our troubles. Oh no, we cannot blame the politician for our troubles. Oh no, we cannot point a finger at other nations for our troubles. We are our own troubles. Oh yes, we have done this to ourselves.

Oh yes, we have a chance to start changing this evil trend. We have to stop feeling and start thinking again. We have to look at the candidates for all levels of government and ask which ones want to bring back liberty. Which ones want less government in our lives. Which one believes that God has already given us the laws we need to live by. Which one believes that we can take care of ourselves. Which one wants to let me do what I think is best for my life. Which one. Which one?

If you vote for Hillary Clinton, then you are a fool. She does not believe you can do or live without her help.

If you vote for Barack Obama, then you are a fool. No he cannot. No he cannot do a damned thing unless you vote him into office. He will take over your life and you will scream foul at 3 AM.

If you vote for John McCain, then you are a fool. War hero or not. He put into place some laws that limit your liberty your freedom. He trampled on the Constitution by helping to craft and pass a law that takes power away from you and gives it to special interest groups and companies. He did not take the money out of politics, he just made it bigger.

So who do you vote for? I cannot tell you that. You have to THINK logically for yourself this time. You have a brain. God gave us all a brain. Now is the time to use that brain to bring some true law and order and liberty back to our streets. Back to our homes, families and neighborhoods.

Think. Ask. Vote. Be logical. In fact, a saying from the past few years fits for our times right now, although with a bit of a tweak.

Who Would Jesus Vote For?! That person deserves your vote and guess what? You will protect your liberty when you do.

Think. Ask. Vote.

Single Issue Candidates are Dangerous To Your Liberty

A lot of people ask me questions about my beliefs. They ask why I don't vote for or against issues directly. These people seem to think that the only thing that matters when voting for a person is their stance on a particular issue or two. Usually no more than four issues will determine if a person gets the vote of these people.

I feel sorry for them and for me. Issue politics has devastated our political landscape. It lends itself to heavy influence by the very groups and lobbyist that many people deplore. We have new laws that are supposed to limit the access and influence of special interest groups.

The problem is, that these laws end up limiting the liberty and freedom of the everyday American giving the special interest groups even more power and influence. The basic point is this. When you seek to limit the freedom and influence of a particular group you usually end up giving that group more power and influence.

I will never vote for single or limited issue candidates. Our nation is far more complicated than just a single issue or two. What happens with your candidate of choice once your issue is settled? What do they do then? How do the feel or vote for other issues that are just as important or even more important that your single issue?

See how short sighted and dangerous your limited issue vote can be? Besides, when it comes down to single or limited issues, what exactly do you expect to happen?

There are a lot of passionate people who are for and against abortion. The pro-abortion people say it is for the freedom of the woman to choose what happens with her body. The pro-life people say it is the freedom of the baby to be born that is the issue.

So both sides lobby hard for their cause and beliefs. This issue has sprouted dozens and dozens of Political Action Comities, lots of grass roots organizations, thousands of citizen soldiers that troll the halls of state capitols and the halls of power in Washington, DC. They vote in large blocks for candidates based solely on their position on abortion.

Is abortion an important issue? Well, yes it is a VERY important issue. Is it the ONLY or the MOST important issue facing our nation? No to both. But people will overlook other issues a candidate stands for or against because they will vote the way they want them to on this single issue.

You can pick just about any major issue right now and you will find the same thing going on. Lobby groups, PAK groups, grass roots groups, etc. All trying to influence how the tide of events will unfold. These groups often lobby for laws for or against their single issue. These leaves you and me in the dark.

We end up with laws that severely limit our freedom, choice and liberty.

Think about it. What ever happened to common sense, common courtesy, common decency? When we think of life in those terms, then we realize and understand that we don't need to have tons of laws on the books that end up limiting our rights, our liberty.

How often have you been stopped by a police officer and the officer has to look up certain laws to see if you actually broke that particular law? That is ridiculous. But, you would be surprised at how many laws are on the books that you and I don't know about that end up costing us money.

I speak from experience. I was driving a car owned by a fireman. He had a yellow and red emergency light in his back window. The State Trooper pulled me over for speeding, he said. (The charge was dismissed in court and I didn't have to say a word because it was obvious to the judge that it was stupid as explained by the Trooper representative.) He asked me if I had a firefighters badge. I said no because I was not a firefighter and it was not my car.

The trooper had to go back to his cruiser and look up the law. He then gave me a warning for displaying an emergency light improperly. I had no idea that ANY car I drive could not have an emergency only light displayed in the open if I was not a badged officer recognized by the state.

It was not my car. How the hell would I know about that? The firefighter friend of mine did not know about that law. Even the trooper had to look it up. Do you see what I mean about too many laws and that these laws end up costing you in freedom, time, money?

This is what single issue politics does to all of us. It ends up limiting our choices, our liberty. If we all just had some common courtesy, decency and sense then we would find we would not need so many laws.

How did our nation survive for about 150 years before the 1950's when laws began swelling the books in town halls all across the nation? It was do to personal responsibility and self respect. Laws tend to take that away from people and that leads to more laws.

Special interest and single issue candidates tend to vote for laws that restrict your liberty and freedom because their only issue is to get everyone to think and feel the exact same way they do. The only way to do that is to have laws that force you and I to comply.

I will not vote for a single issue candidate because my freedom and liberty if worth far more than that. I will not sell out just so one issue that may be important to me, gets the light of day. No there is far more at stake than that single issue.

Vote single issue and you vote to limit your own freedom and liberty. Its been proven by history. Its just common sense to pay attention to ALL the issues. Because if you vote for just one issue, then the rest of your life will be dictated by all the other single issues you didn't feel were worthy of your time. After all, they may not see your issue as being important to them but they will work just as hard to have their issue heard as you do to have your issue heard. A nation of single issues. Which one do you really want to live by?

The Week End Report Feb 9 and 10

The Week End Report.

This is really disturbing. It seems Ohio is trampling on its own state constitution in order to keep Federal money flowing to its coffers. But the issue is that the cost of the new law would far outstrip any amount of money the state would be eligible for from the Fed, some law enforcement authorities say.

The controversy is so big that there are judges in some of Ohio's counties that refuse to enforce the law. They issue stays from their bench as cases reach their courtrooms. It also looks like there have been over 80 civil challenges to this new law since it too effect back on Jan 2, 2008.

It is a law rewritten in order to comply with the Federal Adam Walsh Child Safety Protection Act. This law in and of itself is a huge constitutional bug a boo. But Ohio is taking this law a step further. It seems that this law would also be retroactive. This means that if a deal was made prior to this law and you did what you were called to do under the old law, you can forget it. That deal would be thrown out, you would still be convicted under the old law but would now have to abide by the new law no matter what your previous deal was. It could mean that if you were a juvenile sex offender, you would have to register for life.

It could be that if you followed the law and bought a home in a “legal” area under the old law, you may be forced to move under the new law. It could mean that if you bought some porn, you could be arrested and convicted of pandering and then would have to have special license plates for you car, have to register as a sex offender and would be barred from living in many places in the state and would have to get permission before you could move out of the state. Just for buying some porn?

Even I have to agree with the ACLU on this one. Even some child protection groups are working with the ACLU to fight this law. Its ridiculous. It tramples on individual rights. It crushes the state constitution. It enacts retroactively and it slaps the US Constitution to the curb. This is a bad law period and its a threat to individual liberty in all states.

Read more about it here:

The Plain Dealer

The Guide

The Toledo Blade

The Chronicle-Telegram

****

It looks like the Tax Rebate is a done deal. The main problem with this thing is that people who do not pay any taxes are getting a "rebate". Now that is like you walking into a Best Buy, picking up a rebate form for buying a big screen LCD TV and sending it in without ever buying the TV.

Its not a rebate, its a redistribution of wealth and you and I are all paying for it. Not to mention such a tactic is really unlikely to boost the economy. If it is a good idea to let the American people keep more of their money to keep the economy going now, why is not just plain good policy to let the American people keep more of their hard earned money all the time?

Find out if you qualify and how to qualify for this rebate. By the way, of course I am going to keep my rebate and probably invest it instead of spend it willy nilly.

CNN Money

IRS

****

The housing slump. This is not a crisis. More than 95% of mortgages out there are being paid. So that means less than 5% are in some form of default. Now there are two ways to get out of this mess for that 5%. First, you bought the dang house now pay for it. Doesn't matter that you may have to give up lattes at Starbucks. Pay for the house. Whatever happened to personal honor and integrity when putting your signature on a note?

Second, you banks out there know what a mess you help create so why not buck up and go to the table and help those people in trouble. You will save yourself a lot of money in the end. You will protect your profits in the end. And you will keep the market from being flooded with empty homes which only drags down the value of all homes in that area. Think about it.

A bonus third. Keep the Fed out of it. They will only screw things up and make things worse. When was the last time the Fed was able to directly help a poor situation? Exactly, never. Let the market correct its mess. Don't bog down the industry with more regulation, how will that help? Stay out of it. Job growth is still there. Unemployment is still low. The economy is not in a recession or a tailspin so don't force it down the tubes. Let it be and it will work itself back to health in a few years.

In the mean time...people pay your bills. That will do more to help the economy than anything else the Fed can do.