A World of Followers

I think I finally understand the world around me – or at least why it is traveling in its current direction. It was a simple post on Facebook that made me become aware of the entire picture. The graphic to the left apparently circulated enough that Snopes saw fit to add it to its long list of internet myths. When it came to my attention I was shocked that any single individual could believe that Facebook legal staff could pass laws.

Each day there is something new about which people become outraged. Some of it is fact, some a blend of fact and fiction, and some obvious mistruths. We have Alex Jones who has a huge following. There are those who accept everything he says as gospel. There are the Art Bell followers who do the same. I'm not here to say what is and what isn't truth from either of those. All that interest me is why do others believe almost 100%.

People love a conspiracy. People love a good mystery novel. I'm sure science can point to an area of the brain that is stimulated by such things. But I think there is more to it than simple mind stimulation. There are the people who are skeptical of everything – to a fault. There are those who often look at events with cold logic.

A Look at The Gettysburg Address

Today is the anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Many see this speech as a great day in history, but every story has two sides. President Obama is being slammed for not mentioning God in his recitation. The reason could be simple, be chose one of the versions that didn't include the word 'God.'

I'd like to add a little commentary before listing the different versions below. Some of us don't see the Gettysburg Address as something great. Some of us in the south never saw this as a civil war. From the southern perspective it was an attack from another nation. I bring this up because either by force or choice we are today all Americans and we must always remember this period in history isn't always seen with the northern perspective.

Some might ask why this is important. The very words of Lincoln tell us why this is a topic that needs discussion, especially in today’s turbulent political environment. He said, “a new nation, conceived in Liberty, “ We must understand the meaning of liberty. True liberty is the right to secede. If states lose the right to secede there can never be true liberty. For a state held at the point of a gun there is no true liberty. This was no different than attacking nations in order to force our brand of democracy on them.

Today we have states threatening to divide, at least one seceding and joining Canada. There are others with threats of secession. If any of these secessions come about, will more people die while trying to achieve true liberty? Will the heavy hand of the US government use armed force to stop the will of the people?

Eliminate the Tax Scam

Each year we watch a parade of politicians promising us everything in order to gain our vote. We know that most of these promises will never be fulfilled. We also know that they will blame those failed promises on the other party. I am here to talk about the promises they do keep.

We have amassed a $16.5 trillion dollar debt. We have some telling us that the debt doesn't matter. I m told it won't matter until we reach $20 trillion. At the rate of debt growth we can see this happening in at least four years. We have one side telling us that we need to stimulate the economy. We have the other side spending more and wanting to raise taxes on the rich. That same side also tells us that we need to stop subsidizing certain industries, while increasing subsidies for others. For those who are unclear, a subsidy is no more than a tax exemption on certain aspect of that business. This is done to move the businesses in certain directions.

Flashlight Scam

You have seen them advertised on television for only $19.95. You can, of course, find them in flea markets for much less. I am not sure what brand I have. I’ll look up the information later. The point is, they are a scam. After getting poor results, no apparent charging, I disassembled two of them.

First, let me point out I have over 30 years in the electronic industry. I was dubious of the type of energy storage the light used. My mind told me this couldn’t work as advertised. I was right. Their claims are not just outrageous, but they are down right lies.

After having problems with the flashlight not charging, I finally took time to disassemble one. To my surprise, I found two button type batteries. Maybe I wasn’t that surprised. I had expected wafer capacitors or something similar.