I’m Back…Sorry for being gone.

To those who followed 4440 Words from the beginning,

Please excuse my absence.  I was abducted by a torturous government agency and forced to meet their demands.  (While not technically a lie, the previous statement may be somewhat misleading.)

I have been doing some traveling overseas.  And while the availability of resources to post as often as I had been before May is not available, if you hang in there, we will get back up on a steady track.

Sorry for the intermission.  Let’s get back to figuring out how to reclaim our Constitution, shall we?

g-man

International Scoreboard: USA 1 Pirates 0

The United States showed great leadership this weekend.  Where the remainder of the international community has consistently shown their weakness in dealing with the Somali pirates plaguing the Gulf of Aden and surrounding waters, we showed strength and resolve.

For years, the pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, the Indian Ocean, and the Straits of Malacca have been catered to by the international maritime industry.  Companies around the world have determined that it is cheaper to pay tribute to the Muslim pirates than to arm their crews.  This policy, while potentially good for insurance rates, has had the impact of providing incentives to the scourges of the sea.

Until now, the pirates had been smart enough not to test the resolve of the American maritime fleet.  They had avoided capturing American flagged vessels and were careful about kidnapping American crew members.  Apparently, the ransoms they have received from nations and companies in the past have served to embolden them into thinking the United States would follow the precedent set.

There is some speculation, not unwarranted, that election and actions of President Obama signaled a softening of resolve and a willingness to fall in line with the actions of other nations.  The recent subservient bow of President Obama to the King of Saudi Arabia, as well as his penchant for praising and kowtowing to Islamic leaders of the world, may have sent the wrong signal to terrorists operating around the world.

Fortunately, the President had the good sense to let the commander on scene make the call and take action if the merchant captain’s life was in danger.  Fortunately, we have men and women like those serving in the SEALs, the USS Bainbridge, and USS Halyburton to depend upon.  Their experienced assessment, cool-headed planning, and professional actions have shown the pirates that the United States is serious about protecting its citizens.

An extra bit of praise should be given to the President for not worrying about checking in with other nations before taking decisive action in the United States’ best interest.

Piracy is not new.  We have been fighting pirates since before Thomas Jefferson took on the Barbary Pirates on the shores of Tripoli.  We know that the best way to defeat pirates is to root out their shore bases and prevent them from finding safe harbors.  Let’s hope President Obama has the continued good judgement, now that this anti-piracy action has been renewed, to do what must be done.  In addition to Afghanistan, the Somali terrorist networks–of which the pirates are an arm–should be confronted and eradicated.

The time is now, the fight is just, let’s do it Mr. President.

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The Social Security Ponzi Scheme…Bernie Madoff’s got nothing on Uncle Sam

We’ve heard a lot in the last few weeks about Bernie Madoff and how he scammed millions from investors through his Ponzi scheme.  He stole people’s money, and now is sitting in jail.  His family is under investigation, his belongings have all been seized, and we have been witness to the parade of government officials and private citizens tell us how awful the scheme and how wrong Bernie acted.

For clarification, Investopedia defines a Ponzi scheme as: “A fraudulent investing scam promising high rates of return with little risk to investors. The Ponzi scheme generates returns for older investors by acquiring new investors. This scam actually yields the promised returns to earlier investors, as long as there are more new investors. These schemes usually collapse on themselves when the new investments stop.”

By definition, our social security system is a Ponzi scheme.  By comparison, the federal government makes Bernie Madoff look like a small time thief, yet no one is seizing the government’s assets and no government officials are sitting in jail, happy to avoid being burned at the stake.

This year, for the first time since 1983 the Social Security system paid out more in benefits than it took in by way of taxes.  The system has run out of new investors, yet the older investors, who were promised great rates of return with no risk to their initial contributions, are being paid benefits.

This classic Ponzi scheme is ready to collapse, as they all do when the number of new investors aren’t sufficient enough to sustain the level of return for the earlier investors, but somehow the Bernie Madoff’s of the Social Security system are still running their scam.

We need to fix this.  If it’s illegal to run a Ponzi scheme, it should also be illegal for our government to fleece the population in the same way.  The right thing to do, aside from arrest the congress and seize all their assets in an attempt to pay off the investors who have been cheated (us), is to stop running the scam.

Unfortunately, many people have made life decisions based the promise that the Social Security system would provide all or some of their retirement needs.  So, we owe it to those investors to follow through as best we can within the original framework of the system.

We need to designate a cut-off age, somewhere between 35 and 40–since by then life’s decisions have already been made–and let those young enough to recover their long term financial situation make decisions based on the truth–that the system will not be there when they retire.

We need to calculate a sunset clause for paying into the social security scam.  So the coming generations can have their money to invest and plan for their retirements.  We should scale back benefits to a package comparable to what the original package of benefits was designed to be, perhaps the mix needs to be a bit different than originally intended, but the overall amount of benefits needs to be scaled back to what was originally designed and no more for those who will be collecting.

We need to get spending, taxes, and our ability to be self-sufficient back under control.  We need to do it now, before we lose any more of our Constitution, our republic, or our uniquely American identity.

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Fixing Unemployment is Easy!

The latest unemployment figures were released last week and the news isn’t exactly good.  The Bureau of Labor Statics proclaimed the United States currently has an 8.5 percent unemployment rate.  While that also means 91.5 percent of the population is working — a solid A-minus in any public school in America —  that translates into 13 million working-age adults out of work. 

This is disastrous!  When we mortgaged the future of our children and their children in government spending we were told it was absolutely necessary to prevent this calamity.  So, what happened?  After nearly a trillion in TARP funds, the great tax rebate, another trillion plus in Bail-out funds, nearly 4 trillion in budget approved on top of all the spending the federal government already engages in, and we failed to save enough jobs for these 13 million folks.

The President promised to “save” or create 3-4 million jobs.  It doesn’t appear to have worked, but have no fear, the answer is readily available.  While there are lies, damn lies, and statistics, sometimes the numbers lend themselves to the solution.  This is just such a time.

There are 12 million jobs waiting for these 13 million unemployed Americans.  You may better recognize them by the monicker made famous by the previous administration: “jobs American won’t do.”

By the most conservative estimates, there are 12 million illegal aliens (AKA: undocumented workers) currently working and residing in the United States.  These illegal aliens are doing jobs that at least 13 million Americans would now be happy to do.  Additionally, these undocumented workers are sending remittances back to their countries of origin sucking money out of our struggling economy.  They are placing tremendous pressure on our infrastructure utilizing medical services, police services, fire services, and the like, all at great cost to our federal, state, and local governments.  To add insult to injury, most don’t pay taxes and shouldn’t qualify for the loans supposedly necessary to jump-start the economy.

This problem isn’t difficult.  The numbers work!  Many estimates hold the number of illegal aliens in the 20-40 million range, but even the most conservative estimates of 12 million meet the demand for employing our unemployed.

Many argue that it’s impossible to round up 12 million people and deport them en masse.  This is absolute bull.  We can go to the Moon.  We can shoot dangerous, fast-moving satellites out of the atmosphere.  We can clean up entire nations with a semi-hostile population and a mountain of international interference.  We can harness the power of the atom.  We think we can create an entire globe of static weather, but we don’t think it is possible to find and deport 12 million people in one country that we fully control?  The American people aren’t that gullible.  Washington needs to quit pissing on our heads and telling us its raining!

Some will argue we will break up families.  What about the children?  A parent should think about how their actions will impact their children before they take those actions.  Isn’t that the basis for all the laws punishing parents for smoking in cars, making car seats mandatory for anyone under 80 pounds, and when kids send nude pictures of themselves on cellphones?  Let’s at least try to pretend we are consistent.  If you are here illegally, but your children aren’t, then you need to make a decision.  Either take them with you or leave them behind, but don’t use your children as a shield for your illegal action.  We send single parents who break the law to jail, don’t we?  We take parents out of the home all the time.  This is a straw-man argument.

Bottom line:  Build a physical fence and make it a no-man’s land.  Let the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) do its job.  Give DHS the power to fast track deportation. Put those here illegally on the unemployment list and let those 13 million Americans get back to providing for their families and their future.  There ya go, unemployment problem solved.  Illegal immigration problem solved as a bonus.  To borrow a phrase from “Staples,” that was easy.

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North Korea should expect a REALLY harsh letter, now!

North Korea has launched itself into the missile delivery systems market.  With the launch of its Taepodong-2 rocket carrying a satellite payload, Kim Jong Il has successfully demonstrated to his buyers that he has a viable long range delivery platform for whatever type of accessories they might like to mount. Iran reportedly had technicians and program developers on the ground in North Korea for the launch.

So, what will the United States do about it?  In reality, nothing.  We will once again play out the tired scene from “Team America, World Police,” where Hans Blix tells Kim Jong Il the United Nations is very angry and if he doesn’t cooperate they will be forced to send him a letter telling him they are very angry. 

China can be expected to veto any strongly worded letters from the United Nations (further underscoring why we need a serious policy shift with regard to the UN).  China had the ability to stop the launch and force North Korea to comply with the security council resolution from 2006 which made any ballistics program tests forbidden, but China didn’t because allowing the launch fits her current strategy for probing the new President’s level of resolve and willingness to act.  Also, North Korea provides a convenient avenue for exporting its weapons technology, while still allowing it the ability to claim innocence, as it did with Silkworm missile exports to the middle east.

President Obama is in over his head when it comes to matters of national defense.  We all knew that going into the election, that’s why he felt the need to nominate Joe-jo “the human gaffe machine” Biden as his Vice President, although he doesn’t really know as much about national defense and international affairs as the press would have you believe.

The North Koreans have played this game for a long time.  In 1994, when they swore they weren’t processing spent nuclear fuel for weapons applications.  In 1998, when they swore they weren’t exporting spent nuclear fuel or nuclear technology–especially not to Iran.  In 2006, when they didn’t really test a nuclear device.  and now in 2009, when they didn’t really just test the delivery system for it.  Each time the UN took actions.  Each time the regime ignored the sanctions and strongly worded letters.

The missile the North Koreans didn’t just successfully test will end up packaged with a nuclear payload they didn’t successfully test in the past and be exported to anyone who wants one, just like they didn’t export nuclear technology to Iran, a nuclear reactor to Syria, and nuclear equipment to and from A.Q. Khan’s network of nuclear systems for hire.

President Obama gave a speech in Europe yesterday outlining the plan to eliminate nuclear weapons from the world.  While it sounds good on a teleprompter, by not shooting down this missile test and working to shelve our missile shield technology, he has put us in a position where a key arms dealer has proven technology we can’t stop the proliferation of, and our only self protection system will be off the table.  I’m certain the “global regime” the President called for in his speech will protect us.  They have an entire building full of harshly worded letters.

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Fishing Holds the Answer for Gitmo Detainees.

Seventeen detainees currently residing at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility may be released in the United States.  They are men without a country who the administration is considering allowing to enter our country.  This has been a difficult case for both the Bush and Obama administrations, but it seems fairly simple to me.

Twenty-two men were picked up at an Al Queda training camp in Afghanistan.  They were shipped to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, interviewed and investigated, and determined to not meet the criteria for classification as “enemy combatants.”  Therefore, the Bush administration in 2004 classified them as suitable for release.  Seems pretty cut-and-dried so far, right?

Here’s the catch.  They are Muslim jihadists aligned with Al Queda who come from the western-most part of China.  They have been fighting with the Chinese for independence of their providence.  If they were returned to China, their country of origin, it would mean a certain death sentence.

So, they are happy to be aligned with Al Queda, which means they are threat to the U.S., but they are deadmen if we deport them back to their country of origin.  So, we shopped around for a country willing to take them.  Albania stepped up, but only agreed to take five of the jihadis.  After canvasing over one hundred nations, no one will accept the remaining seventeen.

After seven years at Gitmo and five years of looking for a country to take them, we still can’t seem to figure out where to put these guys. This isn’t an international relations problem; it’s a fishing problem.  The answer is: catch and release.

These jihadis managed to find their own way to Afghanistan for training, they will be able to find their way back.  We should take them to Afghanistan and release them.  From there they will either go back home, settle down and live peacefully in Afghanistan, or join the forces against us in Afghanistan and be killed or recaptured.  Either way, problem solved.

If we are overly concerned about releasing them in Afghanistan, then we should release them in Somalia.  Somalia has nearly no government and even less well defined borders.  The three scenarios above will still apply.

Once again, our government has taken a relatively simple issue and turned it into a huge problem when the simplest answer makes the most sense.  Catch and release, that’s the answer.

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Koh represents an End-Around on the Constitution

President Obama has appointed Harold Koh to be the State Department Legal Adviser.  This adviser is the international face of the U. S. legal system.  The Legal Adviser travels extensively, represents the U. S. position in the negotiation of treaties with other nations and our dealings with United Nations conferences. 

Harold Koh has a Harvard Law degree, has been the Dean of the Yale Law School since 2004, and previously worked in the State Department under the Clinton administration.  This position requires someone who not only understands the Constitution, but someone who believes in it. 

Unfortunately, while Koh understands the Constitution, he doesn’t believe in it.  He has a history of championing the cause of subjugating the Constitution to international law.  He has referred to the United States as part of the “axis of disobedience,” a club whose other members included North Korea and Iraq.

The biggest threat to the American people if Harold Koh is confirmed comes from his belief in the supreme nature of transnational law. Essentially, Koh could put us in a position where Sharia law could be practiced in America.  Worse yet, once an issue, either criminal or civil, made its way through the courts the party not satisfied with the outcome could appeal the decision to the International Courts.  This would nullify the Constitution as the supreme law of the land, as well as effectively neutralizing all three branches of government–although the Executive less so than the Legislature and Judiciary.

Koh, if confirmed, will be an essential cog in the machine of the internationalists.  He will play a pivotal role in moving the United States away from national sovereignty and closer, if not fully, into the realm of international governance. 

The danger to the American people and their way of life is very real.  The States, having already been neutered by the federal government, must realize they are bound for the ash-pile of History if international government supremacy becomes the rule.  The time to stop the internationalist movement is now, before it becomes fully operative.  Getting rid of it after we have fully signed on (we are partially there already) will be nearly impossible, extremely expensive, and very bloody.

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Change Sports Fans Can Believe In!

  Updated: March 32, 2009

Steelers to loose Super Bowl Trophies

Pittsburgh, PA

 

 The Super Bowl XLIII Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, the only team to win six titles, will soon be loosing half of those trophies. After a meeting between NFL Commissioner Rodger Gadel and President Barack Hussain Obama, Obama decided to redistribute half of their Steeler Super Bowl victories and trophies to less fortunate teams in the league.

“We live everyday in the country that invented the Super Bowl.” said Obama “We are not about to lose this Great American tradition in the wake of these difficult times.” Obama’s plan calls for the Steelers, who are a successful NFL team, to give half of their Super Bowl trophies to teams that are not successful or have not been as successful as the Steelers. “The Detroit Loins are just as much a part of the same fiber of the NFL as the Steelers and they should, no rather will, be entitled to a Super Bowl Trophy as well.” Obama explains in his plan that he has imposed on Godel and the NFL.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, who by virtue of hard work, excellent team play, stellar draft choices, responsible investing of free agents, careful hiring of coaches and excellent community service and commitment to their fans, has prospered greatly during the past 30 years and have won six Super Bowl Trophies. But President Barack Hussain Obama’s plan calls for the Pittsburgh Steelers to carry the larger burden of the NFL’s less successful teams. Obama went on to further proclaim, “In these difficult times we are all in this to work together. We must reclaim the NFL Championship Dream for every team, for every city and for every fan.”

“My plan will not affect 31 of the 32 teams in the league.” Obama assures. That’s over 95 percent of the teams in the NFL will not have to worry about loosing any Super Bowl Trophies. “The worst teams in the NFL and the teams that can’t seem to get a break and win a championship will no longer have to worry about going without a title.” Obama promises. “We are a country and league of hope. We all need to make a change. It does not matter the color of the teams uniforms, the personal decisions that the teams make or their performance but rather if they are a member of this great American league.”

The Super Bowl XLIII trophy will be redistributed to the 0-16 Detroit Lions. Through no fault of their own incompetence, the Lions could not manage a victory all season and this trophy will help ease the pain of their lack of performance and give them hope once again.

 The redistribution of Super Bowl XL trophy will go directly to the Steeler’s division rival the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals who also have fallen on hard times have never won a Super Bowl. This victory will bring a smile to hundreds of Bengal fans all over the world as they can now celebrate. Finally, one of the Steeler’s two Super Bowl victories over the Dallas Cowboys will go back to the Cowboys since the league needs to provide hope in the face of difficulty and provide hope in the face of uncertainty. This is a heavy burden for the Steelers but together we can all prosper.

(g-note:  This was forwarded to me by a friend.  I had actually already starting drafting a post that was very similar.  I regret I do not have a specifc entity to whom I can attribute this artful, witty piece of work.)

Again, Happy April Fools Day!

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…and all is right with the world.

Its a new day in America.  The sun is shining, the sound of the birds chirping is clear and beautiful, and the smell of freshly cut grass gently reminds us that all is good and right with the world.

On the international front:  The North Koreans are going to launch their satellite and the better communication that it provides will help to ensure the six-party talks are successful.  The cartels have surrendered to Mexican authorities and the border is secure.  Iran and Israel have come to an agreement and appear to be able to finally live together in harmony.  Live and let live!  Even the Palestinians are eager to put all the fruitless fighting behind them and be good neighbors…and all is right with the world.

On the economic front:  The dollar is strong and the G20 has decided it will remain as the world’s reserve currency for at least another fifty years.  The stock market has renewed confidence and appears to be stabilizing.  Treasury Secretary Geithner’s rescue plan is taking hold and the banks are open for lending.  Americans are buying houses, computer stocks, and spending their paychecks as fast as they get them.  Congress is working out the implementation of the Fair Tax.  Taxes are low and businesses are coming back to American shores.  AIG has agreed to not only pay back its loans, but to cover the amount lost by every pension plan in America as a show of their appreciation.  The automakers are seeing sales that are through the roof…and all is right with the world.

On the domestic front:  A bipartisan Congress has managed to work out the numbers so the President can have the $4 bilion dollar budget he needs to complete his reset of American-style government.  The President has gone through the Constitution line-by-line and cited how each of his initiatives are allowed within the framework.  The Supreme Court has reaffirmed the Bill of Rights as intended by the founding fathers, emphasizing personal, property, gun, and states rights…and all is good with the world.

On the ecological front:  Conservation has gripped the nation.  A Navy researcher has cracked the code on cold fusion.  Cornell has confirmed their earlier research, originally reported in World Net Daily, showing oil is a renewable resource produced by deep Earth processes.  Thousands of jobs have been created as every major coastal county has begun to build both steam powered evaporation and reverse osmosis desalinization plants on both coasts to make droughts obsolete.  Wave-power generation rigs have been deployed and nuclear plants are going up in every state…and all is right with the world.

It’s just another carefree, happy day in the good ‘ole US of A.  Hard to believe anything could go wrong today.  It must be April 1st.  Happy April Fools day!

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CEO-in-Chief Is Big On Guaran-TEASE

The CEO-in-Chief has spoken.  For someone who proclaims no intention of running GM and Chrysler, President Obama sure seems to be.  He has forced out GM’s CEO and is expected to oust the board of directors.  He has dictated to Chrysler that it will enter into an agreement with the Italian car maker, Fiat, which doesn’t appear to have much up-side for Chrysler aside from the $6 Billion dollars in additional bail-out funds Obama will graciously grant them.  Worth noting, Fiat isn’t allowed to own more controlling stock in the company than the government. Sure sounds like the federal government is running GM and Chrysler.

I got an especially hardy laugh at the proposition that the full faith and credit of the United States government, for whatever that’s worth these days, has guaranteed the warranties of both companies.  This move would be unnecessary unless the administration had already decided to force them into bankruptcy.

The big deal about auto companies going into chapter eleven bankruptcy is the public perception that their products and services could disappear at any time.  This is why the government has to back the warranties, otherwise no amount of incentives would spur consumers to buy their cars.  The destruction of confidence in the auto makers upon chapter eleven filing will almost assuredly force them further down the road into chapter seven bankruptcy.  At which time the companies are dissolved.

Now, perhaps Obama hasn’t seen the track record of the US government, but the rest of us surely have.  That means the warranty guarantee is not worth the paper our dollars are printed upon. 

We had a guarantee from the federal government on Social Security, but that hasn’t really worked out.  We had their guarantee on building a fence and controlling the invasion of illegal immigrants streaming across the border, but that hasn’t really been worth much, either.  Hell, we have a guarantee from them in writing concerning a republican form of government and a specific list of rights for the people and constraints for the government, but they haven’t bothered to live up to that in years.

Perhaps, I misunderstood. Perhaps, President Obama is giving us his personal guarantee on all GM and Chrysler warranties, you know…as the guy not running those companies, but acting like it.  Well, he promised us a transparent administration, no lobbyists in the administration, and that he had the real solution to the problems of the economy–which must be why his administration has resurrected the TARP, added unprecedented federal powers to it, and are trying to take over every private business in the country.  Yeah, his guarantee is believable.

So, what exactly in their historical performance on guarantees is supposed to convince me they are going to take care of my car?  Hell, I wouldn’t trust these liars to take care of a fake potted plant. 

They have no intentions of saving these auto companies.  I hope the union workers whose dues funded their election are getting what they expected.  At least they can feel good about the fact that when GM and Chrysler are “restructured” they’ll get to work at a union controlled McDonald’s thanks to card-check.

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