The Truth About Inflation

Wow. This is a very important video and the key to understanding what is coming our way. Nobody is talking intelligently about inflation right now except Ron Paul and Glenn Beck. Everybody in the country needs to see this video. Our government is trying to hide this information from us! (Plus, those who have seen Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" will get a chuckle out of this)

Nasty Day

This winter has been very, very annoying. Rather than getting a few nice snows, we have instead this season gotten snow/sleet/ice mixes every time! It is just enough snow to make me feel too guilty to skip work and yet enough to make it sometimes extremely hard to get around... ugh.

We got another "wintery mix" last night and it is continuing today. Hannah wanted me to stay home, but Dan (who I was carpooling with today) asked what I wanted to do and I said we should go. I know he did not want to go (and his wife did not want him to either) but I am glad we decided to. I would not have been able to make it with my two wheel drive car.

I can not afford to use a vacation day and I can not afford to take an unpaid day off.

So here I am at work, looking out at the snow/sleet coming down... funfun. I wish I was home. I miss my Joys... but at the same time, I am glad I am here.

Monetary Inflation

What is monetary inflation? It is the "inflating" of the money supply through printing new money. So what is happening right now in our country? Well, companies are hurting and laying off workers, cutting down stock, and dropping prices shockingly low (80% off regular prices!) to try and get what they have out of their doors. And what is the government doing? Well, they do not want these companies to lose money, so they are printing money and pumping it into the country so there is more money to go around and save these businesses. This is good, isn't it? Nope. With businesses dropping production and yet tons more money being printed we are going to end up with too much money chasing too few goods. The basic laws of supply and demand come into play here and prices start going up. When waaaaay too much money is printed and the prices go waaaaaay up it is called hyper-inflation. This is what we saw in Germany after World War I where their money became so devalued that it became totally worthless. So, you think, "Our country would not be that dumb! They wouldn't possibly do something that would lead to a situation like that!" But unfortunately it looks like they actually are that dumb, because look at this graph of the amount of money that has been printed recently:

Letter From Pastor David

Our pastor sent us a handwritten note last week. It meant so much that he cared enough to do it :-)

1-13-07

Dear Ryan, Hannah & Family,

[It is] such a blessing to see you all in the fellowship. Michele and I look forward to getting to know you better as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus.

May He continue to bless you guys in every way. Here, there, or in the air, looking forward to seeing you soon.

In His Love,

Pastor David

Obama's First Week

So, what has Obama been up to this week? We all hoped he would move veeeeeery slowly on his progressive agenda... but he obviously is not. Lets see what he has done this week.

He signed an executive order that will close the Guantanamo Bay prison for terror prisoners. So where are these people going to go? He said he does not know yet. The problem is, they are not American citizens so they do not have Constitutional rights in our country and they are not uniformed combatants so they do not have rights from the Geneva Convention. So what do we do these terrorists!?! I for one do not want them being kept in my neighborhood.
http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5043:obama-orders-guantanamo-closure-interrogation-changes-&catid=23:topnews&Itemid=58

Signed an executive order ending tough interrogation methods (psychological torture). This was a sticking point for the Bush administration, we NEED to have the option to use these techniques! Has anyone seen "24" before? In a ticking time bomb situation we have to be able to use whatever methods necessary!
http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5043:obama-orders-guantanamo-closure-interrogation-changes-&catid=23:topnews&Itemid=58

He ended the ban on federal money going to global abortion groups.
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/526953.aspx

He warned people to quit listening to Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk show hosts... is the (un)fairness doctrine next?
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01232009/news/politics/prez_zings_gop_foe_in_a_timulating_talk_151572.htm

And lastly, the FDA Approved human trials for embryonic stem cell treatments. This was as far as we know not initiated by President Obama, but it is no coincidence that this is happening now rather than during the Bush administration.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE50M2U920090123?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Shooting

Joe took me out shooting Wednesday night! It was rough being away from the girls, but was great fun. He wanted to get me used to shooting before we used my gun (mine has a bit more kick). We started with a .38 special revolver, which was fun. I learned how to load and shoot it. I did pretty well with it. Then we shot a .45 Colt (not a Colt, but the same design) which was very fun. I loaded it and shot it and had my shots all together, but to the lower left of the center of the target. Then we used mine and it was really fun! It is a great size and easy to hold and shoot. Not having to cock it every time is nice too. I found it a lot more difficult to aim than the revolvers, but regardless was great to shoot. I definitely need to practice. Then before we left, Joe pulled out a .357 Magnum... WOW! That had a nice kick and a very loud sound. Joe shot it first and I was standing behind him. Every time he shot it I felt a shockwave hit my face. I shot it and boy was it neat... It just feels so darn powerful!

So tonight we are going to clean the guns (Joe has lead solvent) at Joe's apartment. I am excited to learn more about my .40 Springfield XD. And I am excited about the next time I go shooting. This first time was definitely fun, but I must admit that once I did try to load my bullets backward... but I will not be broadcasting that around :-).

My Political Views

I sat down and wrote out a quick summary of my political principles last night in response to my cousin (husband to cousin) Cesar who read that I was "conservative" and instantly assumed all sorts of wrong things about me. I wrote this to show him what I believe and show how absurd it is to try and stuff people into little stereotypical boxes.


Let me lay out for you my views. I could give you some labels but the meaning of those labels changes so often that they end up really meaning nothing. A conservative today is different from a conservative ten or thirty years ago just like a liberal or progressive is different from what they were a few years back. The labels change, but my principles remain the same.

I believe in "Natural Law" as opposed to "Civil Law" when it comes to my political philosophy. The concept of "natural law" is that our rights as humans to life, liberty, and property are inherently given to us by the Creator and nothing can change that. "Civil law" is the way of thinking that the government is the top and gives us our rights. The problem is that a government that gives rights can just as easily take them away. But the truth is, whether a government acknowledges our inherent rights or not, they still are our rights and that oppressive government is wrong to deny us them.

My political principles stem from my belief in our inherent rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of property and happiness. That is true liberty. But liberty can not exist where there is no order, and that is where the government comes in. We need government to keep order and protect our inherent rights.

Now, a person who takes another's right forfeits their own right to such.

For example, if a person takes another's earned property (cheats them of their right) then that person needs to be arrested and made to give back what was stolen. If that person would continue to take other people's property, he would forfeit his right to property and go to jail. Same with if a person should kidnap another (cheat them of their right to liberty), then they can be tried and thrown in jail and lose their right to liberty. We all have a right to life, but if a person takes someone else's life, they forfeit their right to life and can be tried and executed.

Our rights are our own and only we have the power to forfeit them. Any government who takes our rights from us unlawfully is a tyrannical government and deserves to be toppled.

Government's job is to protect our rights, and that is why the military and law enforcement is essential. The military protects our liberty from outside our borders and law enforcement protects our liberty from within our borders.

So that is my political philosophy in a nutshell.

So now lets talk about President GW Bush. Based on what many assume of me, I love him. But based on what I just told you about myself, what do you think I would think of him?

In a nutshell, I believe that our rights come from the Creator and it is government's job to keep order and protect those rights. Government should be powerful enough to protect those rights but small enough to not intrude on our personal lives. As did our founding fathers, I believe that the key to our country surviving is strong families, personal responsibility and accountability, knowledge, and virtue.

So what does that make me? I really don't have a party that represents me right now. I disagreed with GWB about 60% of the time (these last few years) and disagree with John McCain about 90% of the time and so far disagree with Barack Obama about 90% or more of the time. I disagree with conservatives for unrealistic and sometimes absurd illegal immigration policies and free trade that leaves our country more bound than free. I disagree with progressives on the sanctity of human life and the role of government. I end up on the scale somewhere between conservative and libertarian (if I must take labels). But rather than float around as an independent, I am going to do everything in my power to fix the Republican party and bring it back to its Abraham Lincoln roots.

Now what does the Bible have to do with these views? Virtually nothing. But the Bible does serve for me as a confirmation of the truth of common law and the responsibility of the government to protect the right and punish the wrong.

This is by no means a comprehensive study of my political beliefs, but it is a 20 minute quick survey of my political views. Is it really possible to put me in a stereotypical box? Nope. But do people try and fit me into them every day? Yup.