This time around I want to share some observations about people. Maybe you agree, maybe you don’t, but I think that most of you will get my point and if you take interest going forward you will see what I have seen. Let me start with ‘good people’, everyone and I do mean everyone thinks they are a ‘good’ person. Saving those with self denigrating psychosis. I think what we have to consider in such a notion of being good is that it is highly relative. Meaning a persons sense of being good is completely interpersonal. What good is is also interpersonal. What’s good for one is not necessarily good for another. Reminds me of the Hee Haw skit with Archie the barber telling a story about his great uncle who dies.

Relativity aside, I think all of you good people out there will acknowledge that ‘good people’ is a reference to people of a certain quality. Human beings versus animals. The best people avoid animal behavior and move toward rational unselfish behavior. The more mindful and less ego eccentric a person can become translates into the good people I am talking about. It is the person who puts your bull back in because he understands having a bull running at large. He is the person who stops to help you on the side of the road because he understands that there is no cell service and your stuck. She is the person who sees you are laid up and comes and brings food to you in bed. I think the good person is illustrated in others, not selves. You see good people in how they live with others, truly good people are aware of their surroundings and the people in them. In the example with the bull if a guy needs no help and can do it in 30 minutes he’ll tell you about it next time he sees you. He doesn’t need recognition or to gossip about how the bulls out. He just does it. In the example on the road, that person needs to see you there and recognize the problem, connect it with lack of services and call a stop to whatever he is doing to address your concerns. It requires interest in others, interest in circumstances and interest in the humanity part. In the example of being laid up a lot of you women probably balk at this example but here’s the rub. For the most part it is something all of you can do and the emotional caring that comes with it is therapy far better than the soup! The caring of a man is much different, matter of fact. I don’t believe that there is a man or a women alive that would choose a male nurse over a female nurse in the manner of caring. Sure one gets strength and action with one but emotional comfort is better medicine. A little far afield here but I think I’m putting is down fairly clear. Good people are first and foremost interested! Not in just what’s good for themselves but what’s good for everyone. Care about the outcome of another’s life. Are willing to take action to see that end.

When I come to the coast I see people competing for the prize tenaciously. Much of the time with complete disregard for others. Like two guys in a truck not giving way to vehicle attempting to pass even though they are holding up the line. This example I see constantly. As if someone passing you makes a bit of difference in your life. It is stressful just to watch and be a part of the goings on. Four or five months is about all I can take! And it’s hard to do even at that. Come late April I’m running to get away from it and go to Wyoming. Sure there are those there to but so fewer but what I find that makes all of the difference is the “one” who stops. That’s all it takes is the one and all hope is restored. One good person make life grand! Interested people who get involved are the good people! They make all of the difference. If you have not had a good person experience lately go seek one out. It takes interest and getting involved. Develop an interest outside of yourself and get involved. You’ll be happier, those with whom you get involved will be happier (provided your not just adding to their load) which will make us all happier!

Go be a good person today! Take an interest in something other than yourself and get involved! You need a good friend and he’s likely to be the next person you meet. Don’t delay, you need him as much as he needs you!

Be great,

Greg

Have you been in a situation where you see someone posing and offered to take their picture? We have, lots of times. A photo being an phoney image of a person. Just as what we see going on around us is a phoney economy. My play on words above if you didn’t get it was fony as a phoney of phony. The last two are correct by the way.

In any case I’d very much care to illustrate the idea I present here. I have been in “business for myself” as I’ve said so many times as most of us have. I have and have had quite a number of businesses. All the time I have been ‘killing it’ if only in my own mind, I have noticed some things that are troubling. Not just the matrix I spoke about last week but things that make me really wonder how we actually function.

Now you might be for this or against this but it matters not, place your emotional self aside and read into what I am trying to illustrate and walk with me a piece. Take for example Ukraine, a $188,000,000,000.00 dollar write off to our business. With approximately 30 million small businesses that’s approximately $6,000.00 for each of us. Now that’s just Ukraine. Then we have the rest of the government spending.

Let’s walk a little further. The way I see it the small business person is the core of our existence. I see it thus wise, if not for the small business large corporations would not exist. It is through the network of small independent operators that these companies are able to exist. Extraction takes thousands of contractors to accomplish what they do. At it’s base every person employed in this country in it’s core sector works for a small business. Including those in large corporations vicariously of course. If one looks around a bit it will not be hard to see that a lot of people are doing nothing except shuffling time and money. Enter…. government, banking and wall street.

Sure this is a simplified explanation, which is what I want to work with. There are certainly many nuances and hard core battles to argue differently. But sticking to my point of a phoney economy let’s get on to illustrating that. Some time ago I was talking with my accountant who at the time was commanding some $300.00 an hour for his services. He told me that some 80 percent of his business was tax preparation. Now this was an office of many not one, they occupied a building that was three stories and about 50 feet wide and 75 feet long. So maybe 100 people? That’s quite an operation! Now how much of that is federal vs state I can’t say but the point is that this business qualifies as GDP. This business is producing a bottom line that is getting added to the value side of our economy when 80 percent of it is basically a tax. Services paid for to accommodate the complicated government system of taxation.

When I was doing construction throughout the early part of this century each year we were constantly overrun with code changes. Updates for ‘safety’ (as if there is such a thing) or seismic calculations. I saw this as a hidden tax on our labor. As an example we have had GFI outlets in wet locations for about 30 years. In the beginning this made sense, somewhat. At that time we had lots of people using very old appliances and a shocking life was easy to come by. About the same time double insulated and plastic appliances became for the norm, metal appliances were becoming a thing of the past. I might add that grounding of the appliance was the necessary mechanism to ensure safety but that could not be regulated. Now one who knows could argue that the are plenty of reasons why GFIs were necessary and I would not squabble with those arguments. Here is what I would like to point out. Although there was a rationale for the implementation the science nor the data warranted such a move. In the early days of the internet when I did my research there were like 50 fatalities from electrocution. All but a few were from work related instances and also included a guy with an aluminum ladder that stood it up into a power line. This hardly justifies every single new home adding approximately four GFIs which at the time were 1600% increase over a traditional grounded outlet for the unit plus the extra time and wire needed to install them. Carry that forward and today we have GFIs, Arc fault breakers and all sorts of other requirements for ‘safety’ and yet the statistics don’t bear out the cost. When I quite doing construction as my living, I estimated that approximately 30 percent of a house built in California was unnecessarily mandated by the government for safety reasons.

People say, “well if it makes if safer then that is a good thing”. I ask them, ” if no one is dying or seriously being injured, what’s the point or where are you seeing safety”? Keep in mind my assertions of phoney, our objective here. If 80 percent of my accountants business is phoney and 30 of my construction company building houses is phoney, how much of your business is phoney??? I suspect it is quite a bit. Even if it was only say 7%, about an average sales tax rate, we’re talking about a sales tax we pay in broad daylight PLUS these taxes we pay in the dark.

I saw an economist the other day stating that when the country has invested corporately as a government into infrastructure in excess of 3 percent of the economy there was a 10 year economic bust. He illustrated how it has happened several time in history with things like the railroads, the power grid and the interstate system. If that 3 percent is so powerful in our total economy how is it that the systematic taxation of our labor inside of our businesses is any less powerful? Especially at these greater numbers.

I propose to you that it is all a shell game run by federal employees and government officials. Not trying to be conspiracy theorist, just pointing out that the average federal employee makes over $100 grand a year and the average person working for us is quite a bit less. The cost of doing business here has risen to ridiculous levels and many of us small businesses going under due to government involvement or burdened by regulation. One sees it in the news about everyday, “Chevron leaves California due to hostile environment”. What does this mean? A company worth billions decides to close a plant not because of economic concerns, not because of financial woes within the company but because the government is hostile! What they are saying is that while profitable for the company we choose to spend millions starting over somewhere else where it is easier and more profitable. Hundreds of people are out of a job because of their elected officials and in this case lose the ability to produce a product that they use handily every single day. Their government is forcing them to buy it from someone else instead of themselves. The ultimate tax to death scenario.

Look around people it is visible everywhere. I implore you to notice it and fight it. Not with swords and guns but with your choices. Choose wisely when voting, choose to be that person who runs for office to be for your people, say no to more government employees who spend all day trying to figure out how to get more from you. Do what you can if only, ‘be local, buy local’.

Peace and love my friends

Greg

I write these and work these web pages trying to reach a people who are interested in the America of this country’s founding. Interested in a free life that can be lived together in harmony pursuing our dream without the invasion of another person. As I have slowed down my pace and really started taking stock of what is going on around me I am realizing that there are people out there who have taken it upon themselves to administer for us against us. I see a uni-party politically, you pick…. Nancy Pelosi or Mitch Mc Connel doesn’t matter; these people get elected with the premise that they are serving those who elected them. I don’t believe they are any more. I think they go off to Washington and meet new friends and for get all about us because it is good for them to do so. They continuously get elected and do more to help themselves as they go. Then they develop the idea that they are doing good because they use our money to do good things. Problem is that it is for everybody else or the group who has enough money to get in their ear all day. These are not representatives, these are cronys working on their pet projects for themselves. Crony capitalism has become the norm.

In today’s title selection I merged to ideas for what I think I see. In Wall-e I see the last few generations of Americans and their belief in the goal of doing nothing but playing all day like small children is a dream come true. (Read this as retirement) The idea that creativity and labor are worthless and entertainment is the spice of life. This is a pervasive ideology. I see a nation consumed in entertainment and themselves. Interestingly the ship on which they live is called “Axiom”. How apropos! I think they are making fun of all of those who appear as I see them. I think is purposefully done, we have know since childhood that mean people who think of themselves as ‘better’ always criticize and make fun of others. I think I read this right!?!? Yeah, maybe, yeah maybe.

I get it though, for the most part. A John Doe works hard to live well according to his own standard. He wants to do it without interference and undue burden, because life is hard enough. While John’s off working and doing family life, thinking he can live well; there’s a Captain of his ship who is spending his whole day being the one who makes the John’s life a pursuit of limited choices. John isn’t even aware, he only knows what he knows. He knows that Captain Trump took over for Captain Biden but that is something that happens regularly and he believes he is part of that happening. The illusion that he gets a choice. Boss Tweed would be proud, “I don’t care who does the electing, so long as I get to do the nominating“.

Which brings in the Matrix idea, if you don’t think you’re running in a squirrel cage you need to look again. It took me all of these years of hard work 10-12 hour days for 30 years to realize that the dream that I started off with is gone and “Who Moved My Cheese” is a reality. Sure I am wealthy by any standard except maybe the ignorant American. I have had a good life but like any father I wouldn’t wish the hard grueling life I lived on anyone. I see why people would want an Axiom existence. Life has become so difficult that most young people give up on the idea of an American dream and now look to experience as the current dogma. Pursuit of a good life has been redefined as ‘as good a time as I can get at any moment because life is so desperate I’m likely not to get anything better’. It used to be that everyone believed in the possibility to become president, own a home, have a paid car, eat well and enjoy those around us more. Today; who wants to be in government? Not one decent person would, it’s awful. So the selfish go and we get what we get. Owning a home now takes a two income household that makes the average salary of a federal employee, the average American can’t afford the average house on two average salaries. In the 1970’s a one income household could afford a house, two cars, food and entertainment. My father bought three new vehicles between 1971 and 1976, not financed for 8 years, bought. He was a coal miner, a normal everyday hard working employee. Sure I grew up in a fixer upper but I had a home. Majority of people finance cars so long now that they are getting as long as a mortgage was in 1970. Normal mortgages were 10, 15 and 20 years. People often paid for houses outright or had loans with seller until the government start pushing loans. There were 30 year mortgages sure but no one wanted one, we came up with 20% down and borrowed the rest for as short a time as we could afford. Owning that asset meant security and stability. “I have a place to lay down every night and a fridge I can keep what I like in”. To think a car is $100G and more with 8 year financing. I paid $46G for my first house in a very nice neighborhood. Most people only enjoy those around them on their phones, everywhere I go in every restaurant I sit everyone has their nose in their phone. I see families doing it, all of them! What is it like at home? Axiom I suspect.

I see all of this moving of the cheese symptoms I describe above as a product of the Matrix with a twist. I don’t believe that there is a matrix that is run by a certain group of people or computers who have ultimate control but as one person put it, “you only need the common interests of a few powerful people to affect a great deal of people”. I was taught a bunch of lies in school as I’m sure you all recognize now. Not because my teachers were liars but they too were taught a lie and passed it on. One reason I really like the teaching of Jesus, “seek the truth and the truth will set you free”. I want to be free! In any case, one lie I’ve heard over and over is that our founding fathers were against high taxes and unfair government (taxation without representation). The best way to lie is to take a truth and twist the nuances of it’s context. As in: taxation without representation is a reference to being represented in government not taxation, taxation was the relationship the people had. Meaning you tax me therefore you recognize me as one of your people but you don’t actually recognize me as your people because you won’t give me voice way over there in London and do what you want with me as if I have no choices. Another being the Boston Tea Party, people got upset about the high taxes of tea and a bunch of pissed off men threw some tea into the harbor. This did happen, a truth. The context though is this, men were pissed off with the government “corporations” running their lives, controlling all of their decisions by controlling all of the venues for their choices. If you wanted tea I came from Cathay on a company ship owned by a crony of the king. The epitome of crony capitalism. The companies controlled all things in the colonies, what went in and what went out. A man thinks, ‘man! I make lumber for ship building, I’m going to do well’. Then he finds out that he sells at the merchant rate and he buys at the merchant rate. No benefit, he’s working taking all the risk only to realize he is a basic employee of the company. All profits remain with the company and go elsewhere for another’s benefit. His life is difficult with little upside. If he can manage to get large enough then he will get clout for making life easy for the company he will get rewarded for being a player.

You see we had a revolution not mostly because of bad government, high taxes and a shitty king; it was because of crony capitalism! The king of England was just the head crony. Companies controlled all aspects of life and very unfairly. Much like today but today we have technology that makes it much more bearable. It is far easier to get by. ‘Getting by’ means having a place to sleep inside every night and having food everyday. this was an extremely difficult process in the 18th century. A man spent all daylight hours pursuing just those things.

The matrix of today is the government and the corporations it colludes with to organize the choices in our lives. We live on the Axiom to a degree and the choices are made by others as to what will be available to each of us. This is the main reason why I preach, be local buy local. If you can’t get it near you, you likely don’t need it. If you don’t need it then your best foot forward for you neighbor is to buy from a neighbor in the next town, at least he uses the same dollars and has the same problems. The corporations use their power to take your wealth and put it to work for them to get more power to take your wealth. Same as in the Revolutionary times. You just become more subjugated to them and the one who controls them. Look around, you have not ever been controlled more by a government employee than you are now.

Remember be a revolutionary, be local , buy local. Take back your freedom and live the best life ever with someone in person!

Greg

As I pondered today’s writing, it occurs to me that I need to make these more about business life and how it relates to each of us in our ongoing daily. Whether you live in Cincinnati or Tulsa or Cheyenne it matters not as much as it matters how American you choose to be. Developing an awareness of what we believe being American should and needs to be to keep our live free is my goal.

Why Cincinnati? Because he was American 2200 years before America was even an idea. I learned about this guy yesterday, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. He was made emperor of the Roman Republic in 458 BC by the Roman Senate as a desperate measure to ward off an invading army. In sixteen days he spanked the invaders and post haste, resigned. As the story goes he went from farmer to emperor with ultimate command of the Roman Empire for a term of six months. What makes Cincinnatus an American? He was the true sense of republican! He raised an army, spanked the invaders in sixteen days and post haste, resigned as Emperor! He went back to his private life. Case in point is he valued the system, his private life with no government involved and returned to it.

As a republican he accepted his role in doing his duty to preserve the republic with a firm belief in how it was supposed to function and his place in it. I am sure that our founding fathers were familiar with the Roman system and Cincinnatus. Likely where George Washington got the idea, as he was given to the same moral character. I am proud that we have a city named for such a person! Three cheers for all of you Americans who live in Cincinnati! We have gone so far from this idea of a republic. Democrat or Republican it matters not, the republic has been laid to waste but who is to blame? We are. We were educated in public schools by public teachers paid with public funds. We learned to be public people who pursue public endeavors by way of public systems. What do I mean by all of this? Public is the normal, not private.

Not sure you following? Look at it from this angle. It is widely accepted that we learn the most from our parents, not by teaching but modeling. Then we go off to school and have new models for far more time per day than our parents. These models are not private but public. Not only are they public but they believe in the public sector and promote the public sector because it is better for them than the private. Likely because in the private they would be the poor or lazy. Although altruism does exist it is the rarity. In any case the functional model for three generations has been public. The private has been almost destroyed and the last two generations have been the product of a failed public system but we delude ourselves everyday about “that is a good school”.

I believe that if we are to save our America we need to be more American. Become more Cincinnati. Give up the public part, restrict the public part and all of those lazy people who suckle form it. Stop sending our children to public schools, privately teach them at home, model decent republicanism to them and how a community is the people in proximity not a digital group of fraudsters.

Please let Cincinnatus be an inspiration to you all today. Make new choices for yourselves and your families. Be a true republican and believe in the system that made us great. Do your part today! Be local, buy local and relate to a person locally in person. Support your local republican businesses and talk with them about what we can do to recreate the private sector and small business be something that builds wealth in our communities not be a support mechanism for the public sector. This is a segue to next week, I am writing about our phony economy and why you don’t want to be a part of it.

Cheers to all of you who want to know better!

Greg

When I write ‘harmony’ I automatically think of a song. People harmonizing with voices and music but harmony doesn’t really bear any more of a relationship to music than anything else. Harmony can exist anywhere with anything. If we go to Merriam Webster the narrative leads this way. Music is the basis of harmony. I prefer the one over at American Heritage as it rings more harmonious to me. Some might argue that as music is the most obvious and prevalent example. I think we have to recognize that harmony pre-existed music or such a thing would not have been able to be introduced into music when it was invented. The fact that we can experience harmony elsewhere also testifies to the fact of it’s pre-existence. This I would call a truth and some would harmonize with that, others would squabble with me, others would argue ignorantly and still others would argue against my ignorance. Can harmony exist in all of this conflict?

Enjoyable paintings share harmony of colors. Pleasing architectures share harmony of structure. The most popular music shares harmony of rhythm and melody, certainly no voices needed. Mozart was not a pop star. Even if he were the likes of Janet Jackson, what people recognize and enjoy is the harmony of all of the parts assembled. The more harmonious the more people in general will ‘sing its praises’. Democratically speaking the Top 10 epitomize harmony because more people recognize it that way, as human beings we naturally agree on harmony even when we don’t know a thing about it. We all enjoy life more when we can experience harmony. We listen to music for this reason, harmony that is easily attainable along with a message that speaks to us. One could say that if a song speaks to us there is harmony between me and the song. This is my experience and as I observe the world around me I see it is the same for others. There are those who would squabble or argue with this perspective. I see it this way. There is no argument for this; this is an argument (3+4=7); unequivocally. An argument leads to a result that is tangible by all. No one in their right mind can argue against 3,4 and 7. Semantically one could squabble of tres, quatro and siete and that would simply be squabbling; this many plus this many always equals that many. A physical structure of harmony that can not be undone. To say it any other way is to delude ones self or purposely create conflict for the sake of self.

I believe that the best way forward for all peoples is to recognize that each of us at some base level is a ‘failed attempt’ at harmony. This ‘failed attempt ‘ ,for lack of a better expression, is where all conflict derives. Our inability to harmonize creates conflict. Sometimes because we are ignorant of certain things. Sometimes because we are afraid of certain things. Sometimes we are selfish for certain things. And so on.

Some learn earlier than others that harmonizing leads to a better way of life. Some learn earlier than others that conflict is a safe way or the only way to survive. For a person who has never experienced harmony paying off for themselves, they will resist any and all attempts at resolution believing there is no place where we win together. There is only “if I win, Great” or “if you win, I lose”. This is a most disadvantageous perspective. What they believe is the downfall of their existence, life is a battle all the way to the end. It doesn’t need to be this way.

Harmony as a rule. If I have three cups of flour and you have four cups of flour and we concern ourselves with self. I will make for myself say three slices of bread and you, the same, four slices of bread ALONE. But if we join our resources we shall become great friends sharing a loaf of bread discussing how harmony won the day and how full life is living it together. If we do this enough ties are bound that will overcome any conflict if we remain interested in harmony. In all conflicts there either exists; selfishness, ignorance or evil. Conflict in selfishness looks like this, I am interested in “is it better for me” than is it better for everyone involved, missing the mark of a high tide raises all ships. Everyone recognizes that together with a friend all things are better. Conflict arises in ignorance when one is not aware of a reason to go a better way. If we are dealing with a human being, then an argument will ensue with the ignorance being displaced and a harmonious conclusion ahead. If we are dealing with other than a human being it will devolve into a squabble where the person digs in and wars until you give in finding no value. I believe this is where evil enters the picture. Not all selfishness is evil, most of it is bad habit learned as a child. As children our worlds are so small and center around us, if our parents don’t teach us that there is more to life than just us, we go forward with this self focus. A man once told me, ” it is up to you as the adult in the room to identify the 12 year old and the 40 year old in any given room of people”. Evil is where one understands this and purposefully seeks out self interest knowingly causing harm to others.

Harmony can exist where people choose to make it exist. It doesn’t matter if you are Democrat, Republican, Independent, Green or Alphabet. Where all of these people groups fail is in self interest. If far left homosexual people and far right religious people would keep their shit to themselves and be “Americans” as George put it living free in harmony no one would be the wiser. What you do at home is your business not mine AND what I do at home is my business not yours. When you try to push your ignorant agenda upon me I will resist. If I push my ignorant agenda upon you, you will resist. Let’s just not do it. This is the main reason I oppose public education; the larger of any group gets the power to push an agenda as if they deserve it.

Choose harmony people. Stick to friendship with all and business. Business will not fail you, we all need the same things in life and if you boil business down to the ‘brass tacks’ you will find a harmonious life with others. If you buy my truck, I don’t care if you are….. It is good for me that you can buy my truck and it is good for you that you get a Korn truck. If I buy your widget I need it, I don’t care if you are ….. , terms are right and I need it. There is no more proof of this concept than all of those who shop at Amazon or Walmart understanding that these companies are taking over their lives and they shop there anyways.

Choose harmony, he a human being again today. Be local, shop local. Make a friend, harmonize together.

Peace

Greg

What I mean by tribe is a group of people who have common interests, objectives and characters. What I don’t mean is warring factions or squabbling parties or underprivileged minority or majority groups. I’m looking to find what George Washington referred to when he said be Americans; “Be Americans. Let there be no sectionalism, no North, South, East or West. You are all dependent on one another and should be one in union. In one word, be a nation. Be Americans, and be true to yourselves“. He also said; It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his views beyond himself, and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn.

I’m looking for people who understand these two things implicitly. People that comprehend the full depth of these concepts and their bearing for generations to come. As I see things today we have become a corrupt a nation as has ever exited. Not because we are corrupt but because we allowed corrupt people to go off to places and make new homes with nefarious people which of whom they value more than you or the reason you sent them there.

I make this plea today from a place of disconcerted awareness, my race is nearly run but I still have gumption to tackle big things. “I’m not as good as I once was but I’m as good once as I ever was”. Bless you Toby. Implying that the vibrancy of youth coming from those who are interested in ‘their’ children’s futures please do step up. I read and hear about a lot of young people who have decided not to wed or have children. Perhaps you are our greatest allies? I see that the same situation that made you decide to go this direction is the same despair for me and for the first time in the history of this country the future is so bleak that the most powerful fog lights can’t cut the crap. We pull off the ‘shades’ about 2001 and have been going downhill since.

I’m doing about as much as I can, which is why I make this appeal. You don’t have to be young, medium or old just interested in getting America back to the basics of local communities thriving together through local businesses. Please, if you can hear the calling or can see the vision contained in these pages; reach out and contact me. This website is the best I can do, its nonfunctional and unrepsonsive. It needs someone who can correct its errors. I am working social media at Pappy’s Korn Garage and Noobo Network; although terribly, as I am not able to handle project load, filming and editing in sufficient ways. It needs someone who can put effort into making movie magic with the content. There are so many ways to consider.

If you are a person who has a passion and interest for things American and want to help our project, please find me somewhere and reach out.

Be the greatest event in another person’s life today!

Greg

A very unique and special term.

Unique: Being without a like or equal; unmatched; unequaled; unparalleled; single in kind or excellence; sole.

Special: Surpassing what is common or usual; exceptional.

Unique is an interesting term, one I think is most appropriate adjective to identify “American”. There have been a number of societies that were melting pots but none as unusual as America. The notion that a people could govern themselves freely was unconscionable at the time. That one person would respect another enough to let them live freely was unheard of. Time immemorial the leaders have most always taken advantage of the populace in one for or another. Socially with castes, slaveries or titles and economically by exclusion or inclusion. America’s timing was perfect! America’s visionaries were epic! America’s experiment was crazy, few understood what was at hand. The few men who organized and initiated the last 250 years were unique in and of themselves. Free men, free to live and die free. Freedom has a cost and that cost if life. Many have to give their lives for each man to remain free. Freedom is requires the death of those who would give of themselves to preserve it. Like so many military men have done. Freedom requires the understanding that the stupid will kill themselves and likely their children and these deaths are an acceptable part of being free. I believe for me to be free, I must not be controlled by another for their fears, comforts or sensibilities. I can only be free if I am able to do myself in by any number of means. I therefore am free to do myself well by any number of means.

Special is a profoundly ruined term. You’ve heard it said I’m sure, “If everyone is special then no one is special”. We do know that there have never existed two persons identical. Each and every person is unique, I propose therefore special. Each person has a special role to fill at a given place in time with all of those of whom they associate. I believe we are made for a special place and time; and that time is the space of our lives and how we live it out with the other people of our time. It wasn’t amazing how Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It was amazing that he wrote it and along with fifty-five other men went and pledged their Lives, Fortunes and sacred Honor upon it. Understand this was an outright offense to King George. It meant summary executions for all. Each man committed to the other that first his fame may die with this revolt and he be no more known or viable than John Doe. Second that he would commit his fortune to the effort, whatever that was. Remembering Robert Morris who spent time in debtor’s prison afterward because he defaulted on loans he borrowed to fund the Continental Army. Imagine going to jail after the fact and being visited by George Washington and what the conversation might have been at that meeting. These men were truly special because of the giving of themselves for the others. The costs for George were high as well although beforehand. I hear some people remark that he went back to his estate with his slaves and picked up where he left off. This is absurd, one has to realize that all he had was a liability. The “estate” was just land with a house. There was land galore, so no one cared for that really, not like today. Once they got more than they could handle they were done. Slaves needed food, shelter and clothing. this was all expensive. Most folks ate what they caught or made that day. More mouths to feed meant more planting, more responsibility and more money. Afterward he made it into what we see today but even that has been embellished over the years. These men gave just short of all.

These men made examples of what believe should mean for us all. Not enough of America is taught to our young people so that they can understand what belief made us what we are today. America is a belief system! It is believing that each person is made free and free to live by the Golden Rule. Many of us have gotten so accustomed and brainwashed by the nanny state that we can’t even begin to understand the meaning of being free and more importantly being American! “We need ID to vote.” “We need policemen to protect.” “We need a standing military to be secure.” “We need the government to …..”

Man! Be American! Be responsible for your neighbor and build a community of believers who live out their lives together understanding the value of struggling together and accepting the costs of it. Robert went to prison, George could have been king but each chose each other just like so many have done. When I hear the stories of the battles and the patriotism from WWII it brings me to tears what one has done for another. American stories; bred by the pedigree of a melting pot, born out of belief in one another and codified by the actions that prove it.

We have this opportunity even today with out going into battle, even though anymore each day is a battle just surviving. There are those who seek to destroy all that you work for! I implore you, don’t help them. Stop helping them! Become wise and recognize that your government and big business by and large are you demise. It is the same problem the colonies had. The government using big business to control the lives of the people along with the Tories who benefited from such an arrangement. Tories, people who wanted that system because it was beneficial to them.

A few years back I began to look into all of the companies with whom I did business. I’ve most always was a ‘be local shop local’ guy because I liked knowing the people. I love people and knowing more people of quality is my goal. One day I began to consider Costco. In the beginning you may remember it was a club for business owners. You had to prove you were in business to become a member. When the learned that the membership thing was going to bring in millions they allowed anyone in and for a time the membership fees carried them along. They sold out to us for the opportunity to be a mega corp. Eh, good for them, free market and all. Not getting down on them per se. More over I don’t have to shop there. If they want to manipulate me, I don’t have to shop there. I shop at regional or local supermarkets. I shop at the family hardware store. I shop at the one off bakery/coffee shop. I seek out small businesses to specifically do my business. I believe you should too. Our survival depends upon it. The more big business takes more shares of the market the more you become a slave of your government. Your government gets bigger and more powerful. You get smaller and less powerful.

Be American. Be free. Be unique. Be special and be powerful together!

Greg

I was today years old when I learned that my passions lie with the realm of others. Interestingly enough, it is something I’ve always know just not with such clarity. Looking back on my experiences and looking at my perspective about those experiences I see now as if before it was through a dirty window where you can make out most of it, get a good understanding of it, work with it and deal with it but never really realizing that your working through this dirty window. Today on the other hand it is as if I have nothing between me and this life, it is as if I am on a Rocky Mountain high. Some of you may know what I mean, a clear sunny day unlike anything you can remember! The atmosphere is sparkling! The sky is a shade of blue that can not be described it is so mesmerizing! The air is clear and clean, so much so that you wish you could bathe in it! The light is so intense where you stand that the smallest of details fill your senses! Life as a quality is as full as it can get!

If you’ve not had an experience like this you should go look for it. It’s out there just waiting for you to arrive. Life is good! Why? Because I say so, not only do I say so; everything I do is intended to make it so! Life is good because I do things to make it that way, intentionally. Some of us think having nice things or nice times or fun experiences is what makes life good. I won’t argue that those things do make improvements, but why I know my life is good is because of the people I’ve manage not to offend so badly that they would run away after getting to know me, who are still around and the experiences I’ve had with them when we had none of those nice things involved. Things that I remember have made such an impression on me that I just realized how important those times are. I remember after working out, driving out to the lake with Pete and chugging a six pack and just “shooting the shit” as we called it. Yeah we had a car, a gym and beer at a lake but we didn’t go buy a membership, a car and beer to organize and arrange things. It was just life happening together. Enjoying each others person, values, perspectives and beer :). Organic: I believe is the term used to describe it today. I remember some of my best times are down at the river just screwing around with trees, rocks and water with Bill, Matt, Jan, Rachel, Johnny, Jake and many others on a picnic. Glorious times just being people together. I remember doing the most terrible job and working next to John, who made it all worth the grind. As all things go jobs only last so long and you move on, but John and the time we spent is immortal. He still calls today! Great times!!

Today as the glass has been removed what clarity brings now is the absolute joy I have had helping those that appreciate the help. Know the value of it and reciprocate. The bond of someone who you help just to be decent to others, who appreciates it so much that he tells you again thirty years later is what I’m talking about. The value that communicates about who you can be in the world is phenomenal. I didn’t buy him a car or go with him on a extravagant vacation or plan some big event that we hold onto. Not at all, I just helped him along and he valued the help and me for doing it. He realized that he couldn’t have gotten where he is now with out the help from someone, it was just me who saw he needed it. I really didn’t do it, he did. My help could have been wasted like so many times before. I realized that I couldn’t have gotten to where I am now without his character that appreciated the help. It is all a silver lining for both of us but I got the better deal I’m sad to say. What I got out of it was a high quality character for a friend and what he got was me. He would say and has said such, “you were a hard and difficult person”. Yeah, ’tis true. Hard times wrought hard people.

What I understand about this premise is that ‘birds of a feather’ is warranted, valid and true. I was hard, true. John was hard enough to stick it out and find value. John and I don’t fly in the same flock, but when we meet up the old times, the bad times and the good times are the magnets that draw us closer and make the world go around better. And most importantly it had nothing to do with stuff, planned events or money just the regular battle of life won together!

My passion has reward as does yours. My passion is why I do this here. My passion is specifically helping others however it may be. Your passion may involve a thing (trucks, paint, teeth, numbers) or an activity (fitness, art, singing) whatever it is, give up what you are doing go and pursue your passion and most importantly look for and find the John’s that you will meet, who will make your life rich in spite of all of the other things being what they are, a distraction from greatness!

Lift another, all boats rise with the tide.

Greg

Literally. Looking around at our country and what things seem to be going around are doing it. The widespread corruption, the graft, the disharmony, the absolute wrecking of the greatest place ever. Too many don’t seem to care. Too many care about things that don’t make one bit of difference. Especially in government; hired or elected. I heard one observation that our government employees are doing things from a position of stupidity. The answers we get are not well thought out or even reasonable. Mostly because they are used to doing whatever, and not having it questioned. Comfortable immunity. There are no repercussions, only inconveniences until the next administration comes along.

I listened to John Kennedy (a fellow I think is somewhat reasonable?) from Louisiana questioning the Director of SSA about his departments assertion that there are poor people in our country. He lists off a series of financial aspects of a theoretical single mother of two’s budget for any given year. In the end he concludes that she receives a financial gain of some Sixty-four thousand dollars a year, seemingly only Eleven thousand of it has she earned. He makes the comment, ‘..not proposing that we curb benefits…..’ (paraphrased). Of course not then she would become an average American income. No one is talking about the elephant in the room and this is what pisses me off. I don’t mean that he is protecting his votes with his comment but that most all of what was laid out in his recap of SSA’s view of this mother of two. Not only does a government idiot put it out but the government ‘idiot’ questioning isn’t questioning the SSA’s example, he’s questioning whether or not they are poor.

Many years ago I ventured into the realm of the homeless. I took their plight as misfortune or as caught in a rough patch. Approaching it with the idea that each would extract themselves from their predicament if they had the chance. Boy was I in for an eye opening. After several years of being involved and doing what I could the help I came to the conclusion that there are no poor here, only those who refuse to work. Before you start the argument that there are those disadvantaged who …., not arguing that. There are always those among us, they are the few. In those years, only one person did we help who made the most of his situation and moved on to a different life. I don’t even know if he kept it up. But by and large all we got involved with had a manipulation to run on us to continue with their lifestyle. These people clearly were making a choice to live thuswise. There are no poor only those who choose to live that way.

Someone who receives Sixty-four thousand dollars if far from poor, I agree with Mr Kennedy. Let’s talk about the elephant? He comes in parts: Stupid parts. Stupid part One: anyone who asserts that a person who has two children and cares about their welfare and sets her mind to earn a buck surely will do better than Ten dollars per hour at Twenty hours part time. If not she’s not trying very hard. Don’t start telling me about single mothers. I am intimately familiar with how a single mother of three does things. Stupid part Two: he mentioned that she would receive about Sixteen thousand in Medicaid ? benefits. I look back over the last several years and what I have spent on medical treatment and outside of a dentist next to none. If I include the dentist we’re looking at let’s call it a thousand bucks. What I see here is not only am I the epitome of health but that my tax dollars go to a person who is able to run to the doctor for any reason whatsoever, running up the bill to the tune of Sixteen Gs! Whether she needs it or not. Why not, she’s not at work, might as well go use some benefits???? Stupid part Three: other than her ridiculous Eleven thousand dollar earnings the rest is government given. No mention of child support, state aid programs, etc. I know that when a father dies his children will receive his social security benefits until they reach the age of 18. Not much but per child it works. I think since he’s not going to get it, we’re talking a wash of sorts. The wife gets some for a time too if not working. No one is questioning the reality of anything. No one is looking at what is actually happening, only what they want to see. I know there are places where people aren’t making Ten dollars per hour but that they are also tip driven jobs that see them do much more than that. I don’t know about every state situation but I am familiar with the entire west this side of the Rockies and Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Maryland; it is a ridiculous notion to believe that Eleven thousand a year is reasonable. This person is not even trying!

It’s everywhere! All the time! I can’t get into the news without finding some idiotic episode going down somewhere. It all stanks of corruption! Everywhere you look is profiteering. Federal, state and local. Our very own Lincoln county is rife with it. The last five years we have seen a major increase in property values. The county position is it’s the law, our taxes doubled. Do we see a move to reduce millage rates or rearrange calculations? Not in the slightest, we see more aggressive assessments, bad attitudes at the county with personell, and more spending. Wow finally we can get that new government center that every one has been asking about for Fifty years! Our services are not going up just the government machine (Matrix) to abuse, persecute and take advantage of the people. The new building we are getting is called the Justice Center. Read this way: more court rooms, more deputy sheriffs, more prosecutors. Is there more crime, no, just more opportunity to prosecute that they are missing out on. More deputies, more tickets, citations, more revenue. More permits, more citations, more revenue. All for the sake of more government. The government union is out of control!

The elephant!

I know you’re pissed off too. Keep your head cool, plow ahead and hold your values. Who can be against us? We win in the end!

Greg

My son is into American football. We had them over for some supper and to watch the game. I on the other hand am not in the slightest way interested in the enormous waste of time called “professional sports”. There was a time when I had my share of viewing. Times were different back then I think. It was entertainment at its core, same as tv or movies. I see it today as an intricate part of the Matrix and part of the subjugation/propaganda machine. Take Sunday’s game as an example.

I follow a guy on IG, name of Mr. Scott Lo Baido. (scottlobaido) The reason I follow is that I see him as an interesting person. He is inately American. He is a Patriot. He talks sense most of the time. Let’s not forget he’s a New Yorker. Attitude and language compulsory. I believe he made a good point about the half time show, perhaps you disagree. He pointed out that the NFL and they’re decision for such a spectacle in the 250th year celebration of America goes to show you where the loyalty of the NFL lies. Now these are not his exact words, but the gist of what I heard.

We watched a show in Spanish with a boy singing and gyrating at the center of it all parading all the flags of he world as if to say, “we’re about love and including everyone”. As my IG friend pointed out, not one of those flags is about love or inclusion. The only flag in the world that has ever existed that is about inclusion has been Glory herself! As a matter of fact not one flag welcomed the world to be a part of such an “experiment”. Not only that but every flag out there has persecuted its own people from time to time. America is the only “melting pot” of all time known. It did not matter where you came from on the planet; Russia, Japan, China, Iran, Brazil, Australia, you name it; you came from there to be here and call yourself an American. Being American meant something special. We all were once proud to be Americans!

Maybe would had a hard time communicating because we spoke different languages, but we got by. Was there conflict? You bet, when is there not? Still, regardless if you were a Polock cooking haluski on Polish Hill looking down on the Dagos and their pasta in Bloomfield or the Mc donning a blue suit to gain some respect on the Hill or Kraut on the other side of the river known for your sauer or like me a Hunky from a mill town just trying to get by. All ethnic slurs of a sort, back then most people recognized that these terms came about because enough of each people group were not decent people. A Mc didn’t mind being called a Mc by his Dago friends. The call to be American rose above the offense of association. Americans recognized each other and there was a bond that superseded all. It is extremely evident in the victory of WWII; unity regardless. Kinda like nigga today, no foul, just affinity.

Now a days, seems that people only come here to get what they can from our system and not to be Americans. The boy from the half time show is Puerto Rican; part of America sort of; buy they’ve always voted no to join the Union. They are not interested in being American, just PR. That’s ok. Most of you don’t know that it is a backwater place, there’s better parts of Mexico than the whole island. Their choice. No foul, just separated. No red, white and blue spirit and it shows. As Americans I believe we want more Americans. We want people who will bring their differences here and be different, BUT be American first. Being true blue is more important than where you came from. Being considered a fellow patriot by Kraut when you’re a Jew is key. Vice Versa.

What has made this country great is the belief in the mystery of this Spirit. America the beautiful, land of the free and home of the brave. All for one and one for all. Semper Fidelis. My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty of thee I sing.

I know there are some of you out there who sing like Scott and me. Who look through the Matrix and wonder what the hell happened. I encourage you to stand strong, believe big and decide to make conscience decisions to support other Americans wherever they may be. Unplug from the Matrix, stop entertaining your self with children who dress up and run around on your tv screen pretending to be something other than a pawn for the system. Make choices today to be local, shop local and support Americans where they work and live.

Be a Hoopie and hug a Hunky today, show the love to your fellow American brothers and sisters.

Greg