536 versus 9

Before a law is passed, it undergoes the scrutiny of 536 people, right? 435 in the House, 100 in the Senate and the President who signs the legislation into law. So why is it that the judgment of the nine individuals on the Supreme Court hold more clout than 536 people? The answer is Marbury v. Madison.

I will admit up front that I am openly skeptical about the ruling of Marbury v. Madison. In other words, I have made a snap judgment that I don't agree with the ruling, but I realize I haven't done much research on the topic and could be swayed by a solid, factually backed argument.

Despite my open-minded approach, I do feel that the decision delivered with Justice Marshall as spokesman was dead wrong. Not only do I think the decision was wrong, but also Thomas Jefferson claimed that if this view of judicial power became accepted, it would be "placing us under the despotism of an oligarchy.

The grand question is whether the judicial branch of our government is to interpret the laws or to actually judge whether the law was legal to pass or not. Yes, I understand the system of checks and balances that exists within our government, but the problem is that if the courts in our country can judge the constitutionality of the laws passed, no one has a say after the ruling of the Supreme Court. Where is the check on that action?

The inherent issue that would chaff the conservative populous is that the judges are in a position to legislate from the bench through their rulings. The classic example currently is that of Roe v. Wade. The laws passed by the states and federal governments are irrelevant now when it comes to abortion because of the Supreme Courts ruling.

The Supreme Court ruled that the laws governing abortion passed in Texas were not in upholding with the constitution. Therefore, the Supreme Court ruled that, up until a certain point in the pregnancy, it was the woman's choice whether to have an abortion or not.

Now in my humble opinion, abortion has nothing to do with the 14th amendment--the foundation for the judgment--and instead everything to do with the 10th amendment. There was no federal law passed regarding abortion previous to this case, and therefore any state that had passed a law should have precedence according to the 10th amendment.

This is an example of how Marbury v. Madison allows the judges to legislate from the bench. In essence, a federal law has now been passed allowing abortion. Whether you are pro-choice or pro-life, the more pending issue is the fact that the Supreme Court can pass a law unchecked by the other branches of government. In other words, the voice of 9 men in black robes supercedes the decision of not only the 536 mentioned previously, but also all state and local governments, officials and laws.

I don't want to be President, I want to be a Supreme Court Justice!

Artisan Landscape Outdoor Living

I know this is a break from the norm, but I am a capitalist and want to mention my website and my design philosophy. Click here to learn more about Outdoor Living Spaces.

The 7 Wonders of the Modern World

My friends, the beautiful concept of capitalism is slowly strangling amidst the silly little quirks of our social environment! Perhaps it is time to embrace the standard of socialism and leave capitalism to that portion of your mind where your dreams of better times and situations reside.

Allow me to explain. When America was founded, the people who had come here were, for the most part, escaping oppression. Each person who came here was taking a huge risk on the future. They came with their knowledge in some trade and the willingness to persevere the most difficult of trials in order to be free. These people put everything on the line for this freedom and it was, at best, a calculated risk, perhaps more like a gamble.

Risk is one thing everyone that came to the colonies shared. I would assume that most were very talented in their trade of choice and very confident in the ability to succeed, given acceptable circumstances. That is were the risk came in to play. There existed an element of uncertainty which required reliance upon Providence to succeed. The farmer might have been very skilled, but would the climate be acceptable for his crops of choice? Would the soil compliment his crops? Would there be enough water for his crops? Regardless of his level of skill as a farmer, God was in control, and nothing the farmer could do would change that truth.

And so they came, and they struggled through the challenges they were faced with. Sometimes heaven smiled down on their endeavors and they had great success. Other times they suffered and lost--lost crops, physical possessions, and lives. But they continued to fight for that freedom they had sought and worked so hard to realize. No wonder they were able to beat the British, against all odds, in the revolution they staged. They craved that freedom and did everything they could for that freedom, and, most importantly, God intervened in their behalf.

So we have a new country, established by people who love freedom and we begin to thrive and prosper. New inventions begin to pop up that make life easier and luxurious. Unfortunately, those innovators can not produce these luxuries by themselves like the farmer, the blacksmith and the cobbler. They need help.

These innovators appeal to others for help and all too soon, the majority of Americans have sold out the God they chose to rely on for the safety and security offered by another man. The people that so loved their freedom pursue employment to avoid the next crop failure. Instead, now they rely on the whims and expertise of men and corporations. Men and corporations driven sometimes by excitement and innovation, and other times by greed, indifference and laziness.

How secure are you really when tomorrow your boss can decide that he wants to sell the business, or down size and head another direction? But the people are now trapped and enslaved because they have no other options. Gone are the skills of their ancestors that allowed them to be free. These have been traded for a brawny back and endurance. And so, as once before with their ancestors that first came to this great country, the masses are stuck as slaves of the economy and the corporations.

However, what marvellous and wonderful things have been produced! The television, the car, the computer! But all on the backs of the masses who rely on men and corporations! The seven wonders of the ancient world were built in like fashion. The children of Israel were so very comfortable working as slaves for the Egyptians. They received food, lived as families, had houses and possessions. Everything but freedom.

And freedom was available. The slaves could save their wages and live in a smaller house and have fewer possessions and work harder for years and save up the money to buy back the freedom of the family, but very few did. Freedom scared them. What would they do? They had no skills to use as a free person. Is it any wonder that no sooner had the children of Israel escaped the bondage of the Egyptians, than they began begging to return to bondage? Is it any wonder that the Israelites were made to wander the wilderness for forty years? Those with memories of Egypt and the cozy life of bondage had to pass on so that the next generation, those who knew nothing but freedom, could inherit the promised land.

And so the great pyramids were established upon the backs of slaves, as were all of the other wonders of the world. The wonders live in the memory of modern day society, not only as edifices celebrating the grandeur of individuals and cultures past, but also in grand chorus to the power of socialism.

Socialism, the economic situation where everything is equal for all people--well at least for those unwilling to take the risk, rely upon God instead of a man or corporation, and become one to whom a wonder honors. And so we stand today, building our modern marvels of skyscrapers, computers and rocket ships, each honoring the Donald Trumps, Bill Gates, and NASAs of our modern society, trapped as slaves of our economy and bosses.

We can not change our whole culture now without spending those forty years in the wilderness, so will you buy your freedom and embrace our socialist regime, or will you bend your back to the whip and trudge along building an edifice to someone else's willingness to take those risks you will not take? All I can say if you choose the latter is learn to get comfortable with your slavery! The rich will get richer because too many people enable them, and they deserve the wealth they achieve because they take the plunge and choose to rely upon God instead of man to work out the unknown variables in life.

Knight in Shining Armor?

So to sum up quickly, things are rough for my family right now financially.  My business did not do so well this year and I am working at a job that is almost straight commission.  I have struggled with feelings of failure for the first time in my life.  I am still fighting, but I have yet to make much headway. 

To make matters worse, my wife has always taken care of our personal finances.  She pays the bills now because at one point early on in our marriage, we shared the responsibility and I made a payment, not late, but during the grace period and she had a fit.  So I let her take over.  

The problem I am now faced with is that, although I feel a certain amount of pressure to 'be the man' and provide for my family, I am still functioning and moving forward on coming up with a solution.  My wife, however, who has no means or ability to solve the problem, is stressing about the financial situation and, in my opinion, is not coping well with it.  She has been very angry at God and at the world in general.  I know because I have to hear her frequently berate God and inadvertently put me down by complaining about how bad our life sucks.  

Please do not get me wrong, my wife still has a good relationship with God, she is just angry at the moment, and because of a conversation with my uncle and brother (same person), I now assume responsibility for my wife's situation.  You see, I think I now believe in chauvinism, wholeheartedly.  I guess that depends on your definition, but yes, I do.  To me, the term chauvinism has for years meant that a man exercises undue power over a woman to make her his own personal slave and force on her all of the crappy jobs that he does not want to do.  Today my thinking has changed.  I now believe it to mean that men and women have different responsibilities within a family and society, and one of a man's responsibilities is to protect his wife and family and help them to feel safe and secure.  

Ladies and gentlemen, assuming the care of the finances of our household doesn't have to be a power grab, but instead another way that I can help my wife to feel safe and secure.  Opening doors, driving, pulling out chairs, introducing my wife to people using her name first, holding open doors and other acts of chivalry, do not have to be for the purpose of belittling the opposite gender, but instead ways to show love and respect and to protect my wife and family and help them to feel safe and secure.  

For quite some time now, I have taken responsibility for my wife being stressed.  Her constant complaints and frustrations, not my situation, have caused me to experience these feelings of failure.  Not only do I assume responsibility for her pain and suffering because of our financial situation, but also because she never had to experience the pain of working things out financially.  That is the one thing in this scenario I could have prevented.

So what do I do now?  On the way to my current dead end job, I heard a song that my wife loves, for reasons I understand much more now--I Need a Hero.  Yes, my wife needs a hero, and that is what I will be.  I am going to take on the responsibility of our personal finances as well as start driving (yes, I am even one of those pansies), opening her door, etc.  Starting today, I act like a Man, because I do love my wife and family!

Your outstanding performance deserves nothing less than mediocrity...

Story time once more. A very liberal leaning young girl goes away to college. Her opinions have yet to be swayed by the tutelage of her very conservative parents. In college, she works very hard. Studying when her roommates are watching movies, staying up late preparing for tests when her roommates are partying and getting up and making it to class early when her roommates are sleeping in and skipping class. Her roommates share the same major as her and have the same classes as her.

At the end of the semester, the girl is excited to reap the reward of all her efforts and sacrifices. Her roommates end up with the report on their grades before her and she finds out they all got C's in all of their classes. She thinks nothing of their grades, judging that they all deserved to fail for their lack of effort in their schoolwork, and assuming they had some kind of connections to profit them the grades they ended up with. However, she becomes livid when she discovers that she also received C's in all of her classes.

She returns to her home for the Christmas break and pours her heart out to her parents concerning the matter. Her father's response is simply, "welcome to socialism..."

I have nothing to add to this short story. There is no such thing as an entitlement!

Viva America!

I went to an MLS soccer game the other day and our defense flubbed up major league, taking out our own goalie and allowing for one of the players from the Chivas to score. I was quite perturbed when the stadium erupted with cheers. This was a home game and there were probably more people there to cheer for the Chivas than the home team. Then I realized who the crowd was and turned quickly racist. Racist is the term used by them for me. I use a different term. That term is patriotic, or else scared...

I have nothing against the latin culture. Quite the contrary, actually, considering my choice of profession being landscaping. I am angry about the people that choose to break our rules to come here. My friend, Greg would say this is an emotional and not a logical argument, and he is right. However, there are very logical implications on my every day life with them being here. I refer mostly to the fear that has swept our country with the move to be politically correct. I won't spend much time on this blog, because it has all been said before by people much more eloquent than me. But why do we have 'latin heritage' month on the Disney Channel? And to take the topic one step further to a more deeply seeded issue, why do we have Black History Month? I think it is very important to know that not only white europeans contributed to the development of our country, but why does it have to be about color or ethnicity? I have got to tell you that my cotton gin is about overflowing with menial facts about black contributors to society. I would bet money that more people in this country now come out of school knowing about the cotton gin than Henry Ford or the Wright brothers. I am not trying to argue one way or another who contributed more, but let's not cram menial information down our children's throats in the name of being politically correct! Teach the important stuff. All of the important stuff and don't let it be about color.

Lastly, please cheer for the home team! Oh, and go to my blog and vote for your choice for President!

Is the Free Market a Waste of Time?

Bear with me as I retell a story I heard from someone a while ago...

A Harvard busines grad goes to a popular tourist location in Mexico for vacation. The business man is fascinated with one particluar fisherman he sees returning each afternoon from the ocean. For whatever reason, he feels inclined to talk to the fisherman about his lifestyle, anxious to employ his new found business knowledge. Shortly into the conversation the young man has gathered that each day the man leaves early into the morning to go out to the sea and fish. The man elaborates on watching the sun rise and getting an occasional show from a passing pod of dolphins. He comes back from fishing and spends each afternoon and into the evening with his family. Each night the man finds his way to the local cantina and relaxes with his closest friends and a couple of beers, chatting and strumming away on his guitar. This the man repeats each and every day with little variance.

The business grad spends the evening perplexed by the man's problem and barely sleeps as he creates a beautiful business plan to enhance the man's life. The next afternoon, as the man comes in from the ocean, the business grad chases him down to present the man with his epiphany. The business grad then reveals his plan of buying a second boat and hiring someone to fish in a second boat all day and hiring two others to fish starting in the afternoon. He then shows how the man can slowly purchase more boats and increase his earning potential. With his new earnings, the man can then chase down his own contact for selling the fish to and add to his profit the money made by the middle man. From there, the man can save up his profit and open his own fish canning facility and own the production line from beginning to end, undoubtedly making the old fisherman millions of dollars. With all of this new income, the man can then retire.

The old man laughs at the business man and asks him what he would do then?

The business man quickly replies that the man could wake up early and watch the sunrise. He could go out on a small boat and enjoy some fishing on a small tranquil boat and perhaps watch a pod of dolphins play. He could spend time with his family. And he could hang out in the evenings with his closest friends and have a few beers and play his guitar.

The old fisherman gives the young businessman a condescending pat on the back or something and that is where the story ends.

I think the story is meant to illustrate how stupid capitalism really is and that we should all just fall in line like good little stooges and do our respective jobs without complaining because life really is great and we wouldn't change what we enjoyed if we had all the money in the world anyway (deep breath now after that tirade...)and fluffy bunnies and unicorns and rainbows and blah, blah, blah!

Ignorance really pisses me off, and the point that is missed is the freedom the man enjoys from being a capitalist. The untold part of the story shows the difference...

One day the man wakes up to go hit the ocean. He is now 68 years old and there is a storm brewing. He has to go out on the ocean anyway because the approach of the huge storm caused the fish to move away from their regular routes and he hasn't caught anything for three days now and his rice and beans are all gone. So he fumbles through the dark, barely able to see because his eyes have been ruined by the sun beating on them off the surface of the ocean water for years now, and gathers up his equipment in arthritis stricken hands. He gets out to his boat and begins stuffing cloth into the several holes in his small boat because he hasn't had the money to repair it, and heads out for his miserable day on the wild ocean waves.

With a very small catch he finally heads back in to shore and approaches the market with his catch. Unfortunately, he got back too late because it took so long for the old man to row back in from the storm tossed sea, and no one is at the market to buy his poor catch. The fish go to waste and the man must return empty handed to his family. The man's grandkids are crying with hunger pangs as he approaches his little hut and makes his report. His daughter, whose husband died recently, gathers her children close to comfort them for the long wet evening they have ahead of them. The man's son whose legs could have been saved with a simple medical procedure when he was young huddles in the corner. The man kisses his wife good bye and heads for the cantina.

The man sits alone in the corner of the cantina, watching longingly at his ex-friends drinking, singing and laughing. He reviews in his mind just how much money he owes each of these people and just how long ago he borrowed from each of them. He pulls out his guitar and strums for a while on the four strings that are not broken, not sure of what tomorrow brings.

I am sure that it is the fault of the young, entrepreneurially minded, Harvard Business School grad this man suffers so, because his hard earned wealth really should be taken from him to fix this man's problems. Instead of teaching this man how he can still look his friends and family in the eyes again, he should have just voted for the wonderful socialists in our world who would so carefully manage his finances for him and make sure that this man gets 'bailed out!'

What do you think?????