If Jerry Falwell's organization is against it, then I'm for it...

Recently I had occasion to read a column by Matt Barber, a constitutional law attorney and vice president of Liberty Counsel Action. Mister Barber dedicated that column to a rant against Ron Paul and the Libertarian viewpoints that define Representative Paul. Particularly, Mister Barber points out that Paul is lax on national defense and believes that Islamic terrorists, "...come here and want to do us harm because we’re bombing them."

Mister Paul is correct in that statement and you, Mister Barber, are and very far down the ladder of credibility in that you are unaware that the statement is substantively true. These Islamic terrorists 'want to harm us' precisely because we are bombing them...and usurping their sovereignty, and 'dissing' them, to put things in the vernacular of the times.

I will admit that it goes back a ways...at least back to T.E Lawrence but we kicked things off from our side of the bench when we did it to Iran in 1953. That was when the CIA and Britain's MI6 overthrew the government of Mohammed Mossaddegh. Yeah, that's right, Mister Barber, forcible overthrow of a government we had earlier supported so that both we and Britain could reap oil profits from an industry that had been nationalized. I'm pretty sure that the Iranians remember the incident well, even if you have forgotten.

We followed up when we did it to Iraq in 1980 when, after supplying chemical weapons and other means of 'mass destruction' to Iraq, we again changed horses in midstream. Back in the flying 80's, in order to justify our policy, we even removed Iraq from the state department list of 'State Sponsors of Terrorism' over the objection of General Alexander Haig, I might add. (Reagan and Bush#1 did that...unilaterally from the White House.)

We even made Saddam Hussein gifts of Anthrax and thirteen other agents with 'biological warfare significance'. There were also 'Bear Spares' for military equipment then under embargo from the supplier, the USSR. Then there was that award winning gesture of an expensive set of gold spurs from President Reagan, hand delivered by Donald Rumsfeld at the taxpayers expense. All that, as long as Saddam was supporting our cause against the evil Ayatollah in Tehran. Hell, the DIA was even planning daily operations to deliver those chemical weapons on target in Iran.

We turned on Saddam when it became apparent that Iraq would not repay the 14 billion dollars owed to Kuwait and he decided to annex the country instead.

We did it to Afghanistan' too. Remember Charlie Wilson? Yeah, we supplied all those warlords in Afghanistan with Stingers since they were fighting those godless communists. It even worked to a degree when the USSR pulled back to Moscow but then there was nothing to shoot at and so many missiles left to shoot and the United States was washing its hands free of Afghan dirt back in the waters of the Potomac.. What to do?

Well I suppose that terrorists could always be relied on as paying customers and I've been to Afghanistan, Mister Barber, they really don't have anything else to tout as a cash crop. So the Taliban took over along with their little sidekick bin Laden and we all know how that went.

So yes many third world and Islamic countries do hate us for our perfidy, but then that perfidy has long been the foundation of our foreign policy.

Elihu Root spelled it out back in 1922 when he advocated the 'self protection' scheme that was later converted by subsequent administrations into a policy of 'our economic welfare in America comes before anyone else's, anything else', and that doctrine, however laundered to support dictators from Mussolini to those in current events is diametrically opposed to the foundation principles of our country and the Libertarian Party of which Representative Paul is a member.

And still it is Ron Paul that you find dangerous?

You regard Ron Paul as dangerous for his Libertarian values in snapping off 'national defense' and 'social values' from Ronald Reagan's precious three legged stool, but what of that stool Mister Barber and your biased interpretation for the meaning of those legs?

On personal liberty:

See sections 1.0-1.4 of the Libertarian platform. Try this quote... "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal..." Remember that? 'All men...are...equal'. That means just what it says and I am no better than you, nor are you any better than anyone else. We are all equal and all Libertarians support that equality along with personal responsibility for our own actions.

On a strong National defense:

See sections 3.1, and 3.3 of the Libertarian platform. In particular note that the language employed in both sections is the same language imparted to our fledgling government by George Washington when he wisely counseled us to avoid 'entangling alliances'. Perhaps Uncle George was a Libertarian as well...or should we neither allow him to carve the turkey?

In closing I suggest that you take the world's smallest political quiz.Find it here: http://theadvocates.org/quiz , from The Advocates for Self Government, and yes, they are a Libertarian organization.

Read more on Newsmax.com: Falwell Group: Ron Paul Is Dangerous

Can't Get a Job if You Don't Have One....

Recently the Huffington Post ran an article called 'Unemployment Discrimination: Who's Afraid to Hire The Jobless.'

Yeah that's right, Huffington Post. You might be thinking therefore that here's another commie, pinko writer quoting the liberal media and in that, you would be wrong. Indeed, I look at a variety of propaganda sources every single day since the news we get in this country is a lot like fertilizer. It has to be spread around to do any good and a reader constantly has to sift through the uh...inert matter.

So the story referenced above caught my attention. Mostly that was because exactly what was described happened to me personally. I was literally told, by a company recruiter that if I had any unemployment on my recent job history, I could not apply. Then it happened with another company.

Now, O learned mavens of the blogoshphere, I don't mind telling you that this situation seemed mighty queer to this old country boy, emphasis on the old. After all, I had just reached the point when I finally reasoned out that sending applications through on AARP sponsored stationery might just not be the best plan for a career position. Indeed I had attended interviews where the HR director came right out and told me that he could hire three young people for what he would have to pay me. Yeah, I know that is age discrimination and also illegal but we all know it happens, and really, why bother to sue when you have already been told that the company does not want you working there?

So after working a couple of corncobs like that out of my ass I was really not prepared to learn that If I didn't have a job, I might not be able to get one. I decided to read further, and yes, from other sources as well, even some from the rabid right. (I have to tell you though that there was no article about this practice on the FOX web site.)

What I found out during that reading was that the practice is actually legal since 'unemployed' is not a category listed as discriminatory under EEOC guidelines. Yes! Our government in action at its best. There is no policy that addresses discriminating against the unemployed. And the practice is growing according to NELP Executive Director, Christine Owens.

Now, there may be a few of you out there who have recently arrived on Earth from some off planet locations but most of us already here are familiar with the reality that since mid 2007 or so, unemployment has been on the rise at a rate nearly parallel with what was experienced during the great depression of the thirties. Of course the numbers have been dummied up to make the statistic look better than it really is but I'll bet that anyone reading this has friends and relatives that are unemployed. The situation is bad to the point of being dire and we need less methods used to disqualify or avoid hiring competent workers. The solution is more jobs but with the growing trend towards globalization that is becoming harder to do.

In this pre election year run up to 2012, I believe that the best strategy for accomplishing the sea change that we need is as I outlined in an earlier post entitled 'Throw The Bastards Out'. At least with that strategy we all have a fighting chance to get hired.

Throw the Bastards Out

I don't know where anyone in congress got the idea that Social Security was an entitlement program. It may have something to do with the fact that congressional pensions pay four to five times more than most social security after only five years vesting, or vestiture if you will forgive a slight archaism. Nonetheless, those of us out here in the real world, many of whom have worked forty plus years remember social security as an extorted purchase of an annuity that none of us ever expected to see a return on.

However Franklin Roosevelt characterized his spiel while he was rapidly shifting those three cards, (Liberal social program, insurance policy, and FICA contribution),around the table, quite apart from a method to provide for our elders, most of us downrange invariably saw 'Ponzi scheme' whenever we visualized what was going to happen to us downrange.

And now we come to today and another round of poor mouth propaganda rhetoric from our party partisan electorate.

Please don't get me wrong. While this is not intended as a rant against social security itself, when you strip all the varnish away from the turd of congressional spending you invariably arrive at the same conclusion. It is nothing but a pile of shit. Congress, that stalwart watchdog of democracy and the American way, does not care one whit about either any of us or our elders. It's all about what the money can provide to insure that above referenced five year tenure and that is why I say it is time to 'Throw the Bastards Out.'

Could I do any better? Could anyone else? Both questions, in contravention of strict logic have three answers, just like the card game up above. Yes. No. Maybe...Pick the right one and you win yourself a prize.

So, a few days ago I was reminded that a friend of mine, Emmett Delaney,had written a book called 'The Write In.' It is a story about a regular guy named Les Moore and how he became a national write in candidate for president.

In the book, Les, who is fifty-six years old, has a slight IRS problem, a case of worsening type two diabetes and who is a thirty-five year veteran driving forty-eight states for Transporters Express, one day wins a driver of the year award that comes with a new computer. Les has to learn how to use it though and so one day while trying out the internet he take a survey on what he would do as President of the United States. Les's responses to that survey get him noticed fast and the next thing that happens is that Les Moore finds himself listed as a 'write-in' candidate for president.

Can't happen? Well it does in the book and even though Les is not running, the momentum of the internet carries him along through every trial and tribulation you can imagine for such an endeavor.

I have to admit that an idea such as the one Emmett writes about here has a certain appeal. It is an appeal that every common man, in the best tradition of Jefferson Smith on that memorable Academy Award winning 1939 trip to Washington, wants to emulate.

Now, just as then, many feel that too long has our political system been abused and perverted to further the aims of avaricious career politicians. Too long have our jobs been exported to countries that hate us so that a few corporations can profit while many languish in poverty. Too long have we all been subjected to a rationalistic agenda that does little but fuel ambitions and enrich the bank accounts of ambulance chasing lawyers, the bottom rung of our legal profession. Too long have we all said nothing as we watched this denial of self reliance, this perversion of responsibility for our own actions and this complete disregard for principles that made this nation a singular paragon on the world stage. Maybe 2012 is the year that we, as ordinary folk, stand up and take back our country.

Many years ago I heard a stand-up routine. I can't remember where or who but I do remember the punch line. Anyway, one man says to the other. 'Did you know that the two biggest problems facing our nation are ignorance and apathy.' The other man turns and says. 'I don't know and I don't care.'

Okay, so it's not funny. I know that and now, so do you. So look up Emmett's book. I've provided a link and while reading think about a common man in a national office. Think about yourself in one of those offices. Think about making a difference. After all it is not enough to just 'Throw the Bastards Out.' Like it or not we have to replace them. Maybe with Lester Moore, maybe with you... It could happen.

To Cursive or Not to Cursive

So...there I was. I had mowed what is left of my lawn, weeded the old flowerbed on the west side of the house, knocked a couple of items off of the wife's perpetual 'list of things that will only take five minutes to do', and the day was effectively over. Worse than that, I was out of beer.

I then thought I might hit the pool for a few laps but since the water temperature in the pool was two degrees higher than the air temperature outside here in sunny Clearwater Florida, the idea of a dip was less than attractive. Long story short, I was casting about for something I could do to kill time before supper. On a whim I decided to tune in the six o'clock follies and see if there was anything remotely resembling what was advertised as news. Today I was in luck.

I forget who the commentator was, not that it really mattered. Here in Florida, and to be fair in many other locations as well, we have an assortment of lacquered, and powdered fully animated mannequins, some male, some female that have all purchased their hair from Owens Corning and all faithfully stick to the fully massaged script on their teleprompters. (I'm not supposed to discuss politics but that is just like the president does when the cameras are rolling.)

Anyway, listening in I was shocked to learn that there is a movement afoot to eliminate cursive writing as an item of curriculum in our schools and yes, even though we are not discussing politics this is something that goes right back to 'no child left behind' which as you will remember also means 'no child moves ahead'. Budget cuts, smaller class sizes, standardized tests and God help any teacher attempting originality or otherwise deviating from the banal.

The rationale, and we are nothing if not rationalistic in anything operated by governments, is that the teaching of cursive writing is time consuming, particularly with students that already know how to print block letters, or simply recognize those symbols enough to press keys on a computer or cell phone.

HELLO!!!

Yes boys and girls; they are actually touting just that. What I am hearing though is that teaching cursive is just too hard. After all, children have cell phones, and computers, so why do they need to 'write' anything?

Well how about a signature? Maybe notes during a lecture? That always comes in handy at test time. How about a quick note to that cute girl in the second row? E-Mail leaves a paper trail guys. It might be handy to know cursive...

Teaching it is hard though. The teachers do have a point. And let's not forget all the time they need to teach students how to pass those standardized tests like FCAT.

'No Child Moves Ahead'.


Now I don't know about you but as I recall school it was first learn block printing in first and second grade, maybe even third,) and then move on to cursive writing around the fourth grade. And yes, if it was time consuming for me as a student, I can easily surmise that with thirty eight students in my grade school class, it must have been even more time consuming for Sister Michael and Sister Joan, and all the other equally patient good Sisters of Saint Joseph. Still they persevered.

We, as students, were a captive audience of course but what the hell, we persevered too and practiced and practiced, ad neauseam.

We had inkwells with ink in them and stoppers. We had blotters and quill pens with changeable nibs and later we had fountain pens too. I even remember those horrible cartridge pens that sometimes worked and usually leaked.(Washable Blue, my ass...)

There were ink smudges galore, ruined shirts and you had to keep dipping the quill tips as they would only hold so much ink and yet through it all, we learned cursive. We were even graded on it. Some of us got decent grades, most of us though had terrible handwriting.

Once we had all got with the program it was evident even to anyone that cursive was a lot faster than block printing, a whole lot faster. Hell, even the Romans wrote in cursive. Oh not that stuff chiseled into places like Trajan's Column. The Romans used cursive for nearly everything else though. It just worked and obviously their instructors had time to teach.

Still, opponents of cursive tout that it is sometimes hard to read as not everyone possesses the ability to write cursive legibly. They do have a point and they further expand that point to state that important documents should be printed in block letters for legibility. That is certainly a valid position and I agree...at least partially. After all, no one would write something important, e.g. a document that was intended to last for a long time in cursive. Would they? In particular would they work the official document in cursive when they already possessed a printed copy?

They might. Or if they did we would have to infer that perhaps they simply couldn't print worth a shit. Men like Timothy Matlack and Jacob Shallus for instance. Yes...I'm quite certain they were better at cursive.

Transverse Myelitis

TM? I'll bet you thought that was Transcendental Meditation. Didn't you?

You know, if this were to be a redneck story I would have to begin with 'Hey...y'all ain't goin' to belieeeve this shit'. Unfortunately though, I am unable, herein, to segue into fast cars, loyal hunting dogs, unfaithful women or beer and so redneck just won't cut it. Similarly, 'Once upon a Time' is just too lame to consider and so I will just get on with it as you are probably tired of the long winded preamble. Besides, Joanie is making noises with the paper shredder in the next room so...

A few weeks ago I was driving along in Ohio, kickin my kitty, stylin' and profilin' with the best of them in my Kenworth T-600. With a recent bath and fresh shave I did look good.

Since it was Ohio and since I had recently received some beautiful, hand autographed paperwork from one of the more dedicated public servants down on US 35, I was particularly vigilant for uh...road hazards. One hazard I did miss, although about three hours from that particular time point it would find me, all on its own.

It had been an uneventful morning, except for the rain. Traffic was medium, the sun came up on schedule brightening gray skies and I was early for my last delivery in Columbus about twenty miles away. Just an average day trucking and delivering freight. I had seen many just like it over the last 1.3 million miles.

I had upholstered couches and recliners in the trailer today and I was anxious to get them off so I could call in MT and get to my next dispatch. I dropped a gear, hit the exit ramp off 270 for Roberts Road and turned left.

About a half hour after I bumped the dock the receiver showed up and together we threw the load in record time. No OS+D, papers all signed and posted to the Driver Tech computer, everything running like a clock but I noticed a slight pain in my back about midway up. If you are much older than thirty you have probably come to terms with something aching or hurting most of the time and so you probably do what I did that morning and slough it off. Besides, ramped up from the recent exercise no little back pain was going to deter me. I was ready to run.

Dispatch was not though and after about an hour of waiting I headed to the Pilot truck stop out on exit 79 for some decent coffee.

Those people at PFJ advertise that they have the best coffee on the interstate and I have to allow that the claim is well founded although how they can maintain that quality when they ship the stuff in those 8500 gallon tank trailers is quite beyond me. Nonetheless I parked and headed across the parking lot.

The rain had abated to some degree but it was breezy with a temperature in the high forties so this Florida boy in a thin jacket, hustled just a little, along with 'Tee' shirted locals. That coffee was going to taste mighty good and it did!

Passing a few pleasantries with other drivers I started back across the tarmac. My truck was about two hundred yards away. About a hundred feet into that journey I began to notice a tingling sensation in my right foot. Now that was pretty strange since it felt a little like my foot was going to sleep so I stopped at one of the fuel islands and did some stretching. I even banged the offending foot against a concrete bollard a few times just to try and shake the feeling. It didn't help so I continued towards my truck. Then I stumbled and damn near dumped my fresh coffee before I recovered enough to stand straight. The tingling was now crawling past my knee. Worse yet, my left foot was tingling too. I was halfway to the truck.

I don't know when it occurred to me that I was somehow in trouble. I'm pretty dense on things like that but most pains can be walked off. We have all done that a hundred times. The body is good at that sort of thing but the closer I got to the truck the worse my walking became. I stumbled and then I stumbled again...and again. My right leg was just not working and the harder I willed it to work the worse it became. When I made it to the grab bar by my door I could barely stand.

I did stand though as there was little alternative but I held tight to the grab bar as I unlocked my door and stuffed my hard won coffee inside on the mat. Then I used my left leg to drag my right leg and me into the truck. So far so good and I hadn't spilled the coffee. First things first, after all.

I sat on the seat for a few minutes and tried to resume 'normal' but the numbness persisted. Then it was into the bunk for some stretching. It had to be a pinched nerve. It felt like a pinched nerve. Rest and stretching would help. Wouldn't it? The answer to that was no. And I mean a great big fat NO!

Several hours later I knew I was going to have to call an audible.

Friends took me to Riverside Methodist in Columbus. There I learned the truth. It was a pinched nerve...sort of. My spinal cord was the nerve in question and it was much more than pinched. I had Transverse Myelitis. Listening through all the doctorese it was apparent that recovery was a long way off if at all.

A week later I left the ICU for Physical therapy. Acute In-Patient Physical Therapy they call it and it is something like a boot camp for brain and spinal cord injuries. Up early, get dressed on your own, meals in the dining room, (no hiding in your room) work late and then rest just as hard and tomorrow it starts all over again. I loved it. After the first week I earned my 'green certificate'. I could then use the bathroom and get into bed from the wheelchair unsupervised. Apart from the embarrassment of the other option, the freedom was a milestone. I was learning and becoming stronger.

Miss Katie, Miss Sarah and Miss Paula drilled me hard. No slip-ups into easy accommodation were tolerated. All movements were to be controlled and even. 'Trust the leg', 'Shorter steps', 'Hips forward', 'Squeeze your butt when you lift', Heel first'.'These were their mantras and I repeat them to myself with every outing.I still do. Without these dedicated ladies I would still be slinging my bad leg like a sack of concrete. Thank you all so very much. I mean that more than you know.

Another week and I am again home in Florida, still learning to walk but feeling more confident with each step. Funny, I don't remember it being all that hard learning this same function sixty some years ago but what the hell. I figure that when you get older you forget shit so I am just putting my shoulder to the wheel and hamstering it out.

For those of you who do not know. Transverse Myelitis is an inflammatory lesion or lesions of the spinal cord across its thickness in which the myelin sheath of the neurons is damaged. This adversely affects conduction of signals in the affected nerves, causing impairment in sensation, movement, cognition, or other functions depending on which nerves are involved.. The lesions are inflammatory, and involve the spinal cord on both sides. With acute transverse myelitis, the onset is sudden and the disease progresses rapidly in hours or days.

The cause for many occurrences of Transverse Myelitis is up for debate. In my case the doctors said it was idiopathic. At first I thought that was a snide remark that meant I had STUPID written on my forehead but instead of punching someone I looked it up. (Greek was never my forte'.) The word means arising from unknown causes, but as a functional process of the disease, for some reason my immune system had attacked my spinal cord. Maybe a virus, maybe an injury...who knows? The result is the same. One leg paralyzed, the other one just numb.

Recovery is very might be, maybe, could be, if in nature, although early treatment may lead to 90-100% recovery. Time frame for that recovery is up to two years. Wheelchairs are for pussies though so in the meanwhile I will be out pounding the pavement with walker and cane. It ain't pretty. It ain't fast but I am standing and I am moving.'Heel first', Squeeze the butt'...Yeah.


Believe that I am motivated. I'll have to be if I ever want to get back to fast cars, women, unfaithful or otherwise and some fine old mountain brewed, Tennessee sippin' whiskey. (See? I did work in a redneck angle after all.) Maybe I'll even try some of the other TM...just in case the stress gets to me, of course.