Want to know what a politician should sound like; listen to this interview of John Kasich from Bill Cunningham of 700 WLW?
The Governor was very explicit in that interview that he does not intend to take a public job to get another public job. He mentioned a bill to prevent unions from being able to strike against public organizations and he spoke about balancing the budget and bring jobs back to Ohio by taking away the restrictions that drive business away.
All too often politicians stick their fingers to the wind and check public opinion before taking action. That is the problem. People like Kasich are successful without politics. He doesn’t need the small wage of what an Ohio Governor makes. It’s not important to him to see his name on the signs welcoming people to the state, because he’s in the job to do the job. Not to fill his ego.
Heads of companies tend to do the work of balancing the budget of companies without worrying about whether or not they make all the employees angry, because they are the boss. And a boss can’t get wrapped up in popularity. All that really matters is if the state remains financially stable so we can live our lives in the state, and it’s the governors job to make sure that happens.
If you’re the kind of person looking for the government to do something for you, then you won’t like Kasich, because you have misread the intention of government and have bought into the “great lie” of Progressives. But if you want government to get out of our way, so we can create jobs, live out our lives, and not have all the money that should go to savings going to a bunch of “air headed” progressive programs, it is with great relief to hear a governor on the edge of taking control of the state government, that professes the attitude that he’s here to do the job, not begin running for the next public office so he can get the benefits of inflated public entitlements.
That’s what you get when you put people who are independently successful in office, instead of some mindless parasites that are clueless as to how the world works!
My wife and I were discussing over dinner the fact that in the times of Lincoln, Washington DC actually had liveries in town to tie up their slaves like horses. I thought about how far we’ve all come since then, and I thought about how instrumental Lincoln was in changing those opinions people had, on the “culture” of slavery. Lincoln was an uneducated white man, and he used the Constitutional rights of the great United States to put in front of people the fact that American society wanted slavery because they wanted to protect their pocket books. Lincoln wrote and spoke about that issue to a huge degree, and it made him very unpopular for a while, because it was affecting people’s comfort level. But history shows the result. Lincoln was openly hostile about slavery in his letters and over time he came to realize how terrible slavery was as an institution, and eventually, under his watch, slavery was abolished, and the United States has lead the way to religious and racial tolerance all over the world since then
But that’s not what you hear among our radical press that has an agenda for a political power grab. Civil rights, even though we all agree is the right thing to think about is big business, and power grabs for the party that rides the wave of emotion behind it.
Religion, like race relations is one of the longest forms of political power grabs known to mankind. Doc Thompson did a great bit of radio poking fun at Katie Couric’s suggestion of creating a television show based on the Muslim faith.
What a lot of people have a hard time understanding is how devious some political, and religious groups are in achieving their personal goals. We’ve studied how communism and other socialist principles have grown under our collective watchful, yet naive eyes. The same thing occurs under the umbrella of religious fervor.
A great example of this is the current Islamic possession of the Temple Mount while Jews resort to their practices at the Wailing Wall and the continuous tension that exists between those two religions at the Temple.
To a guy like me, I look at those religious icons and I see the artifacts of King Solomon’s Temple. It is a baffling concept that one particular religious entity or another would even consider “fighting” over rights to such things. But that is the state of our minds.
And that is why we can’t even joke about certain religious issues, such as the mosque in New York, because the debate is not one of life after death. It’s about control and power while here on earth. Our current debate on whether or not we should have a mosque in New York is really just a diversion to weaken an enemy, and to many in the world that crave power, the United States is an enemy to their goals.
It is difficult for many people to get their minds around devious concepts, even though many people unconsciously participate in devious behavior. So it is hard for people to see that there are still, in the 21st century, groups of people that want power, and they hide their desire for that power behind religion in order to unite the minds of their armies to help them achieve those goals. So I’m going to put this situation in a way that people can understand, because virtually everyone can relate.
Family is one of the most basic building blocks we all share with one another. Family problems are a great way to personalize some of these larger religious, and sensitivity issues, because we all have those problems. So let’s look at a hypothetical situation that occurs in many families and explore the hidden motives behind those actions so as to comprehend how religious leaders and civil rights advocates manipulate our emotions for the same basic end result.
Marriage is supposed to be a wonderful institution where typically a woman marries a man who is the son of someone. Usually, the mother of that man will look at the new woman as her “replacement” and because she has never in her mind made the correct breaking away from her son, still craves the love of her son over his wife. Now that new wife may actually like the brother of that husband, but that brother is already married to another woman. This “like” may not be sexually based, but just might be some deep seated psychological reaction because the brother is very similar to her husband, but benefits from having the traits the wife likes, but not the disadvantage that living with the husband has, so myths are allowed to form in the mind of the wife about the brother because she doesn’t live with him, and she sees the brother in a holier-than image.
Now this wife may actually be quite pretty, so the father who is married to the mother may be jealous of this son, the husband to the new wife. This might occur because the son is not his biological son, and is a bad memory of the man that came before him. Of course around the dinner table he is friendly, but his insecurities are great being the “second” man. Seeing his wife’s son marry a beautiful woman and having a fresh start in life with a fresh and unmolested “new” woman is enough to drive him to private madness, so he eats more, drinks more, and in general craves the attention of women half his age. The mother knowing that the husband feels this way deep down inside resents even more the new wife because she is a convenient target. This being her second marriage, she isn’t ready to admit to herself that her second husband is a creep. Because such a revelation may actually reveal to her extended family that she makes bad decisions, and the real problem may actually originate deep inside her and her desire to affiliate with bad people. So the mother befriends the brother’s wife to conspire against the new wife. Not openly mind you, but subtly.
Now our new husband and wife live well for a couple of years. The husband gets a few promotions and is making decent money which causes jealousy with his brother who hasn’t had such good luck. So he starts befriending the husband of his mother, who is just a step-father to him. And this step father uses this young man’s jealously to incite anger, and get the brother to do his bidding, so that his own wife doesn’t discover that he is trying to bring secret harm to her favorite son. A couple of kids are born to the son and his wife, and the wife has maintained her figure while the brother’s wife gets fat with boredom. The new wife dislikes the brother’s wife because she sees that the woman’s weight is embarrassing to the brother and she can see that the brother she likes so much isn’t enjoying sex because he has a fat wife, so she feels sorry for him and develops more anger at the brother’s wife.
The whole family has a get together to celebrate the 5th birthday of the oldest child of this marriage. The brother and his wife don’t really want to come, because they’ve been trying to have kids for a while, but can’t. The real reason they don’t have children yet is they don’t have sex enough because the brother isn’t interested in his own fat wife. The brother’s wife knows this, and resents her husband and her brother-in-law’s children more each time she sees them.
To make matters worse for the sister-in-law, and the mother, is the son’s wife has managed to find a way to stay home with her children so she has time to make a cake for her child’s birthday. The cake is a really fancy and personal cake that you couldn’t get in a bakery, because it’s actually made with love. Now you’d think the mother would be proud of her son for finding a wife that could and would make a cake for their child on their 5th birthday, but that’s not the case. Unfulfilled dreams and the mother’s own past mistakes of having her first marriage fail permeates her thoughts when she sees the cake, so in private she decides to instigate the brother’s fat wife into talking about what a prissy little bitch her son’s wife has become. Feeling empowered, the fat brother’s wife makes fun of the color of the cake right in front of the son’s wife, which breaks the heart of the wife who truly wants the appreciation of her mother-in-law. But what she sees in that moment of grief is great joy on the mothers face at the pain the son’s wife experienced at the antagonism of the brothers wife.
And the two women have a vicious argument right in the kitchen.
Meanwhile the son comes to break it up, and he insults his brother’s wife by calling her a spiteful, fat bitch! That gives his brother the opportunity to seize his anger that had been built up by his step-father, and now brother and brother fight it out right there in the kitchen.
The children are horrified to see all this going on. And the child that is turning 5 never forgets the images of everyone fighting, and makes the personal proclamation to never marry.
20 years later the elderly mother is asking her favorite son why he doesn’t come around more often, and that she misses him. The son doesn’t want to hurt his mother’s feelings and explain how destructive her beliefs have been to the family. His brother had long since divorced his fat wife. His mother lost her second husband to a chubby woman that was 21 who worked at the Waffle House. And he just didn’t have the heart to explain to his mother that her only grand children did not want to have children of their own, because they believe all families are dysfunctional.
The kids move out and the son and the wife live on alone, because the family had never really bonded. They tried over the years to go through the motions, but in the end, nobody really liked each other, so everyone found themselves alone and unhappy in the later years, meeting only in weddings and funerals.
Now what’s the point of that story? Well, the mother created the original sin by wanting power over her son. She didn’t want to face her own mistakes, and she desired to shape the lives of those around her to hide her own deficiencies from herself. The result of her divine leadership is she basically ruined the lives of everyone attached to her.
The same thing happens politically for much the same reasons. Our inability to see through the intentions of our enemies or to even name an enemy to our nation often allows corruption to migrate and fester over a long period of time into something that could ruin our lives. And it happens because we won’t even allow ourselves to be critical of something.
The resistance to slavery was because so many people made money off slavery. Lincoln did the good work of making people look at themselves, and that’s where slavery ended, in people’s hearts. It wasn’t just legislated. It changed inside people and it happened in America by a Republican.
Religion is supposed to be a personal thing, so you always have to be cautious when a religious group desires to “impose” itself on society. Because when they do, they are looking for power not spiritual understanding. And when they get caught doing so, they deserve to be ridiculed for the potential corruption they could bring to our society.
Call it what it is, so you can avoid a lifetime of pain.
I have done plenty of reading to understand that there has been ever-present within the United States a clear and present danger to our country and everything it stands for. These enemies hide like cancer cells within the body of our society and use our Constitution to embed themselves into every aspect of our nation’s activity.
I suppose I was a bit shocked to learn to what extent communism had penetrated our society prior to World War II. Heck, even Ronald Reagan inquired about joining the communist party in 1938 when he was a young actor in Hollywood. I couldn’t help but think of Johnny Depp, George Clooney, or Sean Penn, today’s Hollywood socialists, and wonder what the common appeal is to the seductive power of communism.
Then there is this video which I ran across the other day about the New York Communist Society. I watched this video with intrigue, having to struggle to hold back my laughter while at the same time keeping myself from becoming sick.
Oh…..did you catch that? They like to be called Progressives. Not the “C” word.
What most of these communist’s have in common is that they are young, and particularly sheltered from the harsh realities of the world. They have not yet cast themselves into the fires of life to become battle hardened by experience. And in the case of Hollywood, where once you’re on the inside track, the money comes easy and minds go soft with inactivity.
I remember sitting in a trailer in Hollywood getting my make-up applied by the same woman that had just put on the make-up to Johnny Depp just hours before me, and she made comments about what nice skin I had. The reason that stuck with me is that Depp is a big time star, what some would consider one of the most attractive men in the world, and here was a make-up person that thought my skin was more favorable to work with. It put in perspective for me that much of Hollywood is image once you get behind the façade of things, and many of the actors that perpetrate that image, and the make-up people that apply the image to their faces. It’s about building images, and it is easy for simple minded people to become seduced by Utopian ideas, and in Hollywood beyond the catering trucks, the agents that sit in their cars with a phone to their ears and one on the radio, and the camera crews, well paid actors look out over the Hollywood Hills and travel the streets of Santa Monica, and Beverly Hills as if they lived on another planet.
Those actors create the image that young students attempt to live up to, and when you listen to these “hippie” types repeating what their favorite star has said in some magazine, or entertainment TV show like “E” they turn to these leftist oriented groups like this New York Communist Society to fulfill the dreams of their silver screen heroes.
I emerged from such make-up trailers to ponder these images and relate them to my own experiences. You quickly realize that they don’t like you personally because you represent a world outside their understanding, but they put up with you because you have something they want, otherwise you wouldn’t be there to begin with. And such experiences have given me insight into the pathetic dreams of communists.
The works of Marx and Engels is laughable as a philosophy, rooted naively in sensitivity that is contrary to the nature of all existence. What people who subscribe to those beliefs basically hold on to is that all wealth in the world exists like air, and the rich set themselves up like trolls to guard access to it. And if the trolls were removed, then all people everywhere would have access to that wealth.
The trouble is that wealth doesn’t just exist. The elements that make up wealth do, but the organization of those elements that create the flow of money have to be created from an entrepreneur, and capitalism creates the foundation of the entrepreneur.
I know several people that live in other countries, and particularly England. The Labor Party in England created an environment that ended English Imperialism, which they are guilty of maintaining an Empire at the turn of the last century. It is assumed that America, because of our close relation to England would pursue the same course if left to our own devices. But, what that Labor Party has brought to England is row after row of the same buildings, a tax rate exceeding 50%, and their ability to export virtually nothing. They have become a service oriented society. Those same floppy minds have their hooks in America, and can be seen in that video.
Ironically, it was when Ronald Reagan was working on a film at Elstree Studios in England that scared him away from communism. Living in that country and looking at the run down, un-motivated conditions of the employees, and the residents in the neighborhoods around Elstree Studios set Ronald Reagan on a pro-capitalist journey that would propel the United States to greatness, if only for a short time in the 80’s. Reagan returned from England to the labor riots at Warner Brothers and noticed how many communists had penetrated the labor movement in Hollywood, which Reagan was president of the screen-actors guild and had intimate knowledge of such things, and was on the front line when the McCarthy Hearings took place. Reagan had made the transition because he had enough of an inquiring mind to continue growing, where many of his fellow actors were just happy collecting checks and vacationing in the mountains. Reagan’s pursuit of capitalism cost him his marriage to his first wife, Jane. But Reagan learned, thankfully, of the foolishness of communism through growing up and maturing into a middle-aged man.
And that seems to be the pattern. Young people full of compassion and fresh ideas, hungry to reshape the world into their own images seem prone to the utopian ideas of communism. And entertainment is run by the young. Most studio execs are under 35, same as agents and publicists, as well as the clientele they represent. Sports are in the same situation, where young people rule and old players considered over-the-hill are 38. In a world obsessed with the young, it’s easy to understand how these boondoggled ideas emerged and how those goofy young people could even conceive wasting their time singing songs of leftist propaganda.
Yet it’s age and wisdom that have the real value, and typically once people get both, the move more to the right on the political spectrum is what happens. It would seem those that don’t move to the right after achieving age; have poor minds to begin with. I’m thinking of people like Francis Piven, and Bill Ayers. They are just delinquents at heart in adult bodies that haven’t developed in maturing beyond age 15.
A way to describe the situation is to compare communism, and doing one of the most difficult things which is to give an employee a review. I have had to give hundreds of reviews, and the temptation is always to sit down with the employee and only discuss the nice aspects of an employee, even though the real function of a review is to let the employee know what they need to do to improve them. You can determine the strength of many managers based on the type of reviews they give their employees. Compassion is often thought of as a high quality, but what it really does is allow people to use their weaknesses as handicaps. A good manager would find the weakness in an employee and encourage them to attack that weakness to become better. You may hurt that employees feelings, but in the scheme of things, you will not only make that employee better, but you will also improve your companies operations. I can say that being a compassionate liberal is much easier and mentally less taxing than a conservative that is pushing those around them to achieve all they can with the least amount of resources. Compassion as many people know it is rooted in weakness. Weakness is giving in to shortcomings.
Communism is a disease that is only attractive to the minds of the weak and lazy. Behind advocates of communism you will find the mind of a lethargic being craving the safety of the herd. Such people have no desire to contribute equally to anything, and there will always be people like this in the world. The folly of our times however, is that we’ve allowed those types of people to actually have input in our society because of our defense of free speech, and desire to give them equal footing in our society. But what it really equates to is asking your 5 year old how to drive to California from New York City. The wise of us would ask the opinion of the youngster and pat them on their heads for their attempt at an answer. But we’d use our wisdom and age to determine the correct route based on our experience and knowledge of the terrain. And the child would sit in the back seat and color in their coloring book.
That’s where youthful opinion belongs, in the back seat.
Many people forget that during the summer of 2008 fuel costs were up over $4 per gallon. What happened was all the money that Americans normally spent on McDonalds, Walmart, and other consumer outlets, suddenly went to the excessive fuel costs and a long way to creating the recession we are currently in. Americans were using their expendable income on fuel costs, not on other items in the economy.
And here we go again. Doc Thompson has on a guest that discusses this very issue.
It is unacceptable to have fuel costs higher than what they are now. If fuel costs go up, it is entirely due to the ineptness of our political structures. Americans should not be “nudged” into other forms of energy while our economic competitors fuel their economic engines with unregulated drilling. In America we have regulated ourselves into a poor strategic position.
It is not my fault that our politicians screwed up and stood with weak backs to environmentalists that are in actuality communists at heart and crave an end to American Imperialism by crushing their great independent “car culture.” I will not spend the extra money on fuel. Instead, I will spend less. I will ride my motorcycle when I’d normally take a car. I’ll ride a bicycle or even walk before I use my extra money on a tank of fuel.
America would be wise to only use the fuel it needs, and respond to these price increases by hurting the revenue of all the government hands that have their hands in the cookie jar that is fuel industry. If you want to punch back the government that screwed all this up to begin with, hurt the money they take in with each gallon of gas that you buy. Below is some information on how much we pay in taxes by state for each gallon of gas.
State
Gasoline
Diesel
Additional Sales Tax
Comment
(¢/g)
(¢/g)
(%)
Alabama
18
19
4
The gasoline gasohol and diesel rates include a 2 cents per gallon inspection fee. Alabama-registered LPG vehicles pay an annual fee based on vehicle type in lieu of the volume tax.
Alaska
8
8
0
Arizona
18
19
5
The fuel tax on diesel remains at 18 cents per gallon for light and exempt vehicles but is set at 27 cents per gallon if used to propel a truck with more than two axles or with a declared gross weight over 26 000 pounds.
Arkansas
21.5
22.5
4.5
The gasoline gasohol and diesel rates include 0.4 cents per gallon Environmental Assurance Fee. Applicants for LPG user permits must pay a fee in lieu of the volume tax.
California
18
18
6
LPG users may pay an annual fee in lieu of the volume tax.
Colorado
22
20.5
3
Owners of LPG vehicles registered in the State must pay an annual fee in lieu of the volume tax.
Connecticut
25
45.1
5
The tax is computed at 5% of the gross earnings from the first sale of a petroleum product in the State.
Delaware
23
22
0
The tax rate varies annually based on the average wholesale price of gasoline for the previous year.
Dist. of Columbia
23.5
20
5.8
Florida
16
16
0
Tax rates are variable, adjusted annually. For gasoline and gasohol, in addition to the rates shown, there is a State-imposed State Comprehensive Enhanced Transportation System (SCETS) tax that varies by the county from 0-5.0 cents per gallon. All counties levy the SCETS tax on gasoline, but a few levy less than the maximum rate. LPG vehicles registered in the State pay an annual fee in lieu of the tax on alternative fuels and the SCETS tax.
Georgia
7.5
7.5
4
Hawaii
17
17
4
Effective 01/01/02, alternative fuels pay an amount proportional to the diesel tax as follows: .29 for ethanol, .5 for bio-diesel, and .33 for LPG. An additional 1 cent is added to these amounts, and then rounded to the nearest 1 cent.
Idaho
25
25
5
LPG users may pay an annual fee based on vehicle weight in lieu of volume tax.
Illinois
19
21.5
Motor carriers pay an additional 6.3 cents per gallon on gasoline, 6.5 cents on diesel, and 5.9 cents on LPG.
Indiana
18
16
5
Motor carriers pay an additional 11 cents per gallon. LPG vehicles pay an annual fee.
Iowa
21
22.5
5
Effective 07/01/02, motor fuel tax rates will be adjusted annually based on the amounts of ethanol blended gasoline being sold and distributed annually.
Kansas
24
26
4.9
LPG users may pay an annual fee based on mileage and gross vehicle weight in lieu of the volume tax.
Kentucky
24.1
21.1
6
Tax rates are variable, adjusted quarterly. A 2 percent surtax is imposed on gasoline and 4.7 percent on special fuels for any vehicle with 3 or more axles. The gasoline, gasohol, and diesel rates include 1.4 cents per gallon Petroleum Environmental Assurance Fee.
Louisiana
20
20
0
Maine
29.5
30.7
0
Rates are variable, adjusted every February based on past years Consumer Price Index. Rates are effective on the following July 1.
Maryland
23.5
24.25
5
Massachusetts
21
21
5
Michigan
19
15
6
For vehicles defined under the Motor Carrier Fuel Tax Act, diesel fuel is discounted 6 cents per gallon at the pump; and assessed a 12 cents per gallon surcharge on a quarterly return, with a provision for a 6 cent per gallon refund on fuel purchased in Michigan.
Minnesota
27.1
27.1
6
There is a credit to the wholesaler of 15 cents per gallon of alcohol used to make gasohol.
Mississippi
18.4
18.4
The gasoline, gasohol, and diesel rates include 0.4 cents per gallon dedicated to the Groundwater Protection Trust Fund.
Missouri
17
17
0
LPG vehicles 18,000 pounds or less gross vehicle weight registered in the State pay an annual fee in lieu of the volume tax.
Montana
27.75
27.75
0
LPG vehicles registed in the State pay an annual fee based on gross weight in lieu of the volume tax. Out-of-State vehicles purchase trip permits. There is an alcohol distiller credit of 30 cents per gallon of alcohol produced in the State with State agricultural products and used to make gasohol.
Nebraska
26.8
26.8
5
Rates are variable, adjusted quarterly. The gasoline and gasohol include 0.6 cents per gallon and diesel rate includes 0.2 cents per gallon Petroleum Release Remedial Action Fee. Effective 01/01/02, new Nebraska ethanol production facilities may receive an ethanol production credit equal to 18 cents per gallon of ethanol used to fuel motor vehicles.
Nevada
24
27
0
New Hampshire
18
18
0
The gasoline, gasohol, and diesel rates include 1.5 cents per gallon Oil Discharge and Disposal Cleanup Fee. Alternative fuel vehicles pay twice the usual registration fee in lieu of the volume tax.
New Jersey
10.5
13.5
0
In addition to the rates shown, there is a Petroleum Products Gross Receipts Tax. The tax is computed on a cents-per-gallon basis and is applicable to a wide variety of petroleum products.
New Mexico
18.875
22.875
5
The gasoline, gasohol, and diesel rates include the Petroleum Products Loading Fee of $150 per 8,000 gallons (1.875 cents per gallon). Owners of LPG-powered vehicles up to 54,000 pounds gross vehicle weight may pay an annual fee in lieu of the volume tax.
New York
24.35
22.55
4
Rates are variable, adjusted annually. Rates include the Petroleum Business Tax of 14.6 cents per gallon. The gasoline rate includes a 0.5 mill (0.05 cents) per gallon Petroleum Testing Fee.
North Carolina
30.55
30.55
0
Rates are variable, adjusted semiannually.
North Dakota
22
22
5
Rates are variable, adjusted semiannually.
Ohio
28
28
5
Commercial vehicles formerly subject to the highway use tax pay an additional 3 cents per gallon. Dealers are refunded 10 cents per gallon of each qualified fuel (ethanol or methanol) blended with unleaded gasoline.
Oklahoma
17
14
4.5
Rates shown include 1 cent per gallon tax dedicated to the Petroleum Underground Tank Release Environmental Cleanup Indemnity Fund. When the Fund reaches specified balance, future tax revenues will be deposited in a highway fund. The gasoline, gasohol, and LPG rates include 0.08 cents for fuel inspection. LPG users may pay an annual fee in lieu of the volume tax.
Oregon
24
24
0
The diesel and LPG rates shown are paid by users for vehicles not under the jurisdiction of Public Utility Commissioner. Vehicles under the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commissioner and paying motor-carrier fees are exempt from payment of the motor-fuel tax.
Pennsylvania
31.2
38.1
6
The rates include the Oil Franchise Tax for Maintenance and Construction, a variable rate tax adjusted annually. LPG rate is based on the gasolie gallon equivalent.
Rhode Island
33
33
Rates includes 1 cent per gallon tax for the Underground Storage Tank Financial Responsibility Fund.
South Carolina
16
16
5
South Dakota
22
22
4
As of 7/1/2009, South Dakota taxes gasoline at 22 cents and ethyl alcohol at 8 cents.
Tennessee
20
17
6
LPG users without permits must pay in advance at the beginning of the fiscal year, others pay quarterly. Fee is based on vehice weight and fuel efficiency.
Texas
20
20
6.3
Owners of LPG vehicles registered in the State must pay an annual fee in lieu of the volume tax.
Utah
24.5
24.5
4.9
LPG is tax exempt if user purchases annual exemption certificate.
Vermont
20
29
0
Diesel vehicles 10,000 pounds and over pay 26 cents per gallon. LPG vehicles are subject to a registration fee 1.75 times the usual fee. The gasoline, gasohol, and diesel rates include 1 cents per gallon for the Petroleum Cleanup Fund.
Virginia
17.5
17.5
0
Vehicles weighing 26,000 pounds or more having 3 or more axles pay an additional 3.5 cents per gallon.
Washington
37.5
37.5
6.5
Owners of LPG vehicles pay an annual fee.
West Virginia
32.2
32.2
0
Rates are variable, adjusted annually.
Wisconsin
30.9
30.9
5
Rates are variable, adjusted annually.
Wyoming
14
14
4
LPG is subject to sales tax. The gasoline, gasohol, and diesel rates include 1 cent for the Underground Storage Tank Corrective Action Account.
There is no reason for gas to go over $3 a gallon. If you put up with it, it’s your own fault. Our economy has not yet recovered from the last recession. The arrogance of politicians who believe Americans have enough expendable income to ride the fuel price hikes are at best out of touch. And the best way to hurt a politician is to take away the money they rely on. So lower your consumption and therefore the revenue politicians collect at the gas pumps.
Below is a story about the Lakota Teacher arrested for child pornography charges. For the thousands of you that follow this blog and know some of the history here, Ryan Fahrenkamp is #286 on my list of teachers that make more than $65,000 per year. Fahrenkamp made $69,456.00. That’s the kind of “quality” teacher that our tax money has purchased. My comments about the impact this has on Lakota are right after the Enquire portion of the article. Ironically, Doc Thompson did a piece about the value of teachers from a wage stand point as this story was breaking during his January 3, 2011 show. I think it is an interesting argument while at the same time reading the details of this child porn story.
Story from the Enquire by: dhorn@enquirer.com A former elementary school teacher in West Chester was arrested Monday on charges of possessing child pornography.
FBI agents said Brant Fahrenkamp, 42, used his school-issued laptop computer to access pornographic websites and to store images of young men, including some former students, without their shirts on. Fahrenkamp is a former teacher at Endeavor Elementary School.
An FBI spokesman said their investigation began in May 2010 when Lakota school officials contacted the West Chester Police Department about a parent’s complaint that Fahrenkamp was sending text messages to a student.
FBI officials said a search of Fahrenkamp’s hotel room in May 2010 turned up a camera and the laptop, both of which had video files depicting a naked boy. Investigators believe the photos were taken in 2008………………………………………………..
Interesting choice of words, “former,” as mentioned above Fahrenkamp was receiving almost $70K a year while he was taking pictures of little boys at Endeavor Elementary with their shirts off. He was employed until August of 2010.
The first line of defense that other teachers would proclaim is that they cannot be judged by the actions of this demented man, Mr. Ryan Fahrenkamp. And I would say that’s true. There are always a few bad apples, and the actions of Fahrenkamp should not reflect on all teachers.
However,
How many times during the last levy campaign were we told that money bought us “quality” teachers? And if we didn’t pay the extra money in taxes, those teachers might leave Lakota. Right now, how many people out there think that Fahrenkamp was a “quality” teacher and what made him worth more than $65K per year?
On another philosophic debate, when talking about a utopia type of society, where teachers do the work of teaching our children while many parents trot off to work completely entrusting the lives of their children to people like Fahrenkamp, this incident proves that such an act is a folly. Fahrenkamp was using a school lap top to store images of several boys with their shirts off, several students from Endeavor Elementary, and if that cautious parent had not caught text messages going to their child, how far would this incident have gone and for how long?
The pictures of the students with their shirts off from Endeavor Elementary dated back to 2008. The original arrest was on May 26th of 2010. The lag on this story is far too long. This shows that the Lakota School System was more interested in protecting their image than exposing the story. It is unlikely that the concerned parent was the first whistle-blower. It may have been the first alarm from “outside” the school system, but I’m certain there were other behavioral signs that some other co-worker was aware of. The choice was to keep it quiet when the public should have known. That says everything!
I’ll say again that Fakrenkamp does not reflect all teachers everywhere. But because of people like Fakrenkamp, schools will never be able to be 100% trusted with our students. Parents will always have to be a part of their children’s lives if they want to protect their children from people like Fakrenkamp. That might be an inconvenient truth. But it’s a fact of life that must be considered when assessing the value of the teaching profession.
I am extremely pleased to learn that my nephew, who is 6, just received his first toy Millennium Falcon for Christmas.
It’s great for young people, but it’s good for adults too. When you have an imagination without limits, there are few playgrounds for the mind than what you can find in Star Wars. As far as my personal thoughts and philosophy, the clip of Mace Windu below, reflects most accurately my essential foundations.
The politics in Star Wars is sophisticated and worth watching just for the interesting problems that are addressed. But the combat is always entertaining and visually pleasing to look at.
Here is a scene from one of my favorite Star Wars games. This is EPIC!
This TV show is keeping Star Wars alive for a whole new generation. GREAT STUFF!
A lot of people are asking me to run for office. Others are asking me to join their company to help them get their finances in line. But to be honest, I am thinking of retiring when this game comes out. My wife and I are planning to play this together for thousands and thousands of hours!
Star Wars is a great escape when you need it. But its themes are more valuable than just escape, and to me, this scene is the greatest scene of any movie in the history of film.
While it may seem like a lot of information to follow, the topics I have covered on this site, it really is only complicated in relation to other adults that have allowed their minds to be clouded with routine, golf games, shopping and other unnecessary burdens. Star Wars is something my entire family enjoys together, and places our minds on subjects much larger than the silly grip of power that a local trustee or city council member pursues. And because I value the fictional world of Star Wars more than the communist musings of the modern world looking for just an “average” existence that ends in some eventless death, it is easy to see the error many of these small minded politicians pursue. I would rather spend a minute with a deep seated Star Wars nerd than a whole afternoon with a powerful politician, if that tells you anything. Because the Star Wars nerd is spending their time thinking big, where the politician is on the silly little aspects of human achievement that a developing species, in their infantile beginnings, is limited to.
Let’s start off the New Year with yet another college professor, and former hippie radical that is helping to shape the world we live in today.
Meet Frances Fox Pivan, in her own words.
Here she talks about Glenn Beck. What’s interesting is that she admits that the progressive process was already a larger plan by the late 60’s.
Piven is all about subversion and undermining the power structure that exists in favor of a more level society. That’s called socialism. It’s easy for her to point at people who are calling her out on the issue and pretend surprise. But she has a long history of supporting that leveling of the playing field and revealing that the strategy of undoing America as a world power is the overall objective.
The Overmanwarrior 