Not sure how accurate these conclusions and statistics are, but it's an interesting read....
LIFE OF A DEMOCRACY
About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:
Population of counties won by: Gore: 127 million; Bush: 143 million
Square miles of land won by: Gore: 580,000; Bush: 2,427,000
States won by: Gore: 19; Bush: 29
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore: 13.2; Bush: 2.1
Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."
Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.
If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
THE LIE THAT DESERVED ANOTHER
A man returned home after traveling abroad, eager to brag about his adventures.
"I've seen things you've never imagined, not even in your dreams," he told his friends. "Once I saw the longest ship afloat. The captain was standing at the stern, and he gave the cabin boy a message to take to the first mate, who stood at the bow. The lad was only ten when he started; his white beard swabbed the deck by the time he'd reached the mast. I didn't wait to see if he lived long enough to make it the rest of the way."
His friends looked at each other. One said:
"That's nothing. You didn't need to leave home to find sights like that. Why, in the forest just over that ridge, I've seen a tree so tall it poked a hole in the sky. Once a bird tried to fly over the top, but by the time it reached just the third branch from the bottom, it was too old to go any further. So it stopped and laid and egg, and told its chick to continue the journey. Seven generations of birds have been flying towards the top, and they're not halfway yet."
"That's ridiculous," the traveller scoffed. "I've never heard such a lie in my life."
"If that's the case," asked his friend, "where did you get the tree to make the mast for your ship?"
"I've seen things you've never imagined, not even in your dreams," he told his friends. "Once I saw the longest ship afloat. The captain was standing at the stern, and he gave the cabin boy a message to take to the first mate, who stood at the bow. The lad was only ten when he started; his white beard swabbed the deck by the time he'd reached the mast. I didn't wait to see if he lived long enough to make it the rest of the way."
His friends looked at each other. One said:
"That's nothing. You didn't need to leave home to find sights like that. Why, in the forest just over that ridge, I've seen a tree so tall it poked a hole in the sky. Once a bird tried to fly over the top, but by the time it reached just the third branch from the bottom, it was too old to go any further. So it stopped and laid and egg, and told its chick to continue the journey. Seven generations of birds have been flying towards the top, and they're not halfway yet."
"That's ridiculous," the traveller scoffed. "I've never heard such a lie in my life."
"If that's the case," asked his friend, "where did you get the tree to make the mast for your ship?"
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Just me Rambling as usual
Wow, I haven't been here in a month. That's Criminal. I guess I'm just too busy to express myself lately. It's seems everyday I have a whole list of things to do, not counting work for 9-11 hours. Yes, that is now my average day. Some might call me crazy, but I rather enjoy my job. The time goes by rather quickly. Buy, research, input data, negotiate with people we need to pay, argue with accounting, go to meetings, ect. It's a very busy job after 8am. The first 1.5 hours I reserve for myself. My coffee, time to check my messages and plan my day and input any left over data into the computer. It's also a great time to contact my East Coast contacts. By 8am, the mass is here and then it's one phone call after another of crisis. I become a reed in the wind returning to my desk to clear the paperwork whenever I get the chance.
Yesterday I received the strangest request yet. The production manager calls me, "Sean, I need you to get me a high powered BB Gun". You need what? Apparently he wants to use the gun to shoot the birds out of the rafters. "So, you want to shoot a high powered air rifle INSIDE the building?" YES! So I called the VP and he was all for it. I think their both crazy. They wanted it NOW. I escaped out of the escapade by declaring that the only way to do so would be to go to the store in person, and since my name isn't on any company credit cards, I wouldn't be able to purchase it. My boss, Sal, and I got a good laugh out of it though.
It's kinda strange calling Sal Boss. He's more like a friend who lets me do whatever I want. All I really have to do is be willing to jump through hoops when he needs me. The rest of the time I'm on my own.
My home life is good. Darrien is doing well in homeschool. He is excelling in math and doing about what we expected in everything else. Patty is starting to show. You can tell where the little whipper snapper is by the hard spot on her stomach. I like to move him/her around. She is still protesting the buying of maternity cloths.
We joined a Bible study group much like the Gel Groups of Forefront. Unfortunately we are going to have to leave before we get much of a start. We reallized after the whole group agreed to meet Wednesday that Darrien's AWANA (His bible study) meets on Wedneday. But how could you not have reallized this you ask? Well, it was still middle of summer when we chose and AWANA works on a normal school year schedule. It was the farthest thing from our mind.
The good news is the Dave, our Associate Pastor and great all around guy, is thinking of starting another group. Apparently Mic, his group leader, thinks he's crazy for driving as far as he does and keeps telling him to get lost. He's the black sheep of his group. Dave lives much closer to us and hopefully we all can come up with some arrangement.
Well I must be going. I have to finish an on-going project I'm helping my friend, Nova with. She is repainting her room. Normally this is a simple project. But her grandparents decided that the room should be painted with this high gloss paint long ago. The problem with high gloss paint is you can't paint over it, it won't stick. So I've had to spend a whole day just sanding the ceiling (last Saturday). That in itself was enough to wipe me out. Spent another evening laying down primer on the ceiling (only got one and a half coats down or up). Today, her uncle is going to join us and hopefully we will finish. Wish me luck.
Yesterday I received the strangest request yet. The production manager calls me, "Sean, I need you to get me a high powered BB Gun". You need what? Apparently he wants to use the gun to shoot the birds out of the rafters. "So, you want to shoot a high powered air rifle INSIDE the building?" YES! So I called the VP and he was all for it. I think their both crazy. They wanted it NOW. I escaped out of the escapade by declaring that the only way to do so would be to go to the store in person, and since my name isn't on any company credit cards, I wouldn't be able to purchase it. My boss, Sal, and I got a good laugh out of it though.
It's kinda strange calling Sal Boss. He's more like a friend who lets me do whatever I want. All I really have to do is be willing to jump through hoops when he needs me. The rest of the time I'm on my own.
My home life is good. Darrien is doing well in homeschool. He is excelling in math and doing about what we expected in everything else. Patty is starting to show. You can tell where the little whipper snapper is by the hard spot on her stomach. I like to move him/her around. She is still protesting the buying of maternity cloths.
We joined a Bible study group much like the Gel Groups of Forefront. Unfortunately we are going to have to leave before we get much of a start. We reallized after the whole group agreed to meet Wednesday that Darrien's AWANA (His bible study) meets on Wedneday. But how could you not have reallized this you ask? Well, it was still middle of summer when we chose and AWANA works on a normal school year schedule. It was the farthest thing from our mind.
The good news is the Dave, our Associate Pastor and great all around guy, is thinking of starting another group. Apparently Mic, his group leader, thinks he's crazy for driving as far as he does and keeps telling him to get lost. He's the black sheep of his group. Dave lives much closer to us and hopefully we all can come up with some arrangement.
Well I must be going. I have to finish an on-going project I'm helping my friend, Nova with. She is repainting her room. Normally this is a simple project. But her grandparents decided that the room should be painted with this high gloss paint long ago. The problem with high gloss paint is you can't paint over it, it won't stick. So I've had to spend a whole day just sanding the ceiling (last Saturday). That in itself was enough to wipe me out. Spent another evening laying down primer on the ceiling (only got one and a half coats down or up). Today, her uncle is going to join us and hopefully we will finish. Wish me luck.
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