They taxed us too much…again!
Well, well! North Carolina is looking at a surplus of $400 million dollars!
Know what that means? It means, dear hearts, our lawmakers taxed us too much!!!
Now, before they huddle and decide how to spend that surplus… as they always do, permit me, please, to make a suggestion:
“Give the money back! It’s not the state's! It belongs to us and we want it back!!! Give the surplus back to the NC taxpayers in the form of tax rebate checks!"
While I’m at it, I’d like to suggest a couple of other things as well. Reduce our taxes, so you don’t continue to take too much of our money. Reduce spending, so you won’t need as much of our money. It’s elementary.
The state has no money… none! The state manufactures nothing. It produces nothing. So, how does it lay claim to our money? Because, fellow “tar heel”, we allow it.
Maybe it’s time to look at doing away with the state income tax in North Carolina. Our sister state, to the south, is investigating that possibility right now. If they do it in South Carolina, how long do lawmakers, north of the border, think the citizens of North Carolina will allow them to continue picking our pockets? Not long, I assure you.
I can hear the threats coming now from the State Legislative Building in Raleigh. “If we cut taxes we’ll have to reduce services to the citizens of the state”.
OK. Do it.
Go ahead and cut taxes and reduce services to us! Heck, I’ll bet the majority of the citizens of this state would vote the same way!
I think we’d be surprised at how many of the services, supplied by the state to her people, (at the expense of the people, of course) we can do without!
This would be a bold excursion into uncharted territory by our state officials. They would be going where no NC State Lawmaker has gone before. Actually listening to their constituents… and responding, affirmatively, to their suggestions. What an experience! What a joy! What a delight.
What a DREAM!!
Of course it’ll never happen in North Carolina. Lawmakers are addicted to our money. It is a source of power for them…doling out funds to organizations which support them, etc, etc.
Maybe it’s time for a little cold turkey for our tax addicts in Raleigh!
Your Obedient Servant,
“Longstreet”
“God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.” ... Daniel Webster ... These posts will reflect my personal opinions, and views, of the world in which we live from, of course, the viewpoint of a conservative "Southern American".
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Political Correctness has Robbed America of Her Self Respect
Political Correctness has Robbed America of Her Self Respect.
One of my “Pet Peeves” is men who do not “uncover” when they enter a house, or a public building, such as a restaurant. (For those of you unfamiliar with military terms…”uncover” means to remove your “cover”…or hat)
Yes, I am a Southerner. But, I’m do not believe this extremely discourteous, and rude practice, began with Southerners. I’m about as Southern as one can get and I remove my hat when coming indoors. In my home, as a boy, the quickest way to get yelled at was to enter the house with your hat still on. The instant your feet crossed the threshold, into my mother’s domain, the hat came off. Now, the cardinal sin within a southern family is for one to appear at the dinner/lunch table with your hat on. It just isn’t done. Well, it wasn’t done until fairly recently. It is disgusting to see a person; Southerner or northerner sitting at table in a restaurant… eating… with his hat still perched on his head. It speaks of low breeding.
The hat on the head while inside another’s home is a sure sign of disrespect. When you remove your hat upon entering another’s home you are saying, “I am in your hone as a guest, and I recognize that I am at your mercy, as this is your domain.”
In olden days, when a man’s home was truly his castle, a show of disrespect, such as not removing your hat in his castle, could cost the offender not just his hat, but the head residing just beneath it, as well. This was serious business.
It has been my contention for some time that we have lost something as a society when we lost the “genteelness” which was so much a part of who we were, especially Southerners. I suppose that is one of the reasons I am drawn to the 19th century American history. It was during that period that the word “gentleman’ meant something. “Lady” was also a sign of deep respect …one the feminist movement tossed out a number of years ago. Now, for a woman to be referred to as lady is taken as a sign of disrespect!
Our society has lost a great deal in the past 30 years, or so. We have become crass, rude, discourteous, impolite, and, I’ll use a word no longer in use today: “common”. Even here, in the American South, the last bastion of good manners, we too, are slipping into the “Me, too” mindset which is founded on one’s own selfish motives and inflated self esteem now taught our children in the public/government schools.
We have lost something as a people. We have lost our own self-respect. Our society is doomed. All because men will not remove their hats while indoors, you may ask? No, that is but a sign, a marker, of the passing of a great society where the value of a human being was not in question.
In America’s rush to embrace “Socialism” commonality is a must. The destruction of the “class system” is a must. The political correctness crowd, the vanguard of American Socialism, has done a smashing job of destroying the American class system in their rush to create a single class. They do not understand, or they choose to overlook, the fact that removing the three classes (Lower, Middle, and Upper classes) removes a goal for Americans to strive towards. When an American has nothing to set his sights on, no goal to work toward, he soon becomes discouraged and simply falls back into the darkness of low self-esteem and accepts that his position in life will never change for the better and he is trapped. All hope is gone. Without hope all is lost.
Good manners were always about respect… respect for the other person. Look around you. Where do you see that respect today? It is all but non-existent. We, as Americans, have lost our respect for others, and as a result, we have lost our respect for ourselves.
Your Obedient Servant,
“Longstreet”
One of my “Pet Peeves” is men who do not “uncover” when they enter a house, or a public building, such as a restaurant. (For those of you unfamiliar with military terms…”uncover” means to remove your “cover”…or hat)
Yes, I am a Southerner. But, I’m do not believe this extremely discourteous, and rude practice, began with Southerners. I’m about as Southern as one can get and I remove my hat when coming indoors. In my home, as a boy, the quickest way to get yelled at was to enter the house with your hat still on. The instant your feet crossed the threshold, into my mother’s domain, the hat came off. Now, the cardinal sin within a southern family is for one to appear at the dinner/lunch table with your hat on. It just isn’t done. Well, it wasn’t done until fairly recently. It is disgusting to see a person; Southerner or northerner sitting at table in a restaurant… eating… with his hat still perched on his head. It speaks of low breeding.
The hat on the head while inside another’s home is a sure sign of disrespect. When you remove your hat upon entering another’s home you are saying, “I am in your hone as a guest, and I recognize that I am at your mercy, as this is your domain.”
In olden days, when a man’s home was truly his castle, a show of disrespect, such as not removing your hat in his castle, could cost the offender not just his hat, but the head residing just beneath it, as well. This was serious business.
It has been my contention for some time that we have lost something as a society when we lost the “genteelness” which was so much a part of who we were, especially Southerners. I suppose that is one of the reasons I am drawn to the 19th century American history. It was during that period that the word “gentleman’ meant something. “Lady” was also a sign of deep respect …one the feminist movement tossed out a number of years ago. Now, for a woman to be referred to as lady is taken as a sign of disrespect!
Our society has lost a great deal in the past 30 years, or so. We have become crass, rude, discourteous, impolite, and, I’ll use a word no longer in use today: “common”. Even here, in the American South, the last bastion of good manners, we too, are slipping into the “Me, too” mindset which is founded on one’s own selfish motives and inflated self esteem now taught our children in the public/government schools.
We have lost something as a people. We have lost our own self-respect. Our society is doomed. All because men will not remove their hats while indoors, you may ask? No, that is but a sign, a marker, of the passing of a great society where the value of a human being was not in question.
In America’s rush to embrace “Socialism” commonality is a must. The destruction of the “class system” is a must. The political correctness crowd, the vanguard of American Socialism, has done a smashing job of destroying the American class system in their rush to create a single class. They do not understand, or they choose to overlook, the fact that removing the three classes (Lower, Middle, and Upper classes) removes a goal for Americans to strive towards. When an American has nothing to set his sights on, no goal to work toward, he soon becomes discouraged and simply falls back into the darkness of low self-esteem and accepts that his position in life will never change for the better and he is trapped. All hope is gone. Without hope all is lost.
Good manners were always about respect… respect for the other person. Look around you. Where do you see that respect today? It is all but non-existent. We, as Americans, have lost our respect for others, and as a result, we have lost our respect for ourselves.
Your Obedient Servant,
“Longstreet”
The Right not to be Religious.
The right not to be religious.
If one wishes not to subscribe to a religion, in this country, that is perfectly OK. Nowhere is it written that you must belong to one faith, or the other, to be a good citizen, or even just to be a citizen. Nowhere.
At the same time, nowhere is it written that I can’t practice mine.
A not so careful reading of the 1st Amendment will demonstrate, to anyone with an open mind, the framers had nothing to say against the co-existance of religion and state. What they did not want to see was the state impose a particular religion, or denomination, on it’s people.
At the time the Constitution was written, some of the northeastern states/colonies had already established state churches. The churches in those states/colonies were a part of that state’s government. If you were a citizen of that state you were a member of that church. One, or two, European countries have the same state/church situation, even today, as the early colonies had in the 1700’s. When you are born, in those countries, you are born into the church. You remain a member until death, or, you go to court and ask a judge to allow you to leave that “state church”.
There is no such thing as separation of church and state in this country. I don’t believe the Constitution even suggests it. Only a myopic, left leaning, court could find that in the Constitution. They think they have. As soon as the conservative court becomes a fact, and not a figment of our imagination, that will be over-turned.
Having said all this, I still favor an amended 1st Amendment to make the practice of Islam illegal in the US. There are obvious reasons for outlawing that religion in this country.
Yes, this country was founded on the tenants of the Judeo-Christian faith. One cannot read any of our state documents, or any of our founding documents, or look at our national buildings, (even the Supreme Court Building) and not be aware of that fact. The individuals and organizations attempting to strip America of her Judeo-Christian Heritage will lose. It will be messy, and tempers are going to flare, but in the end they will lose.
On our money the slogan says: “In God We Trust”. Sometimes we have to be reminded of that. On the top of the Washington Monument are engraved, in Latin, the words “Praise Be To God!” My sentiments exactly!
Your Obedient Servant,
“Longstreet”
If one wishes not to subscribe to a religion, in this country, that is perfectly OK. Nowhere is it written that you must belong to one faith, or the other, to be a good citizen, or even just to be a citizen. Nowhere.
At the same time, nowhere is it written that I can’t practice mine.
A not so careful reading of the 1st Amendment will demonstrate, to anyone with an open mind, the framers had nothing to say against the co-existance of religion and state. What they did not want to see was the state impose a particular religion, or denomination, on it’s people.
At the time the Constitution was written, some of the northeastern states/colonies had already established state churches. The churches in those states/colonies were a part of that state’s government. If you were a citizen of that state you were a member of that church. One, or two, European countries have the same state/church situation, even today, as the early colonies had in the 1700’s. When you are born, in those countries, you are born into the church. You remain a member until death, or, you go to court and ask a judge to allow you to leave that “state church”.
There is no such thing as separation of church and state in this country. I don’t believe the Constitution even suggests it. Only a myopic, left leaning, court could find that in the Constitution. They think they have. As soon as the conservative court becomes a fact, and not a figment of our imagination, that will be over-turned.
Having said all this, I still favor an amended 1st Amendment to make the practice of Islam illegal in the US. There are obvious reasons for outlawing that religion in this country.
Yes, this country was founded on the tenants of the Judeo-Christian faith. One cannot read any of our state documents, or any of our founding documents, or look at our national buildings, (even the Supreme Court Building) and not be aware of that fact. The individuals and organizations attempting to strip America of her Judeo-Christian Heritage will lose. It will be messy, and tempers are going to flare, but in the end they will lose.
On our money the slogan says: “In God We Trust”. Sometimes we have to be reminded of that. On the top of the Washington Monument are engraved, in Latin, the words “Praise Be To God!” My sentiments exactly!
Your Obedient Servant,
“Longstreet”
Saturday, May 07, 2005
How Long 'til Israel strikes Iran?
How long ‘til Israel strikes Iran?
Oh, it’s going to happen. It’s a matter of time. And the time there is… is growing short.
Iran has been given every opportunity to get out of the nuclear bomb, an missile, business and they have spurned every opportunity. The west has run out of options. Save for one, possibly two.
One… to bomb the living daylights out of their known nuclear facilities. We my not get the main plant, which is said to be deep in the earth, but we can do enough damage to those facilities making ancillary equipment to slow down their progress.
The US “Left” has brought so much pressure to bear, thru the mainstream media in this country, on our politicians in Congress, they are afraid to utter anything, which might be construed as making war, or encouraging war, on Iran. Now, everybody knows it is coming. Save for some of the "intelligentsia". (Those educated beyond their abilities.) They don’t live on the same planet as the remainder of us, anyway.
First, Israel will have to deliver the first strike. And they will. The hand of the US will not be seen, but it will be there, and everybody will know that we will be involved, up to our necks, but we will have “Plausible Deniability”.
Why Israel. Because, they are the logical choice. They have the means and they have the motivation… self-preservation. Israel wants to live, and be free, and they know some things are worth fighting for, some things are worth putting your life, or the lives of your nations young people, on the line for. Liberty is one of those things. Unlike the American Left, Israeli’s have not forgotten their duty, to each other, to maintain their freedom.
So, Israel will make the first strike, with our help and backup.
The next step will be an all-out invasion to remove the mullahs in control of that nation. But first Special Forces will be stirring up the people of Iran against the mullahs and creating a popular rebellion within Iran’s borders. Then, US forces will march.
Look, we are in the Middle East to stay! Most likely forever. We cannot leave. We must keep a military presence where the trouble is located. That’s the Middle East!
In the meantime, the President will begin preparing the people of the US for a third front in the war on terrorism. Much will be in the news, in coming weeks, concerning the harshness of the Iranian Mullahs on the people of Iran who want their freedom. Much will be made of the threat Iran already poses to the US and ,of course, Israel. The United Nations will be dragged into it, kicking and screaming, and will, as usual, do nothing.
Then, US forces will invade Iran.
Your Obedient Servant,,
“Longstreet”
Oh, it’s going to happen. It’s a matter of time. And the time there is… is growing short.
Iran has been given every opportunity to get out of the nuclear bomb, an missile, business and they have spurned every opportunity. The west has run out of options. Save for one, possibly two.
One… to bomb the living daylights out of their known nuclear facilities. We my not get the main plant, which is said to be deep in the earth, but we can do enough damage to those facilities making ancillary equipment to slow down their progress.
The US “Left” has brought so much pressure to bear, thru the mainstream media in this country, on our politicians in Congress, they are afraid to utter anything, which might be construed as making war, or encouraging war, on Iran. Now, everybody knows it is coming. Save for some of the "intelligentsia". (Those educated beyond their abilities.) They don’t live on the same planet as the remainder of us, anyway.
First, Israel will have to deliver the first strike. And they will. The hand of the US will not be seen, but it will be there, and everybody will know that we will be involved, up to our necks, but we will have “Plausible Deniability”.
Why Israel. Because, they are the logical choice. They have the means and they have the motivation… self-preservation. Israel wants to live, and be free, and they know some things are worth fighting for, some things are worth putting your life, or the lives of your nations young people, on the line for. Liberty is one of those things. Unlike the American Left, Israeli’s have not forgotten their duty, to each other, to maintain their freedom.
So, Israel will make the first strike, with our help and backup.
The next step will be an all-out invasion to remove the mullahs in control of that nation. But first Special Forces will be stirring up the people of Iran against the mullahs and creating a popular rebellion within Iran’s borders. Then, US forces will march.
Look, we are in the Middle East to stay! Most likely forever. We cannot leave. We must keep a military presence where the trouble is located. That’s the Middle East!
In the meantime, the President will begin preparing the people of the US for a third front in the war on terrorism. Much will be in the news, in coming weeks, concerning the harshness of the Iranian Mullahs on the people of Iran who want their freedom. Much will be made of the threat Iran already poses to the US and ,of course, Israel. The United Nations will be dragged into it, kicking and screaming, and will, as usual, do nothing.
Then, US forces will invade Iran.
Your Obedient Servant,,
“Longstreet”
Friday, May 06, 2005
Audiologists Will Make a Fortune
Audiologists Will Make a Fortune.
If I were a young man, just out of High School, I’d be searching for a college, or university, which offered a degree in “Audiology”.
If there is anything certain, besides death and taxes, it is that we have an entire generation of young people who will be deaf, or near deaf, by the age of 30 and a fellow with a degree in “Audiology” can make a fortune selling hearing aids!
Can anyone explain the burning desire of young people to share their music with other folks living two and three blocks away? Can you explain their generosity with the audio systems in their automobiles on the highway? What is this pathological urge to blast their music (I’m using the word “Music” here generously and graciously!) across five or six lanes of traffic to burst thru the windows of your car and cause your teeth to hurt?
Having asked the question, I will now attempt to shed some light on the subject before my young neighbors get home from school and start blasting the neighborhood with the sounds of jungle drums, or voodoo rituals in music.
What we have these days is a generation of self-centered, narcissistic, rude, crude, hedonists masquerading as members of a "social" society, which claims to actually care for one another! Whew! I feel better all ready!
Some of the amplifiers in automobiles today have more power than the Hiroshima bomb! If you are ever unfortunate enough to find yourself behind one of those $1500.00 cars with a $3000.00 sound system in it, watch the truck lid. Every time a bass note is struck the lid vibrates and nearly flies up. Now, I ask you, if the impact of that sound wave can nearly knock a trunk lid off it’s hinges, then what kind of damage is it doing to the eardrums of those near-humans in the passenger compartment of the car? Huh?
What possible good can come from a sound system that causes the floor of a home, two and three blocks away, to vibrate and the windowpanes to rattle?
Talk about air pollution! What ever happened to “Disturbing the peace"?
I recently read that the US military is seriously investigating the use of sound waves as a weapon of war. I can testify that it will do a great deal of damage to the enemy, starting with the loss of his sanity. If the military is, indeed, serious, I have a young neighbor, two, or three, blocks away; I’d like to introduce to them! Give this kid one amplifier and the entire Iranian, or North Korean, armies will surrender in short order! (Remember the US Army blasting Noriega, in Panama, with loud music until he surrendered?) Oh, yeah! It works! It can be lethal!
I have a friend who spent much of his life among the” mentally challenged” and even today resides in a group home. He is now in his mid sixties. After some recent testing, turns out he is as smart as the next guy. The problem was, all these years; he is deaf as a post! Which leads me to wonder… if all the blank faced young people, we see all around us today, are not really as dumb as they appear. Could they just be deaf?? (OK, I'll settle for 50 - 50.)
As I said… somebody is going to make a fortune off hearing aids!
Your Obedient Servant,
“Longstreet”
If I were a young man, just out of High School, I’d be searching for a college, or university, which offered a degree in “Audiology”.
If there is anything certain, besides death and taxes, it is that we have an entire generation of young people who will be deaf, or near deaf, by the age of 30 and a fellow with a degree in “Audiology” can make a fortune selling hearing aids!
Can anyone explain the burning desire of young people to share their music with other folks living two and three blocks away? Can you explain their generosity with the audio systems in their automobiles on the highway? What is this pathological urge to blast their music (I’m using the word “Music” here generously and graciously!) across five or six lanes of traffic to burst thru the windows of your car and cause your teeth to hurt?
Having asked the question, I will now attempt to shed some light on the subject before my young neighbors get home from school and start blasting the neighborhood with the sounds of jungle drums, or voodoo rituals in music.
What we have these days is a generation of self-centered, narcissistic, rude, crude, hedonists masquerading as members of a "social" society, which claims to actually care for one another! Whew! I feel better all ready!
Some of the amplifiers in automobiles today have more power than the Hiroshima bomb! If you are ever unfortunate enough to find yourself behind one of those $1500.00 cars with a $3000.00 sound system in it, watch the truck lid. Every time a bass note is struck the lid vibrates and nearly flies up. Now, I ask you, if the impact of that sound wave can nearly knock a trunk lid off it’s hinges, then what kind of damage is it doing to the eardrums of those near-humans in the passenger compartment of the car? Huh?
What possible good can come from a sound system that causes the floor of a home, two and three blocks away, to vibrate and the windowpanes to rattle?
Talk about air pollution! What ever happened to “Disturbing the peace"?
I recently read that the US military is seriously investigating the use of sound waves as a weapon of war. I can testify that it will do a great deal of damage to the enemy, starting with the loss of his sanity. If the military is, indeed, serious, I have a young neighbor, two, or three, blocks away; I’d like to introduce to them! Give this kid one amplifier and the entire Iranian, or North Korean, armies will surrender in short order! (Remember the US Army blasting Noriega, in Panama, with loud music until he surrendered?) Oh, yeah! It works! It can be lethal!
I have a friend who spent much of his life among the” mentally challenged” and even today resides in a group home. He is now in his mid sixties. After some recent testing, turns out he is as smart as the next guy. The problem was, all these years; he is deaf as a post! Which leads me to wonder… if all the blank faced young people, we see all around us today, are not really as dumb as they appear. Could they just be deaf?? (OK, I'll settle for 50 - 50.)
As I said… somebody is going to make a fortune off hearing aids!
Your Obedient Servant,
“Longstreet”
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