Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Libertarianism

Not long ago I took quiz on Facebook that told me I'm a libertarian. ;-) Today I came across a blog post that kind of describes libertarianism. Here's the link. The post follows.

Why Conservatives and Liberals Dislike Libertarians
by Jacob G. Hornberger

The conservative masses are railing against the socialism coming out of the Obama administration, and rightfully so. Socialism has proven to be the bane of mankind. With its resurgence under the Obama administration, it continues to pose a giant threat to the economic freedom and well-being of the American people.

What the conservative masses fail to recognize, however, is that their crowd also poses a giant threat to the freedom and well-being of the American people, specifically with their pro-empire, pro-intervention foreign policy. The invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq are good examples. By having killed, maimed, and tortured people in those countries for some 7 years, conservatives have produced the threat of terrorist retaliation against the United States, which has been used as the excuse to infringe on people’s civil liberties here at home.

Thus, we libertarians — and, well, the American people in general — are being squeezed on both sides — the conservative side and the liberal side.

Yet, when you think about it, conservatives and liberals aren’t really on different sides. They’re actually on the same side. Look at Iraq and Afghanistan. Is anything different about liberal Barack Obama’s policies, compared to those of George W. Bush? Of course not. The occupation of Iraq continues, with U.S. troops continuing to kill Iraqis. Obama is even expanding the occupation of Afghanistan, with the troops killing not only Afghanis but also Pakistanis.

Is it any different with respect to the entire overseas U.S. military empire? You know, the fact that there are U.S. troops stationed all over the world, including Europe, Korea, Africa, and Latin America? Not a bit of difference. Like Bush and the conservatives, Obama and the liberals are firmly wedded to the existence of the U.S. Empire.

What about civil liberties? Obama’s policies on civil liberties aren’t any different from those of Bush. Even worse, even though there are a few liberals taking Obama to task for embracing Bush’s denigration of civil liberties, all too many of them have chosen to seal their lips because it’s now their man in office, rather than Bush. What a disgrace.

What about Obama’s domestic policies? Well, it’s nice to see the conservative masses railing against socialism and fascism. But let’s face it: If it were Bush or John McCain calling for national health care, the conservatives would be singing a different tune. They’d be rallying around their commander in chief and telling us that we shouldn’t be criticizing the president during wartime. And they would be reminding us that wartime means forever, especially since there will always be terrorists in the world to kill.

And even though the conservative masses are protesting Obama’s health-care plan, let’s not forget all the other socialism and interventionism that conservatives won’t dare question: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public (i.e., government) schooling, farm subsidies, education grants, immigration controls, drug laws, trade restrictions, the Federal Reserve, the SEC, the Departments of Education, Commerce, Labor, and Energy, and on and on.

Now, add up the costs of the foreign policy and the domestic policy. What do you get? Massive unrestrained federal spending, which can only be paid through enormous taxes, borrowing, or inflation, none of which is beneficial to a country.

This is what conservatives and liberals have done — and are doing — to our country. While they fight over who is going to wield the reins of power, their socialism, interventionism, and imperialism threaten the freedom and well-being of the American people.

Is there a bright light in all this? You bet there is! That light is libertarianism, one of the grandest and most glorious movements in history. Libertarianism is the political philosophy that rejects socialism, interventionism, and imperialism and aims to restore America’s heritage of economic liberty, free markets, sound money, and a limited-government republic. Libertarianism aims to protect Americans from the statism of both the Left and the Right. Is it any wonder why conservatives and liberals dislike libertarians?

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Family visit

As I said in the last post dh's family came to visit. They arrived on Friday night, but we weren't quite sure when they'd get here, so we went ahead with date night. While we were on our way home Amy sent dh a text saying they were there. I called her back and found out that they'd been there a while, like almost an hour! Anyway, they were about a block from here when the police started following them to our driveway. Once in the driveway they discovered two police cars. Apparently, someone else with a fifth wheel and a dark truck had run through a lawn in another neighborhood near here.


Andrew was always begging to go fishing. He was a happy boy when by the pond.




He was also a happy boy when in the pond!

While they were here I learned to play Spades. I think that's an amazing feat, since I have such a hard time understanding new card games. We really did enjoy their visit.

My new range

This weekend dh's sister and brother-in-law and family came to visit. One purpose of the visit was for bil to install gas lines for the new range. DH found a great deal on just what we needed at one of the big box home improvement stores. It had been returned unused, but there were parts missing and a few little scratches that you have to look for. He was able to negotiate with the manager on the price. According to the owners manual it's a Jenn-Air Dual-Fuel Modular Downdraft Slide-In Range. We were very limited on what we could buy because of what was already here when we moved in. We needed the downdraft and slide-in features, the dual fuel was my desire. It's got a gas stove top and an electric oven. Right now it's got two burners and a grill. The plan is to replace the grill with two more burners.


This is the old one going out!

The new one ready to go in.


It's all installed, we're just waiting a week for the LP company to bring a tank and hook it up. For now, I can use the oven, but not the stove. I've got a one-burner hot plate to get us by until then.

While the family was visiting our reverse-osmosis machine started putting out salty water. :( The guy came out today to fix it, but said the parts would cost $600. We opted for a new one. Thankfully, they're offering a great deal on it now! God is good. That'll be installed tomorrow, a day after the company left. ;-) I'll be heading out back to find that tree with the money growing on it.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

The Blimp

Look what we saw on Tuesday! The blimp went right by our house. According to the blimp website:

"Today, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company no longer mass-produces airships. In the United States it operates three well-recognized blimps: the Spirit of Goodyear, based in Akron, Ohio; the Spirit of America, based in Carson, California; and the Spirit of Innovation, in Pompano Beach, Florida."

It was one of those "run and get the camera" moments.

The Gazebo

Amy took these pictures of the gazebo while we were watching Romeo & Juliet.



Romeo & Juliet

On Saturday we went to see Romeo & Juliet in the square put on by a local theatre company. There were a few slightly inappropriate moments that we didn't appreciate, but overall we did enjoy the evening. I'm convinced that this is the way to "do" Shakespeare. Next year we may do it again.

The above picture is shortly after Romeo and Juliet meet.

I love the contrast in colors as night falls.

The end of both Romeo and Juliet.

For more pictures click here. There are enough pictures that you could probably follow the story line. ;-)

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Creation Museum

Below are two extremes of the Creation Museum. :)


To see the rest of the unedited pictures, click here. For some reason they are all out of order. I can't figure out how to put them in order, so you'll not get the unfolding story of the museum. Sorry. Maybe you'll be successful in figuring it out. ;-)

We all enjoyed our day at the museum. Answers in Genesis has done an excellent job with the museum. The quality shows in everything they've done. There are a couple of suggestions I would make to AiG for future improvement.

One involves the walk through history. There are seven Cs that comprise the walk: Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross and Consummation. The first three Cs are portrayed very well, but the last three are only briefly mentioned. I hope that someday they'll do more with, at least, Christ & Cross. The message is there, just not strong enough.

The other would be that there should be more hands-on things for children.

The grounds are beautifully landscaped. It was warm the day we went, but the walk outside was refreshing.

Overall, I was impressed and would encourage people to go and take some good friends along.

Health care analysis

Here is an analysis of the House health care bill. One of the elders in our church read the entire thing. That's amazing in and of itself. You'll see why he's interested in it in his introduction.

Obamacare: An Analysis

Monday, August 10, 2009

While I was watching dh and Amy playing in the pond I was also looking at the pond grass (I don't know what it's real name is). In the midst of the grass were these little leaf-like things. I love the detail of God's creation.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Recent puzzles

This brand new out-of-the-box puzzle (not used from the thrift store or ebay) had an edge piece that didn't really fit anywhere as well as a missing piece. :(


This last puzzle I finished last night in about two hours. It's a mosaic style. It individual pieces are rectangular shapes. My darling editor outlined it for you.


Recent sewing projects

Amy was in need of a new nightgown. I found stash fabric (yay!) and made this. It turns her sheets pink. :( Oh well, it's comfortable and cute.

Several months ago (back in March) my sister sent me a bunch of quillows to mend. I finally opened the box this week. The quillows were much loved things. My sis's mil made each of the children one and several are getting pretty old. The one on top needs a lot of work to get it back in shape. In other words, ideally, it should be taken apart and redone. I'm still thinking about whether I want to take that on. Well, actually, I don't want to take that on. So I'll get it in to storagable shape since it belongs to a child who probably won't use it now anyway.


Next on the list of projects is to quilt two winter wall hangings and two or three doll quilts. These items have been on the back of my chair for months waiting and waiting.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Bathroom redone

We started redoing the bathroom in December and it's mostly finished now.

Click here to see more pictures of our master bath. The wall pictured here will have a little shelf between the mirrors. I'd also like to make a quilt wall hanging for the other tub wall and have a small picture to put up by the shower.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Summer produce


We're enjoying the lettuce and I've used one onion, so far. Tomorrow we need to get the onions ready for storing. This is the first year we've grown onions. :) I'm thankful for our gardening friends and that they share their experiences. We keep learning.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

AG Meet -up

A while back Amy asked to have an American Girl get-together for the AG Fans Board members near here. So we started planning it, then postponing it. Finally, it happened on Saturday. There were six people who came from Ohio, New York and Michigan. We started the afternoon with nametags and introductions. We did a show & tell about our dolls. Most of the pictures didn't turn out too well, so here I am. :)

One of the crafts we did was to make flower wreaths for the dolls. Amy has made lots of them, so she gave us all instructions.



When we were all finished the dolls got to model.

Here's the whole group.

We had a nice afternoon. There are a few others who would have liked to have come, so maybe we'll do it again in a year. ;-)