I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC parody

Here's the article.

USDA to Prepare Environmental Impact Statement for Genetically Engineered Sugar Beets – Seeks Public Comment

Here is your opportunity to tell the USDA your comments concerning the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), specifically sugar beets. This is their article with a link to comment online or address to mail your comments.

There has been no extensive study to determine the safety of tampering with God's genetic design but there is coming to light more and more information calling into question the health and safety of GMOs and their unfulfilled promises of increased productivity. Here is one study by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Here is another article about GMO soy production in Argentina, which I have posted before. One point this article makes is that the use of herbicides was to decrease with the use of this GMO soya but herbicide use has actually increased and herbicide resistant super weeds are being found.

Community knowledge

Many indigenous cultures don't have a capitalistic or possessive mentality about knowledge or things. Knowledge is held in common for the good of all and God's creation has abundance for all to utilize for themselves and their family. But neither is this culture of community communism or socialism imposed by external force. It is the values in their heart which governs their lifestyle. Here is another article about the conflict some communities in the Amazon encounter when they are forced to interact with society outside of their communities:
Indigenous Community

The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,

Proverbs 22:3 (New American Standard Bible)
The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,
But the naive go on, and are punished for it.

Troubles are a part of life. Don't be lulled to complacency by apparent peace. Please prepare.
This is a very interesting allegory:
The Storm.

 Picture source

Argentina - a blue print for the future of the USA?

Interesting article looking at Argentina's economic history and how the USA is heading in a similar direction.

"Cash for Clunkers" - Destroying valuable items to stimulate the economy?

What is done with your cash for clunker trade-in, many of which are still usable? It is destroyed.
Well that's helping the environment and the economy then, right? Are you paying cash for the new car or are you getting more in debt? And many of the new purchases are for foreign made cars. So much for really helping the fundamentals of the USA economy. As for the environment, what effect does new car production have on the environment? What effect does scrapping a working car have on the environment?
We have to look at the bigger picture. I like this quote:
“In every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” The Iroquois Confederacy

Take a look at this tidbit from history:

During the Great Depression, millions of Americans couldn't afford to buy food. With food prices falling and huge surpluses of food building, the government decided to pass the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 which forced farmers to destroy crops and livestock in an attempt to artificially drive up food prices. The plan backfired and led to millions of Americans starving, prolonging the Great Depression for another six years.
From: http://inflation.us/cashforclunkers.html

Could cash for clunkers be just the beginning of more drastic measures to falsely prop up the failing economy but actually worsening the problem?

TEXANS - Call governor to veto SB 1440

The bill would give the court wide and arbitrary powers to make a ruling based only on an affidavit from Child Protective Services.
Press Release from Parent Guidance Center.
For more info.
Please call the governor's office and ask him to veto this SB 1440.

Information and Referral Hotline [for Texas callers] :
(800) 843-5789
Citizen's Opinion Hotline [for Texas callers] :
(800) 252-9600
Information and Referral and Opinion Hotline [for Austin, Texas and out-of-state callers] :
(512) 463-1782
Office of the Governor Main Switchboard [office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST] :
(512) 463-2000
Citizen's Assistance Telecommunications Device
If you are using a telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD),
call 711 to reach Relay Texas
Office of the Governor Fax:
(512) 463-1849

repeal of homestead property tax

A proposal from a couple of years ago to repeal the property tax for homesteads in Indiana:
http://www.munciefreepress.com/node/17712
I wonder where this is now...
Need this in Texas, too!

Economy, polity, society

I recently finished a very interesting little book by Blair Adams, published by Colloquium Press. The title is "Severing the Roots of Unsustainability." It is called "A Basic Primer", for it is derived from other much more extensive works. It looks at how culture includes three aspects, economy, polity, and society. What determines the nature of the culture is which of those three is dominant. If economy is dominant then the other two; the public, civil life and inter-personal relationships serve only towards the goal of economic growth. What I would call raw capitalism. If polity is dominant, then the other two are subservient to the expansion of the public/civil life, an authoritarian type of system. In the type of culture where society, meaning personal relationships, is dominant then the basis of relationships is voluntary association with shared principles and values. Thus the civil government springs from the internal self-government of the people. The economy is based on meeting the needs of the individuals and the community, not focused on greater profit.

"A Republic, if you can keep it"

Dr. Benjamin Franklin was quoted as giving the response, "A Republic, if you can keep it" to the question of the outcome of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Concerning this constitutional republic, John Adams second president of the USA, said in an address to the military, Oct. 11, 1798:
"We have no government armed in power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."
As we consider the current state of the Union, from the failure of policies towards the native American Indian nations and our national monetary system controlled by a private banking cartel to global police actions and federal entitlements for the broad spectrum of special interest groups, I would say that we have not fulfilled our responsibility to keep the republic. I would further say that it is a matter of the heart. As I read John Adams' quote, because we have not kept our individual lives by self-government under God, our civil government is showing serious signs of failure.

Recent Coltan article - used in iPhone?

Here is another article about coltan and the conflict in the Congo.

How we live, impacts people around the world

One aspect of the building of community is living with an understanding that how I live, what I do, who I am, impacts people in other parts of the world.
As the saying goes hindsight is 20/20, here is an article that dramatically illustrates this principle in a sad, negative light. A rare metal, of which I have never heard, coltan, is used in certain electronics components such as some capacitors and the Congo is a major source for this metal. According to Toward Freedom, in the 2000 launch of the Sony PS2, high demand of this metal by Sony helped fuel the astronomical rise in price from $49/pound to $275/pound. And this sharp increase in price helped fuel conflict and slave labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Involved were players such as Rwandan government sponsored militias to western mining companies, all funded by a debt-based, consumer materialistic mindset in "rich" nations.
The demand for coltan has cooled but if we are shortsighted and motivated by personal gratification then there will always come another point of conflict over the supply of some other resource to meet the demand.
We have got to be aware of how our desire for the latest, greatest, fastest whatever might be affecting people in other parts of the world. Questions such as this come to mind - Can my brother in the Congo afford one of these? Can he afford to buy food for his family to eat while I enjoy my latest luxuries?
How many are giving their lives in conflicts to mine the raw materials necessary to make this thing?
This is why we must increase in our knowledge of the truth and have the wisdom and foresight to be led by internal principles of what is right not what is merely convenient or desirable, so that we can avoid this situation of looking back at what went wrong.

Who's your Daddy? - The raw milk issue.

I'll tell you who your Daddy is not. Your Daddy is not "Big Brother", the civil government that has gotten so big and powerful that it thinks it is our all-knowing benevolent father. And the real problem is that many, MANY people are quite content to look to civil government as their daddy. Some people are diligent and work hard to keep "Father" happy, others see civil government as their "Sugar Daddy" that will give them all they ever want or need but both generally believe everything "Daddy" says and when it comes right down to it, pretty much fall in line with what is expected of them. We must take personal responsibility to be informed and make decisions based upon Truth and the personal light and understanding we have. We must understand that God has given us responsibility for our own lives before Him and no one else. Part of this responsibility is to govern government not ignorantly submit to all the politicians and bureaucrats say but that is a rather deep subject, maybe a later post. But below is a case in point.
I saw this article about the controversy between raw and pasteurized milk and what some civil government agencies are doing to "protect" us from raw food and it rather inspired me. Here is one particular stirring quote that looks at the superficial panacea of pasteurization:

Around the time that Chicago passed the first pasteurization law in the United States, in 1908, many of the dairies supplying cities had themselves become urban. They were crowded, grassless, and filthy. Unscrupulous proprietors added chalk and plaster of paris to extend the milk. Consumptive workers coughed into their pails, spreading tuberculosis; children contracted diseases like scarlet fever from milk. Pasteurization was an easy solution. But pasteurization also gave farmers license to be unsanitary. They knew that if fecal bacteria got in the milk, the heating process would eventually take care of it. Customers didn’t notice, or pay less, when they drank the corpses of a few thousand pathogens. As a result, farmers who emphasized animal health and cleanliness were at a disadvantage to those who simply pushed for greater production.

It is amazing how all problems really go back to the root of lack of personal responsibility and love for others. And man looks for the easy superficial solution rather than having to address matters of the heart.

? for president

We as a nation must learn that civil government is not our savior, nor our big brother to "watch" over us. God has ordained us to rule by His principles, the Spirit of Christ within us. So, merely having external, civil, political reform is not the answer. Civil government is only an extension of the internal government within people. The problems seen in civil government are a manifestation of the lack of internal government by God's principles.

I started this blog entry as an endorsement of a candidate but as I wrote the above paragraph last, I decided maybe I should just make you think a little more, at least for right now. Because more important than having a president with these policies for the nation, is having a nation of people with the internal principles upon which these policies must be based. Here is a list of what I would consider a close to ideal list of policies for someone in political office. I'll just say that there is a candidate for president that fits it.
1. is pro-life, understands the value of life created by God
2. believes in limited civil government
3. will abolish the IRS
4. understands fiscal responsibility (watch out Federal Reserve!)
5. understands personal responsibility - and how that is applied on a national level, stop trying to police the world and force our way of life on them but through good will efforts help those who want it, clean up our own internal affairs first before trying to fix others
6. has an immigration policy which seems much more reasonable and workable, seal our borders to criminals and be inviting and consistent with those who want to come work
I could continue about his policies on other personal and national liberties, with respect to health care, privacy, property ownership, and national sovereignty. Having a proven track record of consistently working to implement these values during years of public and private service is also important.