A shift in priorities...

Y'all put you're happy faces on cause today I'd like to chat about how the middle east could spark a global war and how this realization, along with a couple of others, has caused me to shift the priorities in my life as well as this blog. Today's lesson: Nearly all the countries in the Middle East are heavily connected to the major "world power" nations due to the oil market (I'll get to the economic interconnectedness of everybody in a minute). We are allied with Israel (because we had a hand in the creation of the modern nation of Israel), Saudi Arabia (allegedly), Afghanistan (allegedly), and a few others. Syria, for some reason, has close ties with Russia and Iran and China get along quite well on an economic level. Iran and Israel... well, everybody and Israel, don't get along. In fact, Muslims tend to think Jews are literally the scum of the earth and should not be allowed continued existence in any form. This situation is rife with nasty possible scenarios for large-scale ugliness. Here's one... Scenario: Iran continues to refuse to stop their nuclear program (which they claim is for power uses only... rrrriiiight) and Israel decides it's in their best interest to destroy said program. Israel launches an attack, either by air or Special Forces on the ground. Iran, understandably, is pissed and launches a counter-attack. At this point is where the dominoes begin to fall. We have treaty obligations to Israel so we would have to enter this fray in one way or another. This would greatly piss off the arab nations openly friendly with Iran (which is most of them) and draw them into the conflict (though, through support of terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, and others those countries would have been involved behind the scenes from the get-go). To give you an idea of what this means, Egypt is now controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, Iraq, in our absence, has become a puppet state of Iran, Syria, despite their internal conflict, is no friend of ours either, and there are several smaller nations who will also jump in on the arab side of the equation. Now, if we, and through treaty obligations (UN and NATO) other western nations, most likely France, Germany, and England, become fully committed to the defense of Israel, even the combined might of all the muslim arab nations could not win. They know this. Which, I believe, is why they allied themselves with Russia and China. We mobilize, they ask for help, Russia and China see a potential economic (read: oil supply) catastrophe and they, along with a few of their current and former allies, Vietnam, North Korea, some of the former Soviet states, come a-runnin to defend their interests and, bingo bango bongo... World War III. But wait, there's more. Now, a lot of the nations involved in this nightmare have large amounts of nuclear weapons. This, in itself, is not necessarily frightening because the Cold War ended recently enough that the leadership of the major nuclear players, Russia, China, and the U.S., remember the old doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (or MAD ...fitting acronym, ain't it?), which states, in a nutshell, "you nuke me, I'll nuke you more". So, the chances of Russia or China pressing The Button (or China letting North Korea do it) are pretty slim cause it wouldn't be I their self-interest. Enter Mahmoud Ahmedinejad... who has been quoted as saying he believes that he is to be instrumental in bringing about Armageddon. Now, this is just my semi-educated, humble opinion but, I'd ne willing to bet good money that ,nine times out of ten, when a small country like Iran gets a nuke, it's because they reverse-engineered it. Which means they already have one or more and are looking to build more (side note: after the collapse of the Soviet Union, several nuclear warheads and related material went "missing"). MAD would have no real affect on someone like ol' Mahmoud because he's already MAD as a fucking hatter and doesn't care if he, his country or the entire region are nuked into the 14th dimension because he believes it's his Allah-given duty to bring about the End of Days (which in their book, oddly enough, means the global dominion of Islam). I don't know that the western nations would let him draw us in to a nuclear exchange but, if he were to wait until we had troops on the ground and fried some of our boys, we might. He lobs a nuke, we lob a nuke and eventually it's "Old McDonald Had a Cruise Missile" (ee aye, ee aye, oh shit!) all over the world, here a nuke, there a nuke, everywhere a nuke nuke. Sorry bout the gallows humor, I'm tired and surly. Anywho, this is just one possible dust-up but, it should be obvious how any real turmoil in that region could seriously interrupt the world oil supply and, since EVERYTHING is moved from place to place on rivers and oceans of petroleum derivatives, this could cripple economic systems and even whole societies around the world. The System, the world System not just ours has gotten far too big to sustain itself in the face a true global crisis. Our supply lines are immensely long (don't think so? Check your fridge and pantry and see where your food comes from. I'll bet ya it ain't the farm down the road) and, as any military leader can tell you, long supply lines are easily cut. What do you think will happen to our sweet, orderly American society when that happens? More on that in a bit. For now, as promised, I bring the Reason for the Interconnectedness of All Nations. The only real reason all the major nations in the world have gotten along as well as we have for as long as we have is because there is an economic version of MAD. Through international trade the economies of pretty much every country with a viable military are so dependent on each other that if one starts waving its cock around, the others can embargo it into submission or, in the case of an actual act of war by one or two of them the others could be counted on to defend the attackee because it would be in their economic best interest. Great idea. Except for not really. If one of those countries say... us, goes off it's fucking rocker and bankrupts itself on purpose, it could feasibly drag down the entire world system. This would cause severe shortages, or at least supply interruptions, in vital goods and services throughout the world which would inevitably lead to the aforementioned World War III. Now, whichever way it happens, the parlor games of the World Elite can only end one way for the yous and the mes. Badly. Politicians, Royals, dictators... they all love the same thing. Power. Power with a capital P. Crow's First Law of Politics: An object in Power tends to try and stay in Power at all costs and all other considerations be damned. All lip service to the General Welfare of their respective nations aside, when the Shit Hits The Fan ( SHTF... that's a good acronym... someone should use that...) our benevolent leaders will use everything at their disposal, from begging and pleading, to lies and propaganda, to out and out violence, to keep themselves and their cronies in positions of Power. You do not even enter into their equations except as a possible threat to their Power. Which brings us to my priority shift. Here goes, I have long been interested in politics and, as this blog would attest, I'm firmly Libertarian with a slight Republican (the form of government, not the party) bent. I am a strict Constitutionalist and would dearly love to see this country brought back into line with the Founders intent. Unfortunately, I no longer think of that as a possiblilty and therefore will no longer focus on politics in this blog or in daily life. The System, like our national debt is too big to ever be fixed. It must be allowed to eat itself (hopefully before it eats all of us) and rebuilt from the much-vaunted grassroots up. If and when that happens, then it will be time to discuss the relative merits of Republics, Democracies, or PTAs. For now, I feel it necessary to share what I see as What Must Be Done to survive SHTF. I'm going to be posting blogs and links on such diverse elements as survival, prepping, food storage, subsistence farming, hunting, firearms, and anything else that strikes me as useful. I know there are several folks already doing this and I hope to able to add something to the good work they're doing and maybe become part of something mutually beneficial. If you're among the Awake, I ask you to come along for the ride and share what you know. If you're not, then I beg you to not dismiss what I've said just because it hasn't happened yet. Just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it can't or won't. Start watching the news, online is best, because the MSM won't talk about much of real importance. It's coming, folks. I won't pretend to know when but I feel in my gut that it's time to get ready to hunker down and do what you can to feed and protect you and yours. Hopefully we'll all come out on our feet when the dust settles. Till next time... I fight, not because I hate my enemy, but because I love my people. Big love, dc.

As a wise horse once said, "No sir... I don' like it!"

So. Us Libertarians and survivalists and preppers and Second Amendment Types are all just a bunch of crazy, conspiracy-addicts who see g-men in black helos behind every bush and have Kool-aid socials with Alex Jones, right? Well, that's what normal folks would have us believe. Hell, "preppers" even autocorrects to preposterous on the phone I'm typing on now so, we must totally out of our freakin gourds.

Wait... what?

You say obscure arms of the federal government, agencies that should have little if anything to do with armed enforcement agents, are stockpiling weapons and ammo at an alarming rate? And those agencies are buying things like 12-gauge shotguns, .40 SW and .357 Sig hollow-points; things that are usually, if not explicitly designed to be, used against people? Now, I'm a fan of the venerable .40 SW (Sig P229, baby. My weapon of Choice!) but, the way I see it, the only reason to buy several million (450 actually, but who's counting...) rounds of it is that you foresee a very pressing need arising to use it.

Wait, you say...

It's DHS, and they have to prep for natural disaster response.  We all saw the violence in the wake of Katrina. They need to protect themselves from crazies that shoot at SAR helicopters. And NOAA's division of fisheries or whatever. Poachers can be downright unpleasant. And Social Security... retirees and disabled folks can be pretty... well... Education! The DOE, now they need a bunch of 12 gauges for... for...

You see what I did there? Stick wit me...

What the actual fuck is going on here? Why are they doing this?

These are agencies that operate exclusively WITHIN the borders of the U.S. and have no military powers and only indirect (or so I thought) law enforcement authority. It seems to me that Somebody at a real high pay grade thinks it prudent for the Fed to guns-and-ammo themselves all to hell and gone for something. Something that they obviously feel will be a Big Bad and that they will be "called on" or "forced" to put a lid on and, frankly, this scares the ever-lovin piss outta me. Again, these are internal agencies so, either they expect to be invaded from without and are prepping to assist in the formation of a militia OR the Big Bad they're expecting for supper...

...is us.

When the SHTF and our orderly, day to day society begins to go south, it might take armed government agents from DHS to enforce curfews and see to orderly distributions of rations and supplies. Or from the DOE to keep our kids in their schools to learn that "everything will be juuust fine". Or from NOAA to keep people from overfishing and taking too much for themselves and their families. Or from the IRS and SSA to make sure you keep paying your fair share and your neighbor uses your share... i mean, his benefits, correctly. Or from the FDA (haven't heard anything about them yet, but it wont surprise me when I do) to make sure you don't drink that unsafe raw milk from your neighbor's cow since you cant afford the "safe", federally approved stuff (that your local Kroger probly won't have anyway) or that your backyard garden doesn't make you not need the DHS rations...

Sinister, ain't it.

Now, I know conspiracyism is a slippery slope and it's easy to go from concerned citizen to tin foil hat model in 2.3 seconds but, people, I beg you to remember the old adage that just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean They ain't after ya.

But, hey. The Mainstream's probly right and it's probably just one big ol' misunderstanding and they really are just buying the expensive, front-line duty ammo to waste on paper-people and those fun Ozombie bin Laden targets. It is the same government that pays four- or five-figure prices for hammers and toilet seats after all...

Still... something's just itching in the back of the ol' brainpan on this one. Think I'll play a little Ask Dr. Google and see what he comes back with. I recommend you grab the nearest convenient web-enabled device and play along at home.

Hey Jonesy,  how's that Kool-Aid coming? The gang's almost here...

dc

The plot sickens...

PM

In regards to the Aurora, CO movie theater shooting:
The American Media has already revved up the Spin Machine and begun the Parade of Experts to wring their hands and explain why this all happened. I've already heard that this was a quest for notoriety or a cry for attention. To me, this cheapens the tragedy a little and lends an air of sanity to the shooter. Sociopathic sanity, to be sure, but it implies that he knew what he was doing was incredibly wrong but did it anyway just to get everyone speaking his name.
 
Here's my armchair analysis... <deep breath>
 
This guy is deeply disturbed and feels, for whatever reason, oppressed by Society. I am not a fan of the Batman comics and therefore not an expert on the character Bane but from what I've read about the movie he is a domestic terrorist who seeks to bring down the oppressive whatever of Gotham City. It looks to me like our boy identified with that character and sought to emulate him to the fullest extent possible in order to make a statement. To me, most all mass shootings like this are statements. These are people who feel powerless. They are, for numerous reasons, ill-equipped to deal with those feelings. You and I may feel powerless from time to time, but generally we sigh and say "What can you do?" and go on about our daily lives (I could go on and on about why that is a direct cause of our current governmental situation... and I will, but not here). To some, however, that same feeling that we shrug off becomes a splinter in their eye. It burns and it festers and it increasingly dominates their thoughts until it becomes all-consuming. As the commercial says, when you feel powerless, you want to take the power back. Now, you or I might get involved with a political organization or a cause/charity, learn a martial art, ...start a blog... but to those who lack that capacity, violence is nearly always the answer.
 
(Side note, to those who say violence never solves anything, read history. It's generally solved everything for those who supplied it. Not advocating, just being honest.)
 
Columbine, Virginia Tech, any bombing undertaken by Al Qaeda et al, now this. Pick a mass murder and you'll find someone trying to exert power over those they view as oppressively In Power either directly, as in Columbine, or indirectly. It's not about notoriety or Getting on TV, but the people we "trust" to report on news stories such as this have long ago become unable to keep their thirst for popularity and desire to be on camera from coloring their analysis and therefore everything like this is reported through that prism. As George Carlin said, always doubt the offered story and seek your own answers.
 
Now to the main reason I brought this up.
 
Gun Control.
 
I am a Strict-Constructionalist Libertarian. I think the Constitution was a Pretty Neat Idea until they added the 2nd Amendment, then it became the Greatest Thing to Ever Happen in The History of the Governance of Free People. The fact that our founders built a republic with the built-in safety valve against tyranny that is the Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms speaks volumes about how focused those men were on the concept of Liberty. Let's put it this way: You start a business and hire people. You promise your new employees that they will have a say in the running of your business and you then give them the means to remove you and install new leadership should you ever become a tyrannical boss and deny them their voice in the company. That's what the Founders did. They guaranteed the right, and more importantly the ability, of the people to remove from power the very government they set up if it ever became an impediment to the Liberty of the People. Our current ruling class is very aware of the danger the 2nd amendment poses to them. If the People ever fully realize the extent to which their Liberty has been eroded and becomes fully aware of their on legal and physical ability to take the power back then our elected "leaders" are truly up a certain well-known watercourse without a means of propulsion. 
(Granted, we would have a much tougher row to hoe than our founders did, given the disparity between the people's arms and those of the government but, again we'll talk later...) This awareness, shared by every despotic regime ever (read history, they nearly all banned the private ownership of weapons), has led our current administration to subterfuge to push the Anti-2nd Agenda. Fast and Furious, for those who haven't heard, put high-powered, high-capacity firearms almost directly into the hands of Mexican drug cartels (who, way the by, make Pol Pot and Idi Amin look like grade school bullies in terms of violence) in an effort to "track their movements across the border".
 
Pardon my French, but bullshit.
 
There are only two reasons to enact such a program. Either A: their telling the truth and they are so incompetent as to think that might actually work without getting American citizens killed or, B: to use it as a political banner to say "Look! These evil guns were sold by evil gun shop owners to these evil drug lords who came back and killed a bunch of Americans! We must BAN ALL PRIVATELY OWNED GUNS!!! DOWN WITH THE 2ND AMENDMENT!!!". I may be exaggerating a little and of course they would never be that clear about their intentions but, again, read history. Every time there is a major, national-news level incident involving guns, every Anti-2nd nut in Congress, the Media, and the General Population leaps from the woodwork demanding more and stricter controls on the private ownership of guns. Now, before those who think folks like me are all tin-foil-hat conspiracy junkies start in on me, I do not think that today's shooting was planned or even expected in any way to push the agenda (...or was it?). I just think that, if the Obama Regime, and specifically its Department of "Justice", were willing to green-light something as monumentally stupid as Fast and Furious to push this agenda, who in their right mind would think they would not try to use this massive tragedy (12 dead, 50 injured!) to their political advantage. 
 
I know, I know, you say "How could they accomplish that? It's in the Constitution that Congress shall make no law..."
 
Here's where I would interrupt you.
 
Exactly!, I'd say. CONGRESS shall make no law. Doesn't say anything about executive orders.
 
Admittedly, the Constitution does lay some pretty heavy limits on the powers of the executive branch and that type of thing is technically illegal. Problem is, those limits have to be enforced by Congress, and Congress, hell, all of D.C., is full of lawyers.
 
Lawyers (pl. noun): people who make livings wringing every possible nuance of meaning from any set of words in order to justify damn near any action. see also: Liar 
 
This President (also a lawyer) has already shown that he is more than willing to circumvent the will of Congress and enact policy on his own and the current crop of miscreants in congress, especially the ruling party of the Senate, have also shown that they are willing to let him circumvent them in the name of Party Solidarity (hmmm... that sounds suspiciously Soviet. Is My Freudian slip showing?). Now I will admit that as I type this, Mr. Obama is using the TV coverage of one of his campaign stops in FL to make his Official Presidential Statement on the shooting and, to his credit, he made not one mention of the guns involved. 
 
Don't worry, he will.
 
Or Biden will. Or Pelosi or Reid. It's coming folks. There will come a day, fairly soon, I think-before the people wake up and grab their boots, when these people will try to bring their Anti-2nd Agenda to its logical conclusion. These leeches and ghouls will use anything, any event no matter how tragic, to their political advantage. 
 
The plot sickens...
 
till next time, 
dc.    
 
P.s., since writing this, it has come to light that Mr. Holmes identified with The Joker and not Bane.

Looking for ghosts in Muskogee.

What follows is an incredibly eloquent view of modern life in the old Creek Country. Those of us who reside here now would do well to view this passage in a more real sense than I'm sure its author intended. The spirits of those whose land this was are still very much present and can indeed be found, and their voices be heard, in quiet places for those who know how to listen. Although the deepest parts of my Cherokee soul feel more at home in the ridges and valleys Where the Buzzard's Wings Touched the Earth, I grew in and grew to love the ancient home of the Muskogee. I like to think that its ghosts have accepted me too.
 
Enjoy...
 
"If you would know the early people of the (Chattahoochee) Valley better, you must search for them in their river home. You will find them in the sun-dappled canebrakes on the river banks and in the shadowy, black-water swamps, thick with vines and roaring with the drone of mosquitoes. You will find them in the melancholy light of winter afternoon on the river and in the earth-smell of a handful of clay. They are in the absurd squawk of the great blue heron and in the brilliant white slash of an egret probing in the bright green marsh grass. You will find them in the muscular suppleness of a water moccasin and in the pounding, contrapuntal rhythm of the nightheart, throbbing with calls of frogs and toads and pierced from time to time with the unearthly cry of the bobcat and the shrieks of the dreaded owls. They are with you when you swat at the droves of ever-present mosquitoes that swarm over the river in the hot months or when you marvel at the light caught in the branches of the sycamore trees on the river's banks. They are in the silvery leaves of the river birches whipped by the wind. They look upward with you at the silently circling black buzzards, now rising on the thermal winds, now spiraling steadily downward. They can be found in the deep, dusky green river on a hot summer day. The same water that laves you laved them. They are in the great thunderheads rolling in over the river and the sudden fury of the frontal storms, crackling with lightning and growling with thunder. Every time you hear the chilling rattle of the canebrake rattlesnake in the grass, they are with you. You will find them consorting with the catfish in the river's depths and with the alligators sunning themselves on the banks.
They can be found in the loud thwack of a beaver slapping it's tail on the water, the rustling sound that comes from the cane stalks in the wind, the sibilant hissing of the rain on the river, the drumming noise the rain makes on the summer leaves. You will find them in the whistling hiss the alligator gar makes when it surfaces in the darkness and the metallic glint of a shad's body deep down in the water. Especially they are in the soughing of the wind through the pines, the beady eye and mighty wingspread of the eagle, the tantalizing smell of wood smoke, the dry whistle of the deer in the deep woods, the singing of a hot fire on a winter's night, the sight of a long V of geese soaring overhead, the millions of stars in the night sky above the Chattahoochee. They said they would be in the stars. Look for them there."

-William W. Winn from The Old Beloved Path: Daily Life Among the Indians of the Chattahoochee River Valley

The Land fed us, once...

The Land fed us, once.
Our grandmothers and grandfathers knew this... they knew where the bounty they enjoyed around their hearths and tables came from. They knew and they gave thanks. From secret, sacred places they gave thanks. From public dance grounds, ball grounds and council houses they gave thanks. They went to water in the powerful, sacred rivers to be purified then they prayed and gave thanks to the Great Spirit who made everything around them, to Grandmother Sun who warmed them and made things grow and her brother the Moon who watched over them at night. They gave thanks to the Spirits of the Four Directions who watched over all aspects of their world, from game and fish to weather and crops, from war and peace to birth and death. 
 
They gave thanks.

My Cherokee Grandmothers, in the shadow of their beloved mountains, followed the stories their Grandmothers told of Selu, the first woman, and learned to work the soil, nurturing their gardens and fields so that the Three Sisters would grow and bear fruit to feed themselves, their men and their children. They loved this land. They poured that love into their gardens as if it was water. They respected the land as they respected the Great Spirit. As one should respect a benevolent but impartial authority. Act right, and it will provide you with all that you need. Disrespect, and you will starve. They taught their daughters this love and respect to insure them against future disaster. Our Grandfathers, in the footsteps of Kanati, hunted the peoples of the four-legged and winged tribes to bring meat to their fires. Though they sought to kill them, they respected these tribes as much as they did the One who created them and sought forgiveness for what they needed to do. Any less and there would've been no game. This respect, and the prayers and ceremony that went with it they passed to their sons. Those who were here before us would look on their fields and their game-filled forests and say, "Look what Creator has given us!" and give thanks for all they received. Creator heard them. The Animal Spirits of the Upper World who controlled the game and the element Spirits of this Middle World heard them. The earth itself heard them and in payment for this gratitude each would provide again and again and thus would the cycle of life continue. This was good.
 
And then came Greed.
 
The People were generous. They would give to their last that their relatives and neighbors would not be hungry or cold. They did so without thought of the future for the knew that as they gave to others, so others would give to them in their need. That was the way of things. But those who came next carried with them a sickness. Diseases, yes, but also something far more sinister. Greed. Greed and the obsessive desire to own everything. To gather more and more, much more than a man could ever use and never to share with their neighbor, and only grudgingly with family, for fear of losing any part of what they had in the name of some shadowy future catastrophe. And their Greed brought with it an even deeper evil; the spiteful spirit of Envy. Once that took hold, no longer was it enough to have more and more things, no... now one had to have that which belonged to others for fear of being less than they were. Most of all it was the land of others that was coveted and with Greed's fire in their bellies and Envy's pervasive whisper in their ears, they set out to take it. They drove off some and killed those who would not leave. The Invaders then set about remaking their captured land in a manner more fitting themselves. Hollow and overworked. They did not care for, and in truth feared and hated, the Spirits who remained and the ceremonies meant to gain their favor. They instead prayed strange prayers to a foreign God of a distant land whose Book had taught them to strive for domination and to bend the "wild" world to their will. They hunted or trapped or ran off the animal tribes who once fed the people and replaced them with their stinking, destructive livestock. They cleared the forests by the thousands of acres and forced the newly bare Land to grow far more than it could support, again and again until it was barren; an ancient Grandmother long past her ability to produce new life. Even then, this new people would look on their farms and later their towns and cities and say "This is mine! Look what I have done with it (but stay away)!" and gave gratitude to only themselves and to their foreign God. This, as we've seen, was not so good. 
 
A wise man said that force, no matter how subtly disguised, breeds resistance.
 
The Land is resisting.
 
Though it is not always apparent to us because the Earth does things in her own time, she is resisting and always has been. She is resisting these Invaders who do not respect her and so the world they've built on her back cannot long be sustained. It is a false world, one held together by concepts and theories and meaningless words. Of lying, weak-hearted men and spiteful, vindictive women. Even their children are destructive, hateful creatures who believe in nothing, respect only material possessions and could barely survive outside an electronic world where every want and need is provided by those who would profit from their greed. Look around, the people of this nation are trying their dead level best to tear their own house apart. This country is rooted in nothing because the Land has rejected it. It has no sense of itself or it's place in the Universe and that lack will drive it to suicide. 
 
Is it too late?
 
In many respects, yes. A hard truth, to be sure, but in all likelihood the current course cannot be changed. It's destination will be painful. Painful, but not necessarily final. The Old Ones teach that all of Creation is a circle, not a straight line. It does not begin here and end completely over there, but constantly begins again. The old becoming new becoming old. It may be that the metaphorical train will derail but those who survive will still have their feet and by walking on start the cycle anew. I believe that we will be those survivors. We, the grandchildren of those who once made these mountains ring, the grandchildren of the many first nations from across this land, even those like me... disillusioned grandchildren of the Invaders with only a thin tie, if any, to the blood of these hills. Sadly, many if not all of us have become products of this age and were never taught what our Grandparents knew, we have only a vague notion that the earth, not the farmers or grocers, once fed The People. But blood will remember. Blood will always remember and we are learning. There are many today who are looking. Looking out of curiosity alone, so they think, but even that shows that people are again learning to listen. Learning to listen to the quiet voices of the world around them. The trees, the birds, the winds that are the voice and breath of the Great Spirit. The old ways are returning and the spirits are again listening. They listen for the pulse of the drum, the stomp of dancing feet. They listen again for the voices raised in song and the hearts opened in silent prayer.  
 
Let them hear us.
 
Let them hear us that they may once again speak to The People. That the plants and the trees who first gave us the medicines we've forgotten, will give to us again the knowledge we need to stay well. That the animal spirits of the Upper World will again send their people to live in this world in abundance and give of themselves what we need to feed ourselves. That Grandmother Sun, Brother Moon and all the spirits of this world will again know that those they watch over and help love and respect them. That Creator will see that we have not forsaken the gifts and the love that were so freely given. That this Land that we live on, that receives our newborns and embraces our dead, will again feed her people.
 
The Land fed us once... 
 
She may again.
 
It falls to us to listen and learn and do what is right.

False wisdom.

I posted this on FB yesterday but it bears repeating here: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not fall prey to internet snake oil salesmen peddling false "Native Wisdom". Specifically, I've noticed the oft-repeated "Cherokee legend" of the grandfather telling the story of the two wolves fighting inside him. While I understand that this story certainly sounds Indian, insofar as it fits the accepted template of Indian wisdom and stories held by Americans in general, and that it is indeed a good moral story to tell our children, IT IS NOT CHEROKEE! Or any other tribe, for that matter. By best estimate it was first told by Billy Graham in a book in the late 70s and attributed to an Eskimo who owned two dogs who he had taught to fight on command but only fed one of them so he could control the outcome. The telling and retelling of stories such as these under the guise of "old Indian Legends" does nothing more than perpetuate damaging and restrictive stereotypes of Indian cultures. There are a number of reasons why this is true but, since I dont' have a whole lotta time today, I'll ask you to read them here apihtawikosisan.com/2012/02/21/check-the-tag-on-that-indian-story/ and here www.tumblr.com/tagged/two-wolves and also here digatisdi.tumblr.com/post/17640347644. Native cultures do indeed have many many important things to teach, but the ones who need the lessons can never absorb them if their ears, eyes, and minds are clogged, blinded, shut by hijacked imagery and symbolism and fake sources of "ancient wisdom". We n'de ya ho! (I am of the great spirit, Cherokee Morning Song) dc.

Power to the states.

Patriots!
Our lesson today will be the States and how they got screwed by the Progressive Movement. One of the worst things that ever happened to our Republic, second only to the Civil War/Reconstruction, was the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. This country was designed to be a group of independent, sovereign nations united only for the purpose of common defense and the regulation of trade, both interstate and international. The bicameral legislature was designed to give the states equal representation and to give the people of the states proportional representation. A pure democracy (ie the House of Representatives) is untenable in that it allows for majority rule at the expense of the minority and a pure republic (the Senate) is equally untenable for the opposite reason. Put them together and allow them to check and balance each other and you have something approaching consensus, a thing both vital to liberty and damn nigh unattainable in a society as large as ours. This is why our Founders, in their wisdom, designated the Senate as the representative of the states and therefore largely immune to the much-touted Will of the People, which they knew even then, could be exceedingly dangerous (see also: Hitler or... our current administration). Enter the Progressives. A group of intelligent thinkers who fancy themselves superior to all us "unwashed" and see it as their sacred duty to commandeer and grow the police power of government and use it impose their benevolent restrictions and regulations on those they view as less capable of living without guidance; to save us from ourselves. These learned individuals recognized that the biggest obstacle to realizing their utopia was the States themselves. What to do... they couldn't abolish the states, nor could they abolish the Senate... Eureka! Direct election of Senators! Make those representing the states (allegedly) beholden to the Will of the People and you remove any real authority from the state governments. To clarify, prior to the 17th amendment, if a Senator went against the will of the state, that Senator could be removed. And they knew it. As such, since power remained securely in the hands of the States, it kept the Federal Government, specifically the executive branch, from getting too big for its britches. After, the senators could do damn near anything they pleased or, more truthfully anything their party leadership pleased, as long as they could convince the populace that it was in their "best interest". Combine that with a populace largely unschooled in the machinations of government (a trait ostensibly missing from the state legislatures) and you get what we now have. An out of control, bureaucracy-laden, slobbering, ravenous conglomerate beast bent on nothing more than acquiring and maintaining power at our expense. The only way to pare down this abomination is to act at the local and state level. Elect staunch states-rights advocates to all levels of state and local government and force them, at the point of a ballot box, to do what is necessary to return sovereignty to the states... in other words REPEAL THE 17TH AMENDMENT!!!

Homework: Google "repeal the 17th amendment" and do a little research (don't just take my word for it). Find a group you agree with that can hopefully make enough noise to get this rolling. There are actually quite a few out there. Get this message into the media-talk radio, blogs, whatever. Call you're local and state reps and hound them til kingdom come. We must make them listen.

Til next time,

I fight not because I hate my enemy, but because I love my People.
dc.