Choice

Why is the term “choice” always only applied to the operation that is so debated these days?

Do you choose to say hello to another?

How about choosing to relinquish you personal information with an attractive person?

Is there someone forcing you to communicate with another against your own better “choice”?

Are you obligated, coerced, prodded or forced to meet with someone over coffee, a drink or a meal?

Are you not familiar with where this is going?

Do you not have the responsibility to consider the path upon which you trod?

Are you choosing to spend more time than you would like with someone?

Do the lights of the bedroom turn off against your will?

Are there armed guards forcing your cloths to fly off of you in that passionate embrace?

Would you please circle the events and the thoughts that took place above where you did not exercise a right to choose?

We all make a multitude of decisions in our life, some are stupid, some are intelligent and still some pass by our cerebral cortex with out even stopping to say hello, never to be seen again. It is, I believe, only human to wish that a choice made were re-presented to be chosen differently, but time travel is still only science fiction.

The facts remain, in this life, that words mean things and actions have consequences. You may not enjoy the meaning or the consequence, but your displeasure with a reality does not alter the fact of its existence. Sex has life changing implications, as do many of the choices with which we are presented.

If you discover, one day, that you are pregnant, with very rare exception, you have already made many choices to bring you to this place. Your choices and rights, from this point, can only rightfully be made while considering that the life, now growing within you, is banking on you to help him or her with their Right to Choose.

Polar Bears

I came home from work the other day and my wife asked if I had heard that polar bears are now endangered. It struck me as odd because I remembered glossing over some bit of news earlier that day about the bears and, at the time, thought nothing of it. With all of the cajoling in the political world for this and that sweet little animal’s peaceful livelihood being destroyed by the evil humans, I take most of it with a grain of salt. The truth usually turns out to be just one more attempt by Environmentalist Whackos (the new communist party) to subvert America’s economic engine and fleece her people of a chunk of their hard earned cash. Make no mistake, you, my intrepid reader may genuinely care about the life and comfort of every last molecule on this fine planet, but those purporting to lead you to the promise land only want the power you will give them. They care nothing for the cute little bunnies, or the dangerous bears.

After hearing this bit of “news” and thinking back to some comments made by several unnamed family members of the plight of the polar bear and the shrinking of the Arctic ice I decided that it was high time a member of the unwashed masses investigated some facts. Here is what I found.

To begin with, while the Main Stream Media will have you all in a tizzy over yet another of natures sublime creatures being crowded out by the mean old Americans, the facts always seem to escape the so-called Progressives. The polar bear is doing just fine, and the weight loss you may have heard of is actually because there are so many of them now that the original food source, which was great at one point, is not enough for all of the mass of the bears. Their numbers increased from 2100 in ’97 to a whopping 2600 in ’04. You might say now that the problem is that we are taking their food, not so fast, they are eating it, and one problem at a time please. As for the report that they are being placed under the ESA, not true. This serves as yet another example of how the MSM is no longer a viable news source, but a propaganda machine seeking to spread lies so as to subvert your freedoms. Is that too wild for you to believe? O.K. then they are lazy and do an abhorrent job at vetting their stories. It took me less than an hour to find the truth.

What is happening is that The Bush administration was being threatened with a lawsuit to have the bears put under the ESA by Green peace and The Natural Resources Defense Council. At this point The Administration has agreed to spend the next year investigating the facts before they make a determination on the matter. The bottom line here is that the MSM lied to you.

But, why would these groups be so insistent to have a bear, not in peril, on this list? Politics, they are not just pure hearted animal lovers. They want this coup so as to further their Global Warming Hysteria. They can’t seem to do it with facts, so they will push it with subterfuge. Not only are the bears not endangered, The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 provides for Eskimos to hunt these bears. The Canadian Press Newswire reports, “in 3 arctic villages polar bears ‘are so abundant there’s a public safety issue.’ The increases in the populations of the bears have the Inuits wanting to kill more bears”! The MSM didn’t mention that in their little story did they? You can’t have it both ways folks.

One other piece of this is the reason they want the polar bears on under the ESA. It will further their even bigger lie that Man-Made GW is causing the Arctic ice to melt. It shocks me that, otherwise intelligent people do not take the time to investigate this for themselves but will just take the dribble of some has-been without considering that he may have an agenda. The facts show that the Arctic ice has a natural degree of variability. I have looked at the data with my own eyes provided by The Canadian Ice Survey. “It was as warm in the late 1930’s as at the end of the 20th century, yet 70% of the build up of atmospheric greenhouse gasses since pre-industrial times occurred after 1940” – Marlo Lewis, CEI.

The bottom line is before you go off fearing the worst because of some story you heard on the news, a website you clicked on, or the latest Oscar winning screamer, check the facts for yourself. One day you may wake up in a world drastically more oppressive than this only to realize that the reasons they gave you for removing your liberties were a fabrication designed to confuse you. But, then it might be too late.

I will leave you with the thoughts of two fine Americans:

“Government is like a fire, a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” – G. Washington

“Think, Michael, Think!” – D.M. Poast

COLORS

A few weeks ago I was watching a show on PBS about the integration of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was striking to see the difficulty contained in such a seemingly simple act. I do not mean to suggest that I know how it was from either side of the argument, but the white folks certainly felt as though the world was coming to a screeching halt for having been forced to "co-educate" with the black folks. Even more glaring was how calm and adult the black folks were behaving. This is not to suggest that I was surprised, but only for the opposite behavior in the white folks.

In the face of overwhelming hate and illogical bigotry, the black folks were poised, graceful and respectful to white folks whose behavior and verbal venom wouldn't have deserved even a, "how do you do." from me. I was embarrassed for them, the white folks, and not because my pigment is similar to theirs, but because I am also human; though they were wanting for proof in that sad moment in their life.

We have all been in that position in our lives where our whole perfect little world seems to be falling apart all around us and all we can do is behave like a hungry rat backed into a corner. I am in no way justifying their actions, just suggesting a point of understanding, since we can all be that person when the chips fall the right way.

In the same moment, though, the black folks were thrust into the same emotional tornado. To top it off, they had the local government turning their backs on the supreme law of the land, The U.S. Constitution. That beautiful document written so many years before that gave them the same rights as the children having a tantrum all around them; the children had the guns though. It is this that is striking. You could make two lists: one defining differences and one defining similarities and don't you know that the ones throwing the fit in the PBS show were only focused on the short list.

As you go out into this vast and complex world to work, to play, to give or to receive you make similar lists throughout your day. Will yours cause a riot, or will it end one?

Thoughts

Crime: we cannot live our lives in fear. We must enforce our laws so that the criminal element understands that we mean business as a lawful society. We cannot continue to allow the criminals to run rampant in our streets, disrupting our daily lives and hurting our children and families. We must come together as a community to stand up to the criminal element. When you send Mike Poast to Columbus, you send a citizen committed to creating an environment where crime does not pay. He believes in strict law enforcement backed up by good judges who's rulings stick. Criminals deserve their rights and due process, but so do the victims.

taxes: the money in the state treasury is ours, the citizens hard earned paychecks. We the people will not sit back, idle, while those who claim to represent us throw it away. We need fiscal responsibility in Columbus. lower taxes produce greater revenues. We need to reduce the burden on families and business. The engine of our economy is not Columbus or Washington, it is the business person interacting with their customer.

family: the family is the backbone of our society. we must protect the traditional family and traditional marriage.

life: governments job is to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. these words were written in this order not by accident. protecting the life of its citizens is the primary goal of government. this is why we have police, fire, and military personnel. This is also why we must protect life not yet born, and life not yet gone.

2ND amendment: this was not written for hunters, it was written so that the people would have a last resort in the event their government got too out of hand. the 2ND ensures the 1st. When we create laws making it more and more difficult to acquire firearms the law abiding citizen is the one who suffers. Criminals, by definition, do not obey gun laws.

eminent domain: another founding principle; there is no liberty without private property rights. we must ensure that eminent domain remains as it was originally intended, not a vehicle by which big business gets bigger and government increases its tax base.

education: it is important that families are able to raise their children as they see fit, government should back this up, not inhibit it. our schools are failing our children, there are good solutions out there, but unions and cowardly officials continue to stand in the way. We have a right to choose how our children are educated.

Political Philosophy:
I believe in the goodness of people, and the ability of the individual to make proper decisions regarding their lives. I believe, as The Founders did, that governments are created with the consent of the governed. They have a responsibility to the people, and should any official charged with such duties misuse the power afforded them, it is the duty and the right of the people to remove the offenders. Governments, at all levels, should promote and encourage its' citizens to behave according to the dictates assigned to it by The People.

POSITION PAPERS

sorry for the rant John, but this is kind of thing is the root of our problems. We just can't see it because sometimes governments waste money on that which is deemed "good" to our biases, so we don't complain of the expenditure. We then face sewer problems because the proper precautions and maintenance have not been preformed. This is exactly why we are against big government. It's not that we think that the social issues some people want government to take care of are not important, it's that government can only do so much without taking all of your hard earned money. If we elect people who are for all of these social "programs" it inevitably will take money away from essential services like sewer, trash, POLICE (hello, crime?). In addition it will create a culture in the government of ease. The employees will not be as sharp about economy, and will become frivolously with The People's resources. This is not an easy thing to do though, since those who wish to use the power of government for their little "projects" or to create cushy, unaccountable, positions for themselves or their friends, are always trying to get there grimy hands on the purse strings of OUR government. So we must be vigilant, John you do a GREAT JOB OF THIS. We must maintain a sharp eye on our elected officials. Lastly, you don't have to be of any particular party to work for limited government. It is responsible and intelligent to be frugal. In our homes when we get our paychecks do we run to "the boats" and then back to our boss demanding more money? no, we prioritize funds for expenditures which are necessary and life-sustaining, then if there are extras, or we have saved over an extended period we may get a new deck or flat screen or go to the boats. But government, at all levels and from both sides of the isle, do this very thing every day!!! And we, the arbiters of this body of thieves, keep putting them in there time after time, election after election. We don't pay attention and then when it's time to vote we either don't, or we vote for a name which we have heard of in the news or that has been there before!! makes me sick!! we need LOWER TAXES, LESS GOVERNMENT, AND MORE CITIZENS. We need to get involved, starting with me.