It's Not Worth The Division

Momma always said don't talk about religion or politics at the table. (My momma didn't say that but I've been told some have) When it comes to any discussion of subjects that involve emotion many times those discussions can turn aggressive. Leaving rifts and hurt feelings between family and friends. I don't think politics are worth it and religion shouldn't cause it. I believe in eternity, and I see this world as ultimately passing. So my hope doesn't lie here with people, but somewhere beyond here, outside the reach of this life. It's because of this hope that allowing rifts and divisions because of politics isn't worth it, because all politics are temporary. In time we all die. With time everything changes. This doesn't mean that we can't be involved and it doesn't mean that we can talk about our differences. But we must be careful to try and understand each others differences even though we may disagree. The same can be said for religion. I am a Christian but I strive to never use my beliefs to make someone feel small or spiritually beaten up. That is not what Christ did and it's not what I will do. Let me sum up, love the people who are around you first. Then, through that love, discuss whatever you want.

What about religion and music?

OK, it's time to get away from the political crap that so easily comes spewing forth from my mind and talk about other things of importance.

Jess (my wife) and myself have been looking for a new church. The first church we attended was Waters Edge in Yorktown. It was wonderful. The next week we attended a different church and the whole time we were wishing we were at WEC. So it looks like we'll continue our attendance. The big test will be the community groups. If we enjoy that, then we've found our new church. It's very exciting to find a place that is helping me emerge from a sort of spiritual stagnation. My excitement about my faith has been growing in the last few weeks. Times are changing friends both Nationally and personally.

Music Time!!!

My musical life has seen some action over the past few months. The band I was playing with has more or less disbanded and the bassist and myself have found a drummer. We have no name and no songs. But the last two times we've gotten together we've been able to kill two hours just playing together. I've never done this before. We are learning to play together before we actually write songs together. What I mean is we are learning to read each other for dynamic shifts, allowing us to extend song parts. Now all we need are the songs...and a singer wouldn't hurt. Anyone out there want to try it?

Albums that are getting played:
U2- War


mewithoutYou- Brother,Sister/Catch for Us the Foxes


Fugazi- Steady Diet of Nothing/In on the Kill Taker/13 Songs


When I saw mewithoutYou years ago at Macrock I didn't like them. At the time if it wasn't "heavy" then I wasn't into it. Well times have changed and with age I have gotten "softer". They have become one of my most listened to bands. The guitar work is wonderfully dissonant, and the vocals are somewhere between folk/spoken word/aggressive. I highly recommend them. I wish I had watched their show at Macrock. They aren't really doing much these days, so it appears that I may never get the chance to see them.

Just a few Quotes from the Founders

I have a certain affinity for the Founding Fathers. I see them as extraordinary people with wonderful minds. I also accept that they are people and have their flaws. And who among us does not have their flaws? Also discounting a persons entire life due to their follies is a way of avoiding having to actually consider their accomplishments. So without further delay...

"Those who are willing to sacrifice their basic liberties to assure their security deserve neither."- Benjamin Franklin

"The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object."-
Thomas Jefferson
Reference- First Inaugural Address, 1801

"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion."- Thomas Jefferson

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the
government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."
Attributed to :: Patrick Henry

Situation in Mumbai

It would appear that the world is not quite as safe as some had hoped but still, probably, not as dangerous as some have feared. With the death toll over 100, the Mumbai attacks have once again reminded us of the dangerously complex world in which we live. When I try and sort out all the information, I am left wondering what the answer is. Well, I don't have a good solution and a lot of the talking heads that I listen to don't have them either. So I am hoping that somewhere people smarter than the previously mentioned are working to come up with the BEST solutions, not the most reactionary, emotionally charged ones. I did not agree with President Obama on a lot of things during the elections. (Just for the record I voted third party so I didn't agree with John Mccain either) But he is my President now and I hope for his success. I hope he is up to these challenges. So President Obama, I just wanted to say that you have my support. Good luck and Godspeed sir.

More Economic Information

Often times numbers are thrown about without any regard as to the origin of them. Well I could tell you the amount of the national debt. But it will be much more impactful if I take you to the federal reserve website that has the debt on it.

Without further delay...the national debt

Here is a National Debt clock. It estimates the debt up to the second, but it's not official. Here...

Finally here is who we owe money to as a Nation. Again from the Treasury's website. Look who's number 1 on the list. Here...

I give you this information so that you can see it for yourself. How do you think we have handled our country's finances?

The Economic Bailout/Stimulus Package(s)

A little over a month ago when this whole thing started, a request was made for an initial amount of $700,000,000,000.00 to prop up the declining financial markets and give financial institutions some liquidity. The first attempt requested unsupervised authority to deal out the money as they saw fit. The initial request was denied by the House (thanks to my Representative Rob Wittman for listening to us and voting against it) and Bailout version 2.0 was underway. This new version was suppose to give the government more oversight. Well a few weeks ago the same Ben Bernanke came out and said the he was wrong and bailout 2.0 didn't work. He also said that he would not disclose where the money had gone, showing us that V 2.o really had no real oversight in it. But that was OK, and he wanted the Congress to trust him and give him more money.

I have to say that I do not favor any bailout. It gives credit to people who have made bad decisions without any recourse. The people who drove these companies into the ground are still there. We are rewarding bad behavior. To make matters worse we have seen the government not only give money to failing company who were "too big to die" but also buy stock in them. Giving them an unfair advantage over any would be competitors. Furthermore, it's only been large companies that have had access to this money. Are there not people who have lost their jobs? Where is their bailout? Where are the voices of reason, saying that we cannot keep this up? We do not have this money. We are either printing it or borrowing it. At some point in time, something is going to give. When it does, the years of high deficits and wasteful spending will come back to bite us. When that happens it's going to get really ugly.

Introductions

Hello,

My name is Scott. I'm a 27 year old guy from VA. For a long time I have been very into politics. I've finally decided to start a blog to get those ideas out on the interenet.

Thanks for stopping by,

Scott