Saturday, February 28, 2009

Taxes, Taxes, More Taxes. By the Way - Even More Taxes

At first I thought this was funny . . .  
Then I realized the awful truth of it. 
 Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table At which he's fed. 
Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes Are the rule. 
Tax his work, Tax his pay, He works for peanuts Anyway! 
Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. 
Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt. 
Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he Tries to think. 
Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries Tax his tears. 
Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways To tax him fast! 
Tax all he has Then let him know 
That you won't be done Till he has no dough. 
When he screams and hollers, Then tax him more, 
Tax him till He's good and sore. 
Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in Which he's laid. 
Put these words upon his tomb, Taxes drove me to my doom.
When he's gone, Do not relax, It's time to apply - 
The inheritance tax. Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax, CDL license Tax, 
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax, Dog LicenseTax, 
Excise Taxes, 
Federal Income Tax,
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA), Fishing License Tax, 
Food License Tax,
Fuel Permit Tax, Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon), 
Gross Receipts Tax,
Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Inventory Tax,
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax, Luxury Taxes,
Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax, Personal Property Tax,
Privilege Tax, Property Tax, Real Estate Tax,
Recreational Vehicle Tax, Road Usage Tax,
Service Charge Tax, Social Security Tax,  Sales Tax,
School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Use Tax, Utility Taxes,
Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax.   
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? 
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago. 
 
And our nation was the most prosperous in the world.  

We had absolutely no national debt, 

Had the largest middle class in the world, 

And Mom stayed home to raise the kids. 
 
What in the world happened? 

Can you spell "politicians?" 
 And I still have to press 1 for English!?!?!?!?
 I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times!!!!! 
 YOU can help it get there!!!!
 GO AHEAD - - - BE AN AMERICAN !!!!!!


Friday, February 27, 2009

Global Guerrilas Blog - Check it Out

I seem to have a theme running here this week.  Just discovered John Robb's Global Guerrillas and you will want to check out this particular post there ( http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2009/02/the-quick-road-to-global-insurgency.html).  He wrote the book Brave New War by Wiley publishing (2007).  To learn more about him, here is his link from that blog ( http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/about.html).  Was surprised to discovered that he took his flight training at Reese Air Force Base located in my home town of Lubbock, Texas.  

Open Source Revolution (i.e Tea Party, Part Two)?

Quoting C.W. Richards who was doing a review of Mr. Robb's book on Amazon.com, "Global guerrillas practice something Robb calls "open source warfare," which means that in the modern environment, people even on different continents can form or join groups, train, and carry out operations much more quickly than in the past or than the major legacy states can today.  As the groups learn from each other (and a sort of Darwinism selects out the unfit), a larger pattern forms, an "emergent intelligence," similar to a marauding colony of army ants, no one of which is very sophisticated, but operating together according to simple rules, they are survivable, adaptable, and in a suitable environment, invincible.

"As Robb summarizes it:  ...the behavior of these insurgencies as a whole seems to learn, achieve goals, and engage in self-preservation, despite the vast differences in how individual groups are organized.(p126)."

How to counter all of this?  Robb's answer is basically improve one's resilience by any means possible.  The federal governemnts provides incentives to homewoners to, for example, energy resilience.  As more people add power generation to their own houses - solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, or whatever, the overall 'national' energy resilience is improved.  Which makes it harder for terrorist groups to stage a raid on - say a oil pipeline and cause a distruption of service that way. 

I can't help but think that we can witness the rise of COBRA for real (or KORBA so that Hasbro doesn't have a cow over their cash cow).  
     


Thursday, February 26, 2009

American Tea Party Revolution - February 19, 2009


Have you noticed in the past week all these so called Tea Parties/protest marches that are springing up all over the country.  I'm seeing more and more references to it online myself.

CNBC's Rick Santelli passionate rant on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on February 19, 2009 may have been the trigger for the start of the next American Civil War/or Revolution. Mr. Santelli was responding to news of President's Obama's plan for $275 billion in deficit-financed homeowner buyouts.  

Go back in my Flash Force 255 Bunker Blog Archives here December 30, 2008 - "Breakup of the United States in 2010?" (http://flash255bunker.blogspot.com/2008/12/breakup-of-united-states-in-2010.html). Russian professor Igor Panarin was predicting the eventual breakup of the United States of America due to economic pressures.

World Net Daily has several postings related to this.  Other bloggers also are picking up the battlecry.  But this Tea Party Revolution is also being helped along by still unanswered questions about President Obama's legitimate qualifications to be president.  Forty-Two lawsuits been filed demanding that President Obama produce his vault certificate of birth and prove he's a natural born citizen as is required by the Constitution.  Now word has come down that four Tennessee legislators have signed on as plaintiffs in this effort.

Then there is the efforts of 1st Lt. Scott Easterling that I posted about on February 25, 2009 on this blog.  Everyday we witness history unfold before our eyes.  

______
REF. World Net Daily reports (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=90055 
 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=89788  
 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=89942.  http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=page&page-id=78

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

1st Lt. Scott Easterling vs. President Obama


The story of a U.S. Soldier on active duty in Iraq is questioning President Obama's eligibility to be President of the United States (and thus commander-in-chief) has grown. Now a second soldier has join forces with 1st Lt. Scott Easterling.  Above photo was provided to World Net Daily and that is where the credit goes to.


In a story posted by Bob Unruh (WND, February 23, 2009), he relates the story of 1st Lt. Scott Easterling who is challenging Obama's qualifications to be commander-in-chief. A statement publicized by California attorney Orly Taitz, in concert with her DefendOurFreedom.us foundation, is working on several legal cases seeking to uncover Barack Obama's birth records and other documents that would reveal whether he meets the requirements outline in the U.S. Constitution.


Quoting the article and 1st Lt. Scott Easterling, “As an active-duty officer in the United States Army, I have grave concerns about the constitutional eligibility of Barack Hussein Obama to hold the office of president of the United States,” in his “To-whom-it-may-concern-letter.” Continuing with his letter, Obama “has absolutely refused to provide to the American public his original birth certificate, as well as other documents which may prove or disprove his eligibility. In fact, he has fought every attempt made by concerned citizens in their effort to force him to do so.”


Taitz told WND that she had advised Easterling to obtain legal counsel before making any statements regarding the commander-in-chief, but he insisted on moving forward. 1st Lt. Scott Easterling contention is that as an active member of the U.S. Military, he is required to follow orders from a sitting president, and he needs – on pain of court martial – to know that Obama is eligible.


Easterling adds, “Until Mr. Obama releases a 'vault copy' of his original birth certificate for public review, I will consider him neither my Commander in Chief nor my President, but rather, a usurper to the Office – an impostor.”


Scott Easterling was working as a contractor in Iraq and after that, decided to join the Army at age 40. “I chose to work... to support my troops and then left that lucrative position when the Army raised its maximum enlistment age to 40. Upon completion of basic training, I entered Officer Candidate School and commissioned as a 2Lt in August 2007. After completing the subsequent basic officer leadership courses, I was assigned to Ft. Knox and shortly thereafter deployed to Balad, Iraq,” he wrote. 'I implore all service-members and citizens to contact their senators and representatives and demand that they require Mr. Obama prove his eligibility. Our Constitution and our great nation must not be allowed to be disgraced.”


The WND article then went on to provide a partial listing and status of other similar lawsuits concerning Obama's eligibility. It all boils down to if Obama meets the requirements of being a natural born citizen. The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1: No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.


Challenges to Obama's status cover such things as whether or not he really was born in Hawaii (as he insists). Or if he was actually born out of the country since Obama's American mother, the lawsuits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer American citizenship to her son under the law at the time. Other challenges focus on his citizenship thru his father, a Keyan subject to the jurisdiction of the Untied Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen. The framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born.


Now in another article by Bob Unruh, posted on February 24, 2009, there is another soldier on active duty in Iraq who is joining 1st Lt. Scott Easterling in his lawsuit. While at the time of the article posting, this other soldier's name and rank has not been released. The second soldier wrote to Taitz “I am an Army reservist who was activated last August and am currently serving with a military police battalion in Camp Bucca, Iraq, I will be here until at least June 2009. When I enlisted last year I had to show my birth certificate, as well as my driver's license, high school diploma, college transcripts, social security card; I also filled out loads of paperwork to include listing the names, addresses and phone numbers of my family members and had to answer any questions regarding foreign travel.”


Anticipating a wave of anger and outage from Obama supporters, this new soldier asked that he be given no “unnecessary publicity,” although his name eventually will become public when the case is filed.


This case needs to be followed closely.


UPDATE (March 5, 2009):  Other miltary officers from the Army, Navy, Marines, and the Air Force are now working with Orly Taitz and her Defend Our Freedoms Foundation according to another article by Bob Unruth (WND, March 02, 2009).  Ms. Taitz is citing legal rights that was established in British common law over 800 years ago (and thus was recognized by the U.S. Founding Fathers as well).  Barack Obama must provide documentation to prove or disprove his eligibility to be President of the United States.

Ms. Taitz mailed to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder a request that he "relate Quo Warranto on Barack Hussein Obama II to test his title to president before the Supreme Court."  That really means to does he have authority to act as president.

Requesting the action are some miltary brass going out on a limb.  Major General Carroll Childers; LT.Col. (Dr) David Earl-Graef; police officer (reservist in the Navy) Commander Clinton Grimes.  New Hampshire state Rep. Timothy Comerford; Tennessee state Rep. Frank Nicely.  And of course, 1st Lt. Scott Easterling.  


_____

Ref. Original article on 1st Lt. Scott Easterling, (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=89837 )

Second article related to 1st Lt. Scott Easterling. ( http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=89941 )

Updated article relating to this case. ( http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=90574 ) and (  http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=90125 ).




Sunday, February 22, 2009

Al-Qaeda Founder Attacks Osama (Oh Really?)

Al-Qaeda founder, Sayyid Imam al-Sharif (or better known as Dr Fadl); attacks Osama bin Laden from his Egyptian prison recently. Check out the link that will be posted below for the actual article.

Basically, OBL goofed big time in upsetting Uncle Sam and thus in the process, lots and lots of Muslims were killed when they need not have been.

Dr. Fadl, 20 years ago, wrote a book saying what a great idea it would be to attack the west. Now from his prison, he has comeout with a new book saying basically the opposite - or that is what I took from reading the article. I will let the reader make up their own minds on that issue.
____

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/4736358/Al-Qaeda-founder-launches-fierce-attack-0n-Osama-bin-Laden.html

Friday, February 20, 2009

Tamil Tigers - They Have Their Own Air Force Now?!

From a BBC News, Colombo article by Roland Buerk posted on Monday, March 26, 2007.  

Its amazing what you can dig up on the internet. Just a link in a article about one subject and take you off in another direction.  I was reading Reuters and saw a article (by Ranga Sirilal. Reuters dated February 20, 2009 about the Tamil Tigers terrorist organization attack Colombo yet again).  With their own aircraft! I must have missed that issue of Solider of Fortune magazine.

Two rebel Tamil Tiger aircraft attacked the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo on Friday, bombing a tax building and injuring at least 27 people.  According to the defense spokesmanKeheliy Rambukwella, "One plane dropped a bomb on the Inland Revenue building catching on fire."  He went on, "We have shot one down in Katunayake and found the wreckage and the body of the pilot."  Katunayake is the international airport outside Colombo.  The separatists Tamil Tiger rebels have been cornered in a shrinking war zone, but they have a fleet of small planes that they have used to carry out aerial attacks in the past.  

While most of the territory has been taken by the rapid military advance of the Sri Lankanarmy, none of their small, single-engine planes have been found so far.  

The Sri Lankan civil war is the longest-running war in Asia and has killed a reported 70,000 people since it begn in 1983.  And the rebel group not only operates aircraft, but it has a sea wing as well.  

What is this I asked myself?  A terrorist/rebel organization now operating their own air force?  I had to check this out.  And I did.  That is where I found the article by Roland Buerk (March 26, 2007.  BBC News, Colombo, Sri Lanka).  

The rebels are using single-engine Czech-design Zlin-143 aircraft.  Normally a civilian light general aviation aircraft.  There was a photo showing one of these aircraft with a bomb rack holding four bombs on it with that article as well as a drawing of the Zlin-143s

From 1980s through 2007, the fight has always been on land or out at sea, but now the rebels have added a air capability.  

I have posted this on my other blog as well (http://aerospacedreams.blogspot.com).

_____

Ref.  http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE51J4I720090220 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6496381.stm   

Monday, February 16, 2009

Victory in Iraq Declared last Year

November 22, 2008. The War in Iraq is over. By every measure, US and Coalition Forces have conclusively defeated all the enemies in Iraq. Have pacified the countryside, deposed the previous regime. Helped to create a new functioning democratic government, and suppressed any lingering insurgencies.

This is in a nutshell, a victory statement that I found on the blog (sithwest.blogspot.com) dated November 22, 2008. Other links were quickly followed to get a overall snapshot of what is going on.

From the blog irasciblechef.com entitled Headline on Mainstream-Fox (http://www.irasciblechef.com/headline-on-fox/ ) , the established benchmarks that Congress set up to determine victory in the War in Iraq has been meet. But you would not have know it from the lack of coverage in the mainstream news media. Only in the blogosphere does it appear that such information is slowly spreading out. Its February, 2009, and only now am I discovering this tidbit of news.

While the government has not made such an announcement – marking an official date. Fellow bloggers and veterans have chosen the date of victory for themselves – November 22, 2008. As such, this link (http://www.zombietime.com/vi_day/ ) is a quote “Virtual ticker-tape parade for our brave troops, to celebrate their success, to remember the fallen, and to declare in the words of President John F. Kennedy: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

Especially read the posting on Infidels Are Cool.com (http://infidelsarecool.com/2008/11/22/happy-victory-in-iraq-day/ ). However, I recommend reading the airforcepundit.blogspot.com posting on this article ( http://airforcepundit.blogspot.com/2008/11/victory-in-iraq-day.html ).

__

Ref. ( http://www.zombietime.com/vi_day/ )

http://infidelsarecool.com/2008/11/22/happy-victory-in-iraq-day/

http://ussneverdock.blogspot.com/2008/11/victory-in-iraq-day.html

http://airforcepundit.blogspot.com/2008/11/victory-in-iraq-day.html

Sunday, February 15, 2009

New Star Trek Movie Related Toys



New Star Trek Movie related toys are in the pipeline from Playmates with the first wave due out in Spring of 2009 according to the latest issue of Toyfare magazine (issue #140, pages 12-13). Going online, there several dealers already offering pre-order for these toys. Major release date is set for April 19, 2009 for this product line.


First off is the model of the U.S.S. Enterprise itself with flashing lights. It'll be about $30.00 - 40.00 range on average. I included the pic of the new Enterprise here for the simple fact that it gives a good view of what the top of it looks like.  So far, all we have seen is just side views of the ship


Then there are “Role Playing Props” that one can get: the phaser and communicator.


Then there will naturally be the action figures in three scales. The more common 3.75-inch and 6-inch size that will have play sets such as the Bridge ($25.00) and Transporter Rooms ($30.00) for them. They will also come in the 12” size as well. These actions figures will be very life-like, and fully articulated and will come with removable utility belts, phasers, communicators, tricorders and other accessories. Expected pricing for each scale is as follows: $6.99, $8.99, and $29.99). Then there are the 12” size (I.e. 1/6th scale figures) that I am in particular looking forward to. “Both” Spocks, then Kirk and McCoy, and then finally - Nero, the Romulan.


When these figures hit the stores this spring (and the second wave in the wall), you can expect to see a lot more “photo-comics” adventures dreamed up with these guys and posted online.

_________

Ref. Toyfare #140, pages 12-13.

http://trekmovie.com/2009/01/21/playmates-star-trek-movie-toys-revealed/

http://www.action-figure.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=24363

http://www.readjunk.com/news/junk/playmates-toys-announce-star-trek-movie-toys


Friday, February 13, 2009

For the Star Trek Fans Out There


For the Star Trek Fans out there like me!

Being a member of Trekspace, one can get all sorts of information.  Recently found this and decided that with the big day tomorrow, what the hell...  I'll post a link to this blogsite.  Now if only I had a wife( or girlfriend, mistress, etc) to wear something like this...

And as we all know, sex sells.  Enjoy.

____

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Untapped Oil Reserves in the United States in 2008


Thanks to a email from a old flying buddy of mine, I am writing this post for both of my blogs (http://aerospacedreams.blogspot.com/ and http://flash255bunker.blogspot.com/ ).


While the email that was sent to me delt with the Bakken Formation in Montana and North Dakota, I also found a fact sheet dealing with the Permian Basin – a region that I live in. Please use the links provided below and print these out for yourself and your friends. Email your friends with those links or a link to this blog for their own education. The news about the Bakken MUST get out to the general public. It must evade the efforts of the green party (I.e. The Democratic Party and their propaganda machine – the mainstream news media).


Quoting the United States Geological Survey report for the Permian Basin, "The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently assessed the undiscovered oil and gas potential of the Permian Basin Province of west Texas and southeast New Mexico. The assessment was geology based and used the total petroleum system concept. The geologic elements of a total petroleum system are petroleum source rocks (quality, source rock maturation, generation, and migration), reservoir rocks (sequence stratigraphy, petrophysical properties), and traps (trap formation and timing). This study assessed potential for technically recoverable resources in new field discoveries only; field growth (or reserve growth) of conventional oil and gas fields was not included. Using a this methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 41 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas and a mean of 1.3 billion barrels of undiscovered oil in the Permian Basin Province."


This is good news if the US had the strength to ignore those voices on the left and not harming the planet, etc, etc. But, the news is even better with what is known as the “Devonian-Mississippian Bakken Formation” This is a a area that covers North and South Dakota and parts of Montana. USGS estimates a mean “undiscovered” volume of 3.6 Billion barrels of oil, 1.85 TRILLION cubic feet of associated/dissolved natural gas. And finally, 148 million barrels of natural gas liquids in this region.


And since this is a light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16.00 per Barrel!


This is enough to fully fuel the American economy for Forty-One (41) straight years!


Now this next bit of information should really floor the reader. It was released several years ago (April 20, 2006, Stansberry Report Online). U.S. Oil Discovery – Largest Reserve in the World! Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world is more than 2 Trillion barrels. On August 8, 2005, President Bush mandated its extraction.


They reported this amazing news: We have more oil inside our own borders, than ALL the other proven reserves on the planet. Eight times as much oil as Saudi Arabia. Eighteen times as much oil as Iraq. Twenty-One and Twenty-Two times as much oil as Kuwait and Iran respectively. 500 times as much oil as Yemen. All right here in the United States of America.


And the reason WE are NOT extracting this?! You already know the answer to this question. It is because the environmentalists and others (I.e. The Greens and their lobby groups working on the Democratic party), have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil!


The head researcher of the study, James Bartis, says that we( the USA) got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East – more than TWO TRILLION barrels untapped. The Denver Post quoted him as saying, “That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today.”


Think about this, the current cost of a barrel of oil is: $40.41 as of February 8, 2009, but the prices of gas at the gas pump is still climbing again – getting ready to shock it to us again for the second year in a row. Why is this?


My thoughts on this is this. There are those who believe in Peak Oil – that oil is a finite resource. While there is talk (and only talk) of building more refineries – that will not happen. Because if one believes in Peak Oil – and that we have ALREADY crossed that dividing line, there will not be enough oil to process in 20-30 years. Which is also the amount of time it would take in order for a refinery to pay itself off. Here is a link about Peak Oil for you (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_Oil).


I no longer believe in Peak Oil myself. More and more discoveries of oil are being made at far greater depth than what one would expect to find dead dinosaurs and plant matter to be at. Oil, I think, is a geological byproduct. We've been taught about the theory of Continental Drift and how the continents of the earth move relative to one another. This is an old hypothesis put forth by Abraham Ortelius in 1596 and more fully developed by Alfred Wegener in 1912. (Check it out at Wikipedia yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_drift).


Is oil a byproduct of Continental Drift? For myself, as of this date; I think the answer is yes.
_____

References:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_Oil
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_drift
3. http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2007/3115/
4. http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911
5. http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1353/
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3021/pdf/FS08-3021_508.pdf
photo from www.fotosearch.com (1169611) royalty free photograph.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Reuters Blogs

I found this fascinating quote today:



Nassim Nicholas Taleb,  the author of  “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable”, has a simple proposal to as he puts it, “save capitalism and free markets from the banks.”Reuters Blogs, Jan 2009



You should read the whole article.