If the glove doesn't fit...

OK... so there I was, checking out my daily Yahoo! News when I came upon an article that caught my attention.

"Attorney: Oklahoma City bomb tapes appear edited"

In the article, it discusses how a Salt Lake City attorney named Jesse Trentadue has been privately investigating the April 19th, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Apparently he just received security camera tapes from the FBI and feels there is a problem...

The tapes turned over by the FBI came from security cameras various companies had mounted outside office buildings near the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. They are blank at points before 9:02 a.m., when a truck bomb carrying a 4,000 pound fertilizer-and-fuel-oil bomb detonated in front of the building, Trentadue said.

"Four cameras in four different locations going blank at basically the same time on the morning of April 19, 1995. There ain't no such thing as a coincidence," Trentadue said.

Apparently Jesse feels that the US Government is not being completely forth coming with the evidence it has, and has no problem shooting his mouth off about it...

He said government officials claim the security cameras did not record the minutes before the bombing because "they had run out of tape" or "the tape was being replaced."

"The interesting thing is they spring back on after 9:02," he said. "The absence of footage from these crucial time intervals is evidence that there is something there that the FBI doesn't want anybody to see."

He's not done yet...

FBI agents did not report finding any security tapes from the federal building itself.

The FBI in the past refused to release the security camera recordings, leading Trentadue and others to contend the government was hiding evidence that others were involved in the attack.

"It's taken a lawsuit and years to get the tapes," Trentadue said.

He received the latest batch of tapes over the summer in response to an April request for video from security cameras in 11 different locations. Nothing on the tapes was unexpected.

"The more important thing they show is what they don't show," Trentadue said. "These cameras would have shown the various roads and approaches to the Murrah Building."

The more important thing they show is what they don't show??? OK... I have had my fill of layer double talk. I realize our judicial system is a joke, but I am just not sure I can take any more. When the words "beyond a reasonable doubt" were coined, it was meant to make sure a jury was sure they were convicting the right person. And that, if they weren't certain this was the guy, they didn't convict him wrongly.

Is it just me or have the attorneys of today decided the best defense is to create reasonable doubt? Reasonable doubt was never meant to be 'created', it was simply meant to either be present or not. When did it go from, "As this man's defense attorney, I present you this evidence that my client is Innocent and could not have possibly been the man who committed the crime" to "As this man's defense attorney, here are 100 other possibilities that are meant to confuse and distract you from the fact my client committed the crime."

And now... we have this 'do gooder' lawyer in salt lake that is making the same argument about the Oklahoma City Bombing evidence. Essentially he is saying that, because I wasn't given the evidence, the evidence must be missing rather than non-existent. I will admit that he has two things going for him... 1) it is rather coincidental that 4 cameras did seem to mis-function at the worst possible moment that would have provided much needed evidence, and 2) our federal government seems to be less than forth coming with evidence to the public.

Which leads me to my second half of my rant (the first being about lawyers, the bums)... why is our government so secretive with it's own people? I understand they can not give out every detail, but all to often they seem to hide even the simplest of details. I will chose one of the most contested 'conspiracies' as my example.... JFK. Personally, I believe there was a cover-up. What all it covers, I am not certain. But from the evidence I have seen, it appears to me that there was more than a single shooter. But yet, our government emphatically denies any conspiracy and that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman. Why? If they have fool proof evidence that he was, then why don't they release it? Instead they have classified documents, mis-placed evidence and (in my opinion) made a joke of themselves in how obvious information has been withheld... and all in the interest of public safety. Safety from what?

Why does our government repeatedly cover up things or hide information from us? Now, I am not suggesting they start sending out mailers with the nuclear codes on them... I realize some secrets are needed and most would pertain to military. But why couldn't it simply open to the public all evidence of the JFK assassination? Who would it hurt (besides those that covered anything up to begin with)? And think of what would be achieved politically by the president that did such an act. He/She would be a god!

Picture if you will... Obama sitting at his desk in the oval office giving a public address to the nation (OK nothing new there)... "My fellow Americans, tonight I sit before you humbled as your leader and must admit that our government has been part of a massive conspiracy against it's own people. For 40 years now secrets have been kept and hidden from you the people, secrets that should have been available for all to see. As of this moment the secrecy ends. (President hold up a black binder with the presidential seal on it) This is a presidential decree in which I am lifting any withholding of information in regards to the assassination of our former president John F. Kennedy. For all those that have wanted access to the evidence, you shall now have it. (Opens binder and signs the document). I have appointed a Czar (couldn't help myself) to oversee all other 'classified' documents that should also be released to the public. By this I mean all documentation regarding Roswell NM, Big Foot, the chupacabra, etc. Provided there is no information contained within that would otherwise compromise our military or law enforcement agencies, you shall have full transparency into what your government has previously hid from you. You are the people of the United States, and you deserve to know the truth. Thank you, and God bless the United States."

If this ever happened, the man would be untouchable and go down in history of one of the greatest presidents ever! He could completely botch Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Korea, etc. The people would applaud his forth coming and honesty above any other failure. So why doesn't the government step up to the plate? Why can it not be honest... even with itself? I mean of course... why other than the fact that government and honesty are complete polar opposites. I guess my question is.... why does government feel it must be dishonest with the citizens that elected it? And why, as the citizen, do we tolerate it?

I have a theory... I think it is because uncertainty is more powerful than truth. If the government gave us truth, we the citizens probably wouldn't know what to do. Obviously those that agreed would go along, and those that disagreed would abstain. But, by keeping all of us confused and uncertain, we all just 'go along' since we don't have hard evidence one way or the other. Our suspicions are just that, suspicions. If we know a politician is lying to us, we wont vote for him. Likewise, if we think he is telling the truth... we will. But if none of us are sure what he is saying is true or not... we might assume he is lying as all politicians do, but still vote for him since we are unsure.

So... to come full circle, is it any wonder that our government it now ran by lawyers? The same people that like to confuse a jury with 'reasonable doubt' are the same people that would like to keep us in the dark and confused as citizens. We are more controllable that way. And thus why we keep electing them, and they keep hiding the truth from us.

Food For Thought...

The way we grow, process and eat our food in this world has come under fire recently in the not-so-mainstream media. Many are advocating a better field-to-plate than what we currently have, and I for one would agree that we could do better. A clip comes to mind from the trailer for "Food Inc." in which a chicken farmer makes a comment regarding the development time of his chickens. He asks the question that if you can have a chicken that grows in 49 days (hormone fed I assume) why would you want one that grows in 3 months (natural growth rate). Has capitalism gone to far? I would actually ask this question of many things... Wall Street, Health Care, etc.

Regardless of how you feel about the field-to-plate process, I do question the way such subjects are now being debated. Well... maybe debated is the wrong word in this case. It seems that a University in Madison, WI has taken the matter into its own hands. They have distributed a book too all students and faculty, and have urged the faculty to use and reference the book throughout the semester... and they have done it free of charge. The book is titled "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan. While I am sure Pollan makes some good arguments, as does the film (and book) "Food Inc.", I still must question why a University would feel the need to distribute such literature to all its students and faculty. If this is not a case of indoctrination, then what exactly is it? Tell me what you think?

Request for History Lessons

Once again it has taken me far too long to make get a post up. I may follow in the foot steps of my friend Kevin and begin to post the occasional "Quote of the Day" or maybe a moment of Zen.... but for now I have a request to those of you who might know a little more about history than I do (which shouldn't be hard, as I practically know nothing... isn't public education great!)

My request:

I am in search of references and sources that will provide me with global slices of history. In other words, I would like a reference that will give me an accurate view of what was happening at a particular time throughout the world. Say 1492 AD... not only was Columbus making his epic voyage, but what else was happening at the same time in the Middle East, China, Russia, etc. I want to see what was changing in these various regions as we as a country were forming. Also what was happening globally as our country continued to change over the past century. Any and all information, sources, links, etc. are greatly appreciated.

And now.... for my quote of the day:

"I do have a test today, that wasn't bullshit. It's on European Socialism. I mean really, what's the point. I'm not European, I don't plan on being European... so who gives a crap if they are Socialists. They could be Fascist Anarchist, it still wouldn't change the fact that I don't own a car." - Ferris Bueller, 1986

As for the car, way to go Kevin... can't what to see the new ride.

For Mostly Cajun...

I followed a link to Mostly Cajun's "Random Thoughts" post and could not help but laugh at almost all of them. One in particular caught my eye and I felt I should post a response... mostly so the images could be copied and applied where needed.

In response to: "36. Is it just me or do high school girls get s!uttier & s!uttier every year?"

I have a large collection of "inspirational" posters on file, but these are the only 4 I thought pertained to what Mostly Cajun was pondering.

Enjoy!

Late Again...

Hello to all... to all... to all... (note the echo in the room). I swear I can almost hear the digital crickets chirping.

Again my apologies to those that actually looked to my blog for a post and never found one. I had promised a post due by a week ago and here I find myself a week behind and still no post. For those that have started to read my blog (if you still come by to read), you will note that I tend to wax a bit on any subject I write about. My complains that I like to talk to much... go figure. I guess I feel I have a lot to say, and especially on a subject that I feel any sort of passion for I tend to go on more than I should. I think that I have been trying to say to much about too many things recently. I have several major posts I have been working on piece by piece, but I never seem to complete them and get them posted... mainly because I feel they are still incomplete. That being said, I think this post shall be a small taste of the various subjects I am currently researching and writing about... and will eventually complete and post. Until then, these one-paragraph highlights will leave room for comments, questions and further dialog on the development of said subjects.

Where Has All The Money Gone? - This particular post idea came when I started thinking further about the bailouts and when I watched a trailer for the upcoming Michael Moore film "Capitalism: A Love Story". There is a seen in which he approaches on of the major recipients of government bail-out funds with a money sack looking for them to return the 10 billion they received and commenting that they would probably need more sacks as it probably wouldn't all fit in one. Laughingly I thought to myself that obviously they would never give him the money, and definitely not in cash. If anything it would be a check and even then... it probably would most likely be a wire transfer. But then this got me thinking... how did the government give the stimulus money to these various businesses in the first place? It was doubtful there was a check of any kind... it all had to be electronic. Which made me start to thinking about where all the money had gone. And even if you had cold, hard cash... what made it worth anything to begin with? Our dollars used to follow the gold standard and were backed by a physical commodity, but that long since has gone away. Now the dollar bill is only worth what a digital computer printout says it is worth. If I had a million dollars in my local bank account, would I be able to go down and close that account and be handed cash? I doubt it... it would probably be a check. And why? Because the bank doesn't have it. I am willing to bet that the majority of actual cash is in the pockets of most Americans or in the registers and safes of many of the daily businesses we patronize. As for the banks and the financial institutions... all they own are 1's and 0's in a computer system that says they have so much. Which leads me to ask... Where has all the money gone?

Capitalism vs Communism vs Anarchy vs etc. - For this post, I have been reviewing the various government designs... and discovering they are not all that different. I know some of you would completely disagree, but in reality... well, do the research. The idea came from one of Kevin's posts in which he was talking about "Restoring the Lost Constitution". He had also references various other blogs discussing the idea as well, all of which raised two primary thoughts... 1) is it possible to restore the constitution able to be restored? and 2) was the original constitution flawed and thus the results we have are what would only repeat? The later was really my primary inspiration. I got to thinking that, while our constitution does lay out the ground work for a republic, in fact all government doctrines whether they be capitalistic or communist, are actually a form of anarchy to some degree. While anarchy would say that no organised government would rule the society and that society would rule itself... in fact, is that not what the constitution outlines? We the people... a government for the people by the people.... yes... it is an organised governing body, but one of the people. Also... one of the flaws that even I have pointed out to a former friend about anarchy is that it requires all the members of the society to think the same to a certain degree, else be cast out of that society... well, doesn't the Constitution ask the same? Does it not ask that all the people that follow that document to agree to the same common governing concept?

Former Friend Ronn Redux - As for some of you, you may have already read a posting I wrote a while back... The Price of Your Beliefs. In this post I discussed a difference of opinion between a friend of mine, Ronn, and I. I had copied both mine and his emails back and forth, all with the intent of giving Ronn a fair shake in his arguments. Well... needless to say, Ronn was less than appreciative. We have exchanged several more emails, but to no avail. He refuses to explain his stance politically and seems only intent on continuing the ridicule of my new found conservatism. He has even threatened legal action for having posted his emails. I had originally planned to post the following emails, again with the interest in giving Ronn his fair shake... wouldn't want to be accused of paraphrasing his position, but then I thought paraphrasing might actually be more fun. Hopefully, when read in conjunction with the first posting, you will understand my paraphrasing in know way diminishes his position and/or comments. As a final note, I think that Ronn and I most likely will not be seeing each other again... Ronn, old buddy... if you are out there, consider this a fond farewell. Hope you find more happiness on the other side!

AS you can see... I seem to lack the ability to keep it short. But now at least, you have a taste of what is brewing in posts to come. Hope to hear from some of you on the listed subjects, perhaps some further references and links to aid in the development of these posts would be nice. Hope to have one of them up by next weekend at the latest... but I think it safer if I not make that a promise this time. Keep reading and checking back from time to time... will try to get more up in the near future.

Coming Soon....

Hello to all, and again my deepest apologies for not keeping up with my blogging responsibilities. Much like Kevin, I too have been busy. For all those that had come to read my posts, please keep checking. I promise more very soon... in fact, have 4 separate pieces in the process now.

I hope this weekend I will get the first one up. For those that have read before, I am in the process of loosing a "friend" to the fact I have taken on a new conservative outlook on the world. We have exchanged several more emails, and it looks as if the writing is on the wall... not only is he an Anarchist, but also was never a "real friend". To the point he has even threaten legal action of having posted our emails in one of my past articles.

Also, I am working on one regarding the financial market of today. Namely, where did the money go and how is it backed? All we see now for the most part is numbers on a computer screen or a piece of paper. The cash we might actually hold means what exactly? It's value continues to decline as more and more is printed, and what gives it it's value to begin with... it used to be the gold reserves, but I am not even sure those still exist any more.

Finally, as some of you who have browsed my entire history (all be it short) will have noticed some "reviews". My initial concept for this blog was to be a shared space for both political comments and rants as well as my restaurant and film reviews. I have come to realise that these things have absolutely no business being in the same archive. I am in process of creating 2 additional blogs that will be dedicated to the other two subjects. I will be adding links to them on this sight as well, but this will become purely a political discussion sight. It may only see a posting a week until my schedule frees up a bit more, but at least it will be dedicated to the single subject. I didn't feel it fair that someone wanting to read a piece on... say... the invasion of Marxism into our schools during the middle part of the last century (see Kevin's last post) needed to sift through my local restaurant and film reviews. However, for those of you planing to travel to Tucson, AZ... the restaurant reviews may be a good thing to check out. My wife and I have pretty high standards and speak fairly about the places we go.

Until the next post...