Dave Easterly’s Bravo Sierra Blog

A Modern Day Fable

June 25, 2007 on 11:13 pm | In General |
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I found this both painfully, depressingly true and at the same time laugh-worthy…

A MODERN FABLE

Aesop’s fables and other traditional children’s stories involve allegory
far too subtle for the youth of today. Children need an updated message
with contemporary circumstance and plot line, and short enough to suit
today’s minute attention span.

The Troubled Aardvark

Once upon a time, there was an aardvark whose only pleasure in life was
driving from his suburban bungalow to his job at a large brokerage house
in his brand new 4×4. He hated his manipulative boss, his conniving and
unethical co-workers, his greedy wife, and his snivelling, spoiled
children. One day, the aardvark reflected on the meaning of his life and
his career and on the unchecked, catastrophic decline of his nation, its
pathetic excuse for leadership, and the complete ineffectiveness of any
personal effort he could make to change the status quo. Overcome by a
wave of utter depression and self-doubt, he decided to take the only
course of action that would bring him greater comfort and happiness: he
drove to the mall and bought imported consumer electronics goods.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Invest in foreign consumer electronics manufacturers.
– Tom Annau

Are you an “enemy combatant?”

June 21, 2007 on 12:36 am | In General, Political Musings |
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You (and I) could be. Read more here.

This has to be the coolest musical geek toy ever…

June 21, 2007 on 12:03 am | In All Things Geeky, General, Music, Videos |
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http://www.hauntedfrog.com/gt/movies/2007/duckon/SingingTeslaShow.html

A quote for you…

June 18, 2007 on 1:40 pm | In General, Political Musings |
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This sounds a like a pretty apt analysis of what we’ve heard coming from the current administration:

Naturally the common people don’t want war… but after all it is the leaders
of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to
drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship,
or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people
can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you
have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists
for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same
in every country.

Before I attribute this quote to the person who said it, I think we should take a moment to recognize a few things:

1. Guantanamo isn’t a prison. It’s a concentration camp. It may not have the chlorine gas showers and the round-the-clock crematorium of Auschwitz, but the purpose is nearly the same.
2. Domestic spying is NOT lawful because it is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. The Constitution and Bill of Rights seem to have been completely forgotten by the NeoCons and those who support them.
3. For those who support the tactics of the current administration: If you are so deathly afraid of being attacked by a terrorist, then why do you insist on pursuing a foreign policy that FEEDS the Islamo-Fascists’ rhetoric about the “Crusading Westerners” and PROVOKES confrontation? By being on their home turf, we’ve only made ourselves EASIER targets! Why can you not open your eyes and THINK about this?

So, dear reader… Any guesses about who made the opening quote? Karl Rove? Donald Rumsfeld? Dick Cheney? What about Karl Marx? Or Joseph Stalin? Perhaps Napoleon?

NOPE! None of the above.

Naturally the common people don’t want war… but after all it is the leaders
of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to
drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship,
or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people
can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you
have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists
for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same
in every country.
– Hermann Goering

That’s right… Hermann Goering.

Defend the Constitution and your own liberty! Vote for Ron Paul in 2008

New Hampshire Debates – Was there a clear winner?

June 6, 2007 on 1:36 pm | In General, Personal, Political Musings |
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Well, look at the results nationwide from vote.com:

This shows Ron Paul with TEN TIMES MORE VOTES than the nearest competitor! While I may disagree with Ron on some social issues like abortion and gay marriage, I think his “personal liberty with personal accountability” approach would do far MORE for our future freedom than any other candidate. His stand on gays in the military (from the earlier debate) was the most logical – “If there is homosexual behavior in the military that is disruptive, it should be dealt with. But if there’s heterosexual sexual behavior that is disruptive, it should be dealt with.
So it isn’t the issue of homosexuality. It’s the concept and the understanding of individual rights,â€? he said. But he went so far as to say “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was a decent policy. I don’t think gays should have to hide their homosexuality just like straights don’t have to hide their heterosexuality, so “coming out” or someone being openly gay when they enlist should NEVER be a grounds to exclude someone from serving their country. So while I am more socially liberal, I find Ron Paul’s _true_ conservatism a welcome change and believe it will be the best hope for a better future for our nation and ALL of it’s diverse people.

CNN’s poll doesn’t show as wide a gap, but the message is similar:

Results for Idaho were similar:

And last but not least, for my district. No real surprise here. We all know how the Mormons look out for their own, so LDS candidate Mitt Romney had a stronger showing, but still nowhere NEAR Ron Paul:

(All results come from vote.com and cnn.com and are the property of their respective owners. Use of information from their sites is for reporting my own personal observations and is fair use under current copyright laws.)