A Warning From Amos

“I, the Sovereign Lord, am watching this sinful nation of Israel. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will never completely destroy the family of Israel” says the Lord. For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost. But all the sinners will die by the sword all those who say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’ Amos 9:8-10

Anyone who has studied the Old Testament will tell you that Israel had a bad habit of turning its back on God whether it be worshiping other Gods, idols or claiming that sin was being carried out with God's approval. But as one reads the Prophets especially Amos, one realizes that God will not hold back judgment because Israel refuses to listen to the prophets and even goes so far as to try to silence them (2:12, 3:8, 7:10-17).

Needless to say, Amos's message of social justice and retribution was not welcome in Israel. Amos is thought to have been set sometime around 750 B.C.E. During this time, Israel, the northern kingdom (presently most of Lebanon) had gone astray. The urban elites through credit manipulation and debt instruments, were able to drive the farmers away from their land and amass ill-gotten fortune for themselves. The elites had become smug to the point of mocking Amos's pleas of justice. The court system similarly was corrupt and unduly influenced. "They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name." Amos 2:7

The central idea of the book of Amos is that God puts his people on the same level as the nations that surround it - God expects the same purity of them all. As it is with all nations that rise up against the kingdom of God, even Israel and Judah will not be exempt from the judgment of God because of their idolatry and unjust ways. The nation that represents Yahweh must be made pure of anything or anyone that profanes the name of God. God's name must be upheld above all else. These themes are very much relevant to today's world. Committing atrocities in the name of God will not absolve individuals or nations of their sins.

Libertarian Party presidential candidate expresses viewpoints during Knoxville visit

(Originally published in the East Tennessee Business Journal July 2004;
View more at Michael Badnarik visits East Tennessee)

By Jayne Andrews, East Tennessee Business Journal

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. On July 1, Libertarian Party presidential candidate, Michael Badnarik, made a five-hour visit here to meet with local supporters and answer questions from the media. He attended a luncheon at the Mandarin House sponsored by the Knox County Libertarian Party. The event attracted Republicans, Democrats, and Green Party members as well as people who said they attended because they had never met a presidential candidate in person before.

Badnarik, a computer programmer from Texas and Constitutional scholar, also teaches Constitution classes. He was nominated at the Libertarian Party's national convention, which was held in Atlanta in late May 2004.

Badnarik's vice presidential running mate is Richard Campagna, a native of New York, now living in Iowa. Campagna is an attorney who has practiced, counseled and taught law for over 25 years. He has led seminars in all 50 states and every continent of the world and has an extensive record of public and community service. Additionally, Badnarik's mother, Elaine Badnarik, is the Libertarian Party's candidate for lieutenant governor in Indiana.

The Libertarian Party is the third-largest political party in the U.S., and well known for their emphasis on smaller government, civil liberties and personal freedom, a commitment to a free market economy and adherence to the Constitution. Libertarians are against gun control and believe that the "War on Drugs" has raised the price on all drugs, making them "profitable enough to kill for." They claim the Department of Education is unconstitutional, and not doing its job. Libertarians also support a foreign policy of non-intervention, peace and free trade, as prescribed by America's founders.

Badnarik answered the following questions from East Tennessee Business Journal and the audience:

Q. Where do you stand on property rights?
A. You have a right to all of your property, but you do not have a right to anyone else's property. When the government takes someone else's property in order to give it to you although you didn't do the stealing the government did it for you, and it is still government theft.

Q. What should we do about Social Security?
A. We have two groups of people who are pitted against each other. The older people who have already paid in to Social Security are expecting some sort of benefits so they can retire when they are too old to work any longer. The young people recognize that this is a sinking ship and they don't want to be forced to continue paying into Social Security. We need to be able to separate the two groups and find a way to take care of our elderly who unfortunately allowed the government to take responsibility for their retirement, which was a bad decision. We need to allow the young people to invest their money for their retirement. The baby boomers are going to cause this problem to really explode when they begin to retire in 2008.

Q. How did you feel when you were nominated as your party's presidential candidate, and how will you campaign?
A. I was a wee bit surprised that I was the one chosen, but am very honored. My first words in my acceptance speech were, "Never in my wildest dreams." I will continue to work very hard to bring the Libertarian message to Americans all the way up to the election. I want to bring as many people as I can into the Libertarian Party, which is strongly unified right now. I have found that people like me and know that I have integrity. Our slogan is "The Party of Principle" and I try very hard to live up to that. The media has taken a great interest in my campaign, and I have interviews booked all day every day. We have three people who do nothing but field phone calls from the media and organize my interviews.

Q. Where does the Libertarian Party stand on gay marriage?
A. Some members of the Libertarian Party are pro-life, some are pro-choice. As libertarians, we respect each other's right to our own beliefs. Personally, I believe that when two people say "If do," the government has no business saying, "Oh no, you don't." Politicians don't get to decide whose baby can be baptized, who can receive Holy Communion or who can get bar mitzvahed and they shouldn't get to decide who gets married either.

Q. Where do you stand on the environment?
A. Libertarians want clean water and air, and we want to protect the environment. I think I'm a wonderful spokesperson for the environment since I was a Boy Scout for 12 years and a Scout Master for 10 years. But having the government take care of environmental matters is probably the worst solution. We all know that any time the government does something, it costs 10 times as much as it normally would, and it doesn't work it creates more problems. The Bureau of Land Management polices forest area so that paper mills can come in and clear cut. Does that sound like protecting the environment? Having more government is not the answer, which we have already seen demonstrated. We can prove that private ownership is the only way. If a paper mill owns the land, they are only going to cut selected trees and will spend a lot of money to reforest that area so they've got resources in the future.

Q. What about deficit spending?
A. Every college student that leaves home learns one simple rule you can't spend more than you bring in. If a college kid leaving home can figure this out, why can't Congress? We have a $700 billion per year deficit that's $700 billion per year they spend that is not in the budget. That's absolutely criminal, and we the people need to hold the people in Congress responsible.

Q. What would you do about economic development in the U.S. if you were elected president?
A. We would eliminate the Internal Revenue Service so people would have more money to invest. We would eliminate the Federal Reserve Bank, to stop inflating our economy and we would eliminate NAFTA and any other free trade agreement the government has come up with which doesn't provide free trade. What it does is provide "managed trade," creating a hostile economic climate for businesses large and small. It puts small businesses out of business, and causes large businesses to move jobs and manufacturing overseas. There is no possible way that American businesses can compete with the yoke of government regulations around their neck. As Libertarians, we believe in the free market and that means we are going to remove regulations and allow businesses to do what they do best provide goods and services.

Q. What would you do to reduce the national debt?
A. I would assign my friend, Bernard von NotHaus, as the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Bernard was the royal mint master of Hawaii for over 20 years, and is the designer of the Liberty Dollar, private silver currency in the U.S. He understands the economy far better than I do. My personal reaction is that the national debt was perpetrated under fraud and could justifiably be repudiated. Bernard says that while that may satisfy my emotional instincts, there are better things we can do to eliminate the debt without causing economic distress.

Q. What would you do to downsize the scope and size of the federal government property ownership?
A. The federal government has no reason to own as much property as it does. I believe the federal government owns at least 90 percent of Nevada. While we may be able to sell off federal property, I don't know how much money it would bring in, and so I don't know how much debt we would be able to pay off. However, I would like to eliminate federal property. Property should either belong to the states or to individuals.

Q. American property owners and business owners are constantly concerned about potential lawsuits and the government shutting businesses down. How would you change this?
A. We would make the justice system actually mean something. One of the first things I would do as president would be to eliminate the idea of sovereign immunity for the government. The 1st Amendment not only protects our freedom of speech and our freedom of religion, but it also protects our right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. That's Founding Fathers' talk for you can sue the government and win. But the federal government has set itself up as bulletproof. Anytime they do something, theoretically you cannot sue them because they are the government and were obviously just doing things in your best interests. That is not true. We the people have rights, and we grant limited privileges to the government. Not only can we take those privileges away from them anytime we want, we can also file a lawsuit against the government and win.

Badnarik said that he has campaign volunteers from all 50 states, and that he believes his background as a technical trainer and computer programmer gives him the ability to communicate his party's message so that all Americans can understand it.

"If I'm talking to a Democrat, that person is usually complaining that I'll steal votes from the Democrats, " he said. "If I'm talking to a Republican, they think I'm stealing votes from the Republicans. I'd like to point out that the candidates don't own the votes. The voters do."

Class Warfare Strategy

"Yes, we did produce a near perfect Republic. But will they keep it, or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the surest way to destruction." Thomas Jefferson

(Originally published in 2002)

The problem with revolutions, historically, has always been that the Revolutionaries themselves gradually morph into the new power structure that must again be removed by revolution. It is inevitable that the Ring of Power will ultimately, and inevitably, corrupt its wielder, no matter how iron willed or noble he or she may be. So what is a person to do?

1. Start producing your own food.

Currently we eat food extracted via "agricultural strip mining” that is over processed and shipped thousands of miles to our table. Every time we eat at McDonald’s or buy groceries at Kroger, we are supporting the monster that is strangling us. Do business at community gardens, food co-operatives, community supported agriculture, and farmer's markets. Leave nutrition, and money, right where it belongs, LOCALLY!

Besides who’s to say that the higher-ups at Kroger or Wal-Mart may decide we don't wish to be in the grocery business anymore. What will you do when you can't shop for it?

2. Start small businesses and manufacture basic needs at home.

Stop buying useless plastic crap that you saw on TV, turn off the TV! Or shoot it! Own the means of production, however modest. A good set of tools or books are worth far more than any SUV or swimming pool. Materialism is what is suffocating us. While there may be nothing wrong with having a car in and of itself or a bunch of different gadgets, simplicity is really a better way to go. Plus, you will have more time to pursue other matters that are otherwise being used to pay off your bills.

3. Own your own home.

Get the Landlord's hand out of your pocket, and assure yourself of shelter. Look for ways to make them energy efficient.

4. Get out of debt.

Buy no mortgages; send your credit card back to the credit card company (in pieces). Make life decisions based on your actual worth as opposed to being driven by debt.

Of course what bills you do have, pay them on time.

5. Consider alternative forms of information.

Cancel your magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Develop alternative sources of information. Broadcast pirate radio, operate your own newspapers, and search for alternative news on the web.

6. Get involved in local politics.

Make it clear to local politicians that following the statist or corporate agendas will result in noisy and effective locally based opposition to re-election. It is the School Board that signs the contract to feed corporate glop to our children, it is the County Sheriff who enlarges his domain with Drug War confiscations, and it is the County Executive who labors day and night to give away our lands and forests for golf courses and industrial parks.

Getting involved in local politics is almost a necessity. On the other hand, don’t live off the system.

7. Actively reduce tax bite.

Buy your needs from small biz and local manufacturers. Buy from flea markets and yard sales. Barter heavily. Avoid heavily taxed industries and products. Don't be a mindless "Consumer".

8. Own a gun.

Practice with it and see that your family and children are familiar with its use and care. If enough of us own one then there will probably never be a need to use it in anger.

9. Stop going to the hospital.

I guess it might be one thing to go if you are dying of a heart attack. Of course, if you are going to die, then you are going to die. But going because you cut your finger or because you have a headache I'm sure would at least in part contribute to these rising healthcare costs. Just walk it off or create your own medical supplies.

10. If you have to, set up a budget.

Don't look at the budget when shopping, but note the amounts you spend in the category of clothes, food, subcategory sweets, misc, etc... You would be amazed on where the money is being spent. Further, you might consider breaking them into groupings such as credit, cash, checks, liberty dollars, etc... Ask your employer about alternatives forms of payments. Ask your bank for redemption in lawful money (i.e. silver and gold coin), but don’t count on it.

Briefly this is a plan for seizing the means of production and taking back control of our lives. You might choose to do one, a few or all of these things and more. It won't be easy. Old habits die hard. When it appears that the plan may actually be succeeding, rest assured you will get your chance to die for the cause. But we owe it to our children to see that it does succeed.

The key is to do it eventually and it will be done in phases. You might do one of these things, some of them or all of them and more. Learn about architecture. Learn about agriculture. Learn other ways to do things in order to be self-sufficient. If you have a car, don't buy one every three years. Take a bus or learn to ride a bicycle. Riding a horse also works. It takes some time to phase out elements of your current lifestyle and work in the new.

Why Is The United States in Haiti?

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class thug for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents." Smedley Butler, Maj. Gen., USMC

Why has the United States government been sending troops to Haiti while at the same time preventing aid workers from being able to get to the injured workers? For example, a French plane with an emergency field hospital was turned back Friday. Doctors Without Borders said that its cargo plane with 12 tons of medical supplies had been turned away from Port-au-Prince airport 3 times since Sunday.

Since I was a teenager, I've known about the U.S. foreign policy aims particularly in Central and South America. Troops have been sent to Guatemala on behalf of the American Fruit Company (now Chiquita), Standard Oil Company in Venezuela, the CIA has staged coups and funded death squads, not to mention involvement in Cuba, The Philippines, Tonga, and numerous other places around the world going back to 1800. This is not something you would read about in your school textbooks.

Which brings us to Haiti. Troops were first sent there in 1915 and the government has been involved in its affairs on and off since that time. In a nutshell, it is due to oil. There will be some who claim that the military is there to stabilize the situation on the ground and open the roads for aid workers. The military is trained for a very specific purpose and it isn't to render aid to people. As many as 20,000 people are dying per day while what is being uploaded are military supplies and troops. Very little humanitarian aid has been let in. This should disturb those who have a conscience. As the saying goes, "Never let a crisis go to waste".

Why I Could Have Cared Less About the Massachusetts Senate Race

So finally the race to fill Ted Kennedy's seat is over with Scott Brown winning 53% of the vote in a three-way race against Martha Coakley and Joe Kennedy.

I suppose if I was voting, I would have chosen Joe Kennedy since I'm not inclined to vote for any proponent of expanded government regardless of party label. But all in all, I could care less. So yeah, they still claim that they can "[c]reate jobs, reduce pollution, and stop sending billions overseas for foreign oil from countries that would do us harm." It is the same old argument every election cycle, but nothing changes.

Presidential candidates in 2008 spent over 1 billion dollars. That is on top of the very individuals who take 50% of our money in the form of taxes and run up debts in the trillions of dollars in order to fund things like animal mating habits, swine odor and manure management or recreational grounds. We donate money and vote for candidates on the basis that they will make our lives comfortable or make our problems go away, the very problems they create in the first place or they make worse by meddling where they have no business meddling.

With $1 billion dollars, the food banks and pantries could purchase enough food to feed five million people every day for a year. Around the world in a year, around 10 million people starve to death and close to a billion people are malnourished. Is it due to the Earth outgrowing it capacity? No, it is something else entirely. As Walter Williams so succinctly put it, "[The] problems are really a result of socialistic government practices that reduce the capacity of people to educate, clothe, house and feed themselves. Poor countries are rife with agricultural restrictions controls, export and import controls, restrictive licensing, price controls, not to mention gross human rights abuses that encourage their most productive people to emigrate. The most promising anti-poverty tool for poor people and poor countries is personal liberty."

With $1 billion using $100,000 as a baseline, 10,000 housing units could be built. Depending on how many people live in each unit, we could give tens of thousands of people housing while they could then be able to work on whatever caused them to wind up homeless in the first place whether it is job loss, depression, alcoholism, etc... It beats having to return to sleeping on concrete or cardboard boxes every night while they can have the chance to put their lives back to together and it beats having billions being wasted on social welfare programs overseen by career bureaucrats who have an interest in keeping the status quo going.

Hopefully, this will be something to think about the next time you head to the polls. As for me, I'm thinking about writing in None of the Above.

Why Are We So Unhappy?

I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.

How the Chimney-sweeper's cry
Every black'ning Church appalls;
And the hapless Soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls.

But most thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot's curse
Blasts the new born Infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.
William Blake, London

"London" was written by William Blake in 1794. I couldn't help but to notice the rather interesting correlation between what Blake was referring to in the late 18th century and what so many people are dealing with in the 21st century. Just more proof that indeed on a fundamental level, human beings haven't really changed all that much and especially not in politics where sadly enough the masses think that change is supposed to occur.

Around the same time, Thomas Jefferson wrote these words: "If it is believed that elementary schools will be better managed by the governor and council, the commissioners of the literary fund or any other general authority of the government than by the parents within each ward, it is a belief against all experience. Try the principle one step further, and commit to the governor and council the management of all our farms, our mills and merchants' stores."

Yet what kind of world do we live in? We are told what to do by our parents, the teachers, experts, politicians, talking heads, reality shows and non reality shows. Our lives are run by costume designers, script writers, stunt men, producers, directors, assistant directors, acrobats, football players and wet t-shirt contestants. I personally prefer to watch the mud and oil wrestling myself.

We live in a world where the machine rules. The past 100-150 years have been about the assembly line, the telephone, the machine gun, first steamboats, now airlines which has extremely poor customer service. It was a joyful ride on trains and now we are always in a rush to get to work every day in our automobiles. Even our vacations are a rush if we have a vacation at all.

We live in a world where our lives are planned out from birth to death. It is the "social security card", medicare, medicaid, get our degrees and we are set for life kind of living. We have Blackberries, palm pilots, faxes, computers, cell phone in one hand, steering wheel in the other.

You were once a boy who used to play baseball or football, but for whatever reason you aren't playing now. You are working the graveyard shift pushing carts and merchandise around. You were once a girl who began dance lessons when you were 5, you dreamed of being a professional ballet dancer, dreamed of being a figure skater or an actress, but for whatever reason, you aren't doing it now. You worked the same factory job for 30 years. But now at age 50, with only a high school diploma, where do you go from here? Do you go to school and seek to become a nurse? Do you open your own business making cakes and cookies? Do you commit suicide because you are trapped by mind-forg'd manacles?

Now I want all of you to get up. Take a deep breath. Move away from your computers and television sets, put down your Blackberries and just walk away. Walk into your bathroom (which is about the only place you have any quiet time for yourself) and look at yourself in the mirror. Don't say anything. Just look. Then ask yourself this question: What shall I do with my life?" Only you can answer that question. No one else. Not your teacher nor the experts. So what shall YOU do with your life?

Volunteers Have A New Football Coach (Supposedly)

The Tennessee Volunteers apparently have its new football coach lined up in Derek Dooley. But we will know for sure at a scheduled press conference at 9 p.m. EST (after the department originally stated that the conference would take place at 9 tomorrow morning). Anything can happen between now and then. I will reserve judgment on Dooley specifically until after he has been given a chance.

Unlike most people, I know better than to believe everything I hear or read including official reports. I have to give the local media a poor grade for just jumping on every tidbit of info and rumors as if it meant anything. First it as Muschamp, then Cutcliffe, then Fulmer and everyone in between. Whatever happened to accuracy and fairness? Such is the world we live in. I think I speak for many people when I say that there is a part of me that is disgusted with the undue influence that money and politics has in pro sports. We've witnessed the same nonsense at the college level. This topic is nothing new. I've read accounts from the 1920's dealing with these same issues.

I figured as early as September of 2008 that it was probably going to be Phil Fulmer's last year. I had mixed feelings about it all. I had to acknowledge his dedication and passion for the university, but also recognized that perhaps he became too comfortable and with that, he was so set in his ways that he was unable to make necessary adjustments. Then again, making adjustments wasn't his strong point in coaching.

Too often, football coaches and administrators only look at the $$$ and ignore people who are in coaching or want to coach because they love it. Mike Hamilton has set the UT football program back a few years with this nonsense. He couldn't even get Will Muschamp to come here for $3 million a year. Either Mr. Hamilton is doing a poor job of salesmanship or there is something I am missing. Neyland Stadium speaks for itself. 100,000+ fans, fantastic facilities, and the traditions speak volumes. Yet, there were a handful of coaches turning the position down before they were even approached. So my conclusion is that Mr. Hamilton is way in over his head as Athletic Director. His background is in banking and fundraising. He is an administrator. He should just sign the paychecks and accept donations. But the tasks of hiring and firing coaches, contract negotiations and day to day operations of the athletic department should be reassigned to someone else.

Of course, if this hire doesn't work out, Mr. Hamilton could still contact me.
I'm willing and able.