Should we Secede?

Yes, another one of my crazy, politically incorrect ideas. All right, it's not MY idea, but it's a really good one. If you read this blog, you probably know me, but if by some crazy chance you read this and have no idea who I am, let me explain how I feel about government. I am convinced that the more powerful the government, the worse. It's been going downhill since a few years after this country's founding, but especially since, guess who, Abraham Lincoln. I think that the South was completely right in seceding, and because of the whopper govt. we have today, I say we should do it again! Insane? Maybe. But the only other options for fixing our situation are:
(a) A magical change in majority opinion favoring deregulation and smaller govt.
(b) Start a revolution.
Answer A probably wouldn't happen based on the current trends, which are quite obviously in favor of socialism, and answer B would probably leave us worse off, not to mention the immense loss of life. This leaves us with secession.

Whale Wars

Animal Planet has started a new series known as "Whale Wars." I had seen something about environmentalists boarding a Japanese whaling ship on Youtube, so I suspected that they may be the same thing. Unfortunately, I was right. The story goes something like this: The co-founder of Greenpeace apparently also helped start a group to protect whales from, well, whalers. So far, so good. The group called themselves the Sea Shepherds, and have several ships operating in different areas, at least that's what they imply on the show. All I've seen is about the Antarctic unit, ship named the Steve Irwin. Here's where things go illegal. They desperately want to stop Japanese whaling, which is currently being done under the title "scientific research", which makes it legal, even if no one believes them. However, the Sea Shepherds wanted to stop it by less-than-legal means. All the following can be seen on the show. The Steve Irwin chased down one of the Japs' ships. They then launched a small boat equipped with lots of small packets filled with a type of acid powder and a huge coil of rope. The boat came up alongside the ship,and the goons started throwing the packets onto the ship. ILLEGAL. One type of the powder makes it too slippery to walk, and the other leaves an awful reek for days. The boat then pulled in front of the ship, and dropped the rope with the intention of fouling the ship's propeller and stopping it. ILLEGAL. The fouler missed, so they performed their next stunt with the ship moving. They launched the boat again, and two of the people on board actually BOARDED the Japanese ship. They didn't ahve weapons, but boarding a ship is always illegal. Of course, they're saving whales, so Animal Planet's portraying them as heroes, leaving out the fact that next to nothing they're doing is legal.

National Geaographic and the E.S.A.

You know how in my post about Reader's Digest and National Geaographic I said that N.G. gained a lot of respect from me? Well, they just lost it. Every last bit, and then some. E.S.A. stands for Endangered Species Act, but it should be called the Endangering Species Act. In this issue of N.G., they dedicate one section to the glorification of the worthless Act. They claim that it helped save several different species, including the American alligator and grizzly bear. However, the alligator was saved by a drop in the demand for its skins, which took place BEFORE the E.S.A. was passed, while the grizzly bear that was supposedly saved was only ONE POPULATION. N.G. also says that polar bears are endangered by habitat loss, which they most certainly are not, despite being on the endangered list. They have a picture of one with the number 3500 beside it, which implies there are only 3500 left. However, if you looked closely at one of the little tiny notes, you would see the words "in Alaska." The notes really are tiny, and located so that the average reader wouldn't look at them, since the picture and number are all that most folks care about. The environmentalist argument is that loss of sea ice threatens them, but they happen to be perfectly capable of living on land, and are common in northern Canada. 11 out of 13 populations are stable or rising. Wow, funny how easy it is to go off-subject. Anyhow, the ESA actually encourages elimination of species. Here's how it works: When the government finds out about an endangered species on your land, they essentially take it from you, by not allowing you to do anything
with it. In California for instance, you're not allowed to build a firebreak to protect your home from a wildfire. Why? It might disturb the kangaroo rat! What? You would rather save your house than avoid harming a kangaroo rat?! Get your priorities right! This idea causes harm to the rat by not allowing development for protection, which does two things: either the owner wishes to protect his/her home, so they kill the critter before the Feds find out, or the Feds find out, regulate the land, and a fire kills the things. Same with a certain tree farmer. The gov. discovered a rare type of woodpecker on a section of his land, and, of course, regulated it. He understandably wanted to use the rest of his land (which NG villifies) and promptly clear-cut the rest of his land. I would probably do the same thing.

Honest Abe was a Tyrant

Yes, you read the title correctly. And yes, I am fully aware that this is a perfect excuse to hate me. But, it's a historically accurate title for President number 16. Very soon after Lincoln took office, he sent supplies to Fort Sumter, even though he had promised he wouldn't to South Carolina's governor, which forced the Confederates to act on their threat to fire if they were sent. Just reading this little fact makes it plain that Lincoln was looking for an excuse to invade, and it shows that he was at least partly responsible for the death of over half a million Americans. He began the invasion without calling Congress into session until long after the first major battle. I've read excuses that he didn't have enough time, but it was three months into the war that he finally did it. Since several battles had been fought at that point, he knew that they would never vote against war after blood was shed. One of his most well-known crimes was suspension of habeas corpus. Although the Constitution allows it, it's only in the case of rebellion, which my previous post shows was not going on. He threw many newspaper editors into prison for opposing the war, and shut down many others. Most were in prison for saying things far less harsh than what modern people often say about George W. Bush. Imagine the outcry if HE began shutting down opposing papers, magazines, etc. on charges of "treason." Although this also happened in the Confederacy, it was only very late in the war and they had to deal with actual, armed internal opposition. Lincoln said that if a group of men were discussing his policies and one kept silent, that counted as a crime. Another brilliant, unconstitutional idea of his was the draft. Now, again, this happened in the Confederacy a bit earlier than in the Union, but I don't know anything about their Constitution. Oh, I forgot to mention that a huge import tariff was raised before the war, and he threatened to invade any state that didn't raise it. All the tax money went, you guessed it, up North. Not a penny was spent on the South. Also, Lincoln supported the infamous Gen. Sherman's policy of burning every other town and looting everyone. Look what the "best government ever created" was doing. Acting like a tyrant!