Life's Inanities and Ironies

President John F. Kennedy once was quoted as saying to an assembled group of scholars in the White House, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent of human knowledge that has ever been gathered at the White House...with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." "When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe." - Thomas Jefferson "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." - Thomas Jefferson "It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world." - Thomas Jefferson "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson "My reading of history convinces m...

Legislators in Indiana have introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 0037: “A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, in Congress assembled, and the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives of each State’s legislature of the United States of America to cease and desist, effective immediately, any and all mandates that are beyond the scope of their constitutionally delegated power.” Read the Full Text: Whereas , The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States specifically provides that, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people ”; Whereas , The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being those powers specifically granted to it b...

Last Evening we heard an eloquent speech presented by a master orator. He was polished, witty, and it seemed he was very sincere in his desire to help the American people. Once again the American people basked in the gentle glow of their televisions to hear the President of the United States slide around his oath to the Constitution. Having said that; here is a man that less than 5 weeks ago swore an oath to “protect and defend the Constitution;” who spoke for 50 minutes on the many and costly programs that were totally outside the scope of the federal government. This is not about saving money, or banks, or car companies, this is about saving the very principles this great nation was founded upon. What we heard last evening was nothing more than a plea to race headlong toward socialism, to spread the wealth around, as he has said before. He wants to create federal lending funds and housing rescue plans to help individual home owners (wealth redistribution). He wants to swoop down fr...

Saturday was Valentine's Day, celebrated with flowers and candy, but increasingly, that candy is coming from Mexico. From jellied hearts to Hershey's chocolates, Mexico's candy exports to the United States have more than doubled since 2002 as manufacturers chase cheap labor and sugar south of the border. The latest arrival is Hershey, which is building a 1,500-employee factory in Monterrey, Mexico. Since 2007, the company has closed or shrunk factories in Oakdale, Calif.; Reading, Pa.; San Francisco and other sites. Hershey’s is following Brach's Confections, famous for caramels, and Ferrera Pan Candy, maker of Red Hots and Jaw Breakers. In January, Swiss chocolate giant Barry Callebaut opened a plant in Monterrey to produce about 100,000 tons of chocolate and cocoa a year for Hershey and other food makers. Mars Inc.'s Mexican branch produces Snickers and Milky Ways at a chocolate factory opened in 2007 in the northern city of Montemorelos, Mexico. "All th...