we the sheep

well, today was the supposed demonstration day where people were going to opt out of the new porn scanners the TSA has installed in our airports. i was pretty excited to see how it would turn out; i expected huge delays at airports across the country...i was sorely disappointed. on this, one of the busiest travel days of the year, a grand total of 10 people opted out of being scanned at indianapolis international airport during the morning hours. statistics for this afternoon are not out, but i'm not very hopeful that the numbers will be better. similar reports of sporadic demonstrators, but nothing major are coming from other airports as well.

i'm sure, by now, you're all asking why i'm making such a big deal out of this. it's because the TSA is a sham. they do not make planes safer. terrorists were already ahead of this technology before it even got to our airports. they were putting bombs on freight planes, or putting their explosives in their rectums. neither of these are preventable with the shiny new scanners or groping at effect at our passenger terminals. additionally, the terrorists that are targeting us have been coming from airports outside the united states; where these methods are not used.

but the fact that the TSA doesn't make us any safer is not the most alarming thing about this. what is alarming is the people's apathy to their right to be secure in their person being violated. if a private citizen (or company) attempted to do what the TSA is doing now, they would be arrested and sent to jail for sexual assault. this is the case whether you have the pornographic scan taken or the grope (or as they call it, enhanced pat down). we didn't even subject the afghani people to anything this invasive, and a good number of them actually are terrorists. this is because we know if we tried this in afghanistan, there would be even more attacks on our installations. it seems the afghanis have a better understanding of their basic human rights than we do.

the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
- united states constitution, fourth amendment

above is the constitutional amendment that's supposed to protect us from the TSA's new screening procedures. in order for anyone to search an american citizen the way TSA does at our airports, the person (or entity) performing the search must have a warrant. warrants are to be issued by judges. in order for a judge to issue a warrant, there must be probable cause. attempting to board an airplane is not probable cause. the constitution is supposed to be the supreme law of the land. any law that violates the constitution is null and void. in order for the TSA to legally search us as they do, the constitution would have to be amended.

but would that be a lawful amendment?

we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
- declaration of independence [of the united states]

according to the declaration of independence, there are certain unalienable rights. unalienable rights cannot be repudiated. the right to liberty would certainly include the right to be secure in one's person. therefore, it was our founder's belief that one cannot surrender his right to be free of unwarranted searches.

but if that wasn't enough to convince, here's a quote that states in no uncertain terms how the framers of our constitution felt about this.

they who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
- benjamin franklin

there's a chilling thought.

it's time the american people stopped putting up with our government which is clearly unable to keep us safe. why is it every time something happens, the government cracks down on it's citizens instead of empowering us to defend ourselves? instead of imposing more onerous and ineffective security screenings, the government should have been giving every firearm licensee the right to carry airplane safe ammunition. how many planes would get hijacked if half the people flying had the means to stop hijackers? instead of one flight marshal per plane, how about 50? and they wouldn't even have to be payed!

but we keep trudging along. you want to take a naked picture of me...ok. you want to touch my genitals...ok. all is forgiven as long as i'm safe.... if the constitution was to be re-written today, it wouldn't start off saying we the people. it would (if accurate) begin 'we the sheep....'

armistice day

happy armistice day; or more commonly known in the united states: veterans day. today western europe celebrates the end of what was then known as the great war. americans altered the meaning a bit to remember military veterans.

regardless of what or who's being remembered, the day reminds us that freedom is not free. on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the world thought they would never again see the terrors they were laying to rest. yet 21 short years later, the world witnessed a still greater horror: the second world war. while nothing has come along to match that cataclysm since, the curse of war has been a persistent presence: korea, vietnam, iraq, afghanistan.

but the world has too many demons in need of vanquishing; we simply cannot fight everyone. especially when there are such insidious forces rotting away our home. the scourge we now face involves money.

our founding fathers recognized the threat from the beginning.

banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. if the american people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.
- thomas jefferson

if only we had heeded their warning.... we're now paying the price for our ignorance. but there is hope.

while i was away peter schiff managed to expand his weekly broadcast to 5 nights a week. his economic commentary can be found at his radio website.

the political watchdog and constitutional defender judge andrew nepolitano has managed to get his show on fox. his show is also making the move from a weekly broadcast to every weekday. old episodes can be accessed via a website as well.

america is finally starting to learn. on this armistice day, perhaps we should all vow to get ourselves a true education; not the pitiful excuse for one our government is peddling.

then the true fight for freedom can begin...with property rights, and sound money. how many wars of the past century can be traced back to monetary issues? we lead the world down this keynesian rabbit hole. it's time to lead the world back out of it.

guy fawkes

remember, remember
the fifth of november
the gunpowder treason and plot
i know of no reason
why the gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot

today marks the 405th anniversary of what is popularly known as the gunpowder treason plot; a failed attempt to assassinate the king of england along with most of the british parliament. the authorities discovered guy fawkes guarding a bunch of gunpowder barrels that would have leveled the parliament building. the day (or night) has been celebrated in briton and it's colonies ever since; generally with fireworks and burning effigies of unpopular figures (traditionally guy fawkes). it's popularity has been waning in recent years, but i suspect it might re-emerge as things become more tumultuous.

it's proximity to election day (in the united states) makes me still more inclined to believe the holiday's due for a comeback. perhaps in a couple years we'll be burning effigies of the monetary terrorists in office.

a few days ago, the american people sent a clear, small government message to capital hill. and what was the response? the federal reserve announced they'd buy another $600 billion of government bonds. this is exactly the opposite of small government: it enables the federal government to go further into debt, and it tosses another dose of inflation at us. but i guess the fed wouldn't care as they're not elected. the only thing keeping the fed in existence is the public's ignorance (hello government controlled schools).

it is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, i believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.
-henry ford

it's going to take a lot of education about government and monetary policy, and vigilance at the polls to redeem the country. the depression is upon us already; what we do today merely determines the degree. all the while, our government continues to run as quickly as possible in the wrong direction.

will the neophytes be able to make a difference in time? i certainly hope so. time is quickly running out. if this clock expires, there will certainly be blood in the streets.

election day

well, the poll seems to not be getting very far. perhaps people's RSS feeds won't update unless i post something else? if that's what's holding things up, this should help. and if you haven't read my previous post (that was initially blank), go ahead and try that.

so today is mid-term election day. i expect turn-out will be larger this year than in previous mid-term years. my address is still listed as the one i was at before the whole deployment thing started so my polling center was in downtown indy. it was quite a bit emptier than 2 years ago during the 'big' election. i'm going to guess that has something to do with indianapolis being a primarily democratic zone. it was also rather telling that someone handed me a list of democrat candidates on my way in. i guess they think people are too brain dead to read what party the candidate is a part of? it's written directly under their name....

well, they'll be disappointed as i voted libertarian wherever there was one on the ballot. i realize this might cause some annoy some of my readers as well, but such is life. indiana's a primarily republican state, and i feel the republican candidates stand a pretty good chance of getting elected regardless of my puny vote. as such, it's far better spent raising awareness for the libertarian party. i realize there are some republicans and democrats that are more libertarian than their party, but none of those types were on my ballot so....

regardless of your political leanings, i would like to encourage anyone that's reading this to please go vote. i'm relatively certain my readers are educated enough to have a valid opinion so go make it heard.

the revolution continues today. let's hope it gets resolved before things get bloody.

the tree of liberty needs to be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
- thomas jefferson

they will not force us
they will stop degrading us
they will not control us
we will be victorious
- muse the uprising

home

for those of you that noticed the blank post, that was my attempt to post something via my new droidx (one of verizon's android phones). it didn't work out so well.

anyway, i'm home, and have a lot of free time ahead of me. i was thinking about running around and visiting all the nice people that sent me care packages...or anyone else i haven't seen in a while. i'm leaning toward hitting up jon in budapest in early december, but it looks like all of november is more or less free (absent the very beginning when i'll be voting).

my car's in the shop right now getting all fixed up so if you'd like me to come visit you, just shoot me an email: porcupous at yahoo.

there's also the matter of this blog's future i'd like to ask for some feedback on. i'm still of the mind that the vast majority of people live boring lives, and blogs are an attempt to get people to notice them when they'd be much better off if they just went out and found some friends. it's this attitude that kept me from having a blog for a long time. when i deployed though, it proved much easier to blog than email 50 people individually.

but now i'm back; back to the boring life of one of the 300 millionish people in america. this makes it hard for me to justify keeping this. however, someone did mention that they would like me to keep posting. so...i'm going to leave it up to my readers. pick your favorite option on the poll. this is a simple, majority wins thing. since there aren't many people that read this, it won't take much to make this poll go either way.

anyway, get to voting...and emailing me if you want me to drop by.

the end

my journey home will begin soon. as such, i probably won't be checking this as it's rather difficult while in transit. the hotline number for flight information is 1-800-237-2850 extension 4019. they probably won't have any information there for a few more days as getting us back is rather logistically complicated.

they claim there will be a 'welcome home' ceremony on stout field immediately following our plane landing. i think they're a little nuts as i'm sure i'll be too tired then to want to see anyone. if people want to show up, that's fine; just don't be surprised if my responses are little more than grunts of acknowledgment.

anyway, i've gotta go. laterz

short

well, the time for us to go home is getting really close. everyone's busy packing. i'll be mailing a trunk home as i seem to have accumulated a few more things than i came here with. as for the timeline, all i can say at this point is we'll be back sometime in the last half of this month (october, in case anyone's lost track). the state's going to set up a toll free number to dial for up-to-date information about our arrival. i'd give it out, but i left the number in the office. i'll be sure to post it before we leave salerno.

i apologize for not giving more timely updates. things have been rather busy with packing, and training the new guys. when i post anything else in here before we take off, it'll be something quick and concise as i probably won't have much time.

well, i've got some work to get back to. i'll catch you guys later.