Star Spangled Sadness

When I first began blogging, taking note of the quirky presentation of the news and expressing my cynicism of the direction of our leaders I had no idea how serious the problem would become in a decade.  I enjoyed writing with a bit of satire and snarkasm, but it's just too sad for that, anymore.  America is on the fast track to self destruction.  While both parties blame each other, we seem to forget, we're all still in the same boat.  We should also take note that it is not the candidates or elected officials who are truly at odds, but rather "we the people" are divided amongst ourselves to the point we don't even realize the politicians of both parties are living well on our tax dollars and only disagree through election cycles.  Candidates claim to disagree vehemently and want to help "we the people," but once elected, they appear pretty amicable with only scripted arguments and seem to go deaf in regard to "we the people."

The kool-aid is being served to the American citizens from both sides of the aisle, as well as other arms of power of this government.  The division of the people has happened on many fronts and there is simply no going back.  The line in the sand has become a chasm on many issues.  I've been watching Oregon lead the way into the legalization of anarchy.  With the murder of LaVoy Finicum and the barbaric incarceration of the Hammonds, the Bundys, and those who were with them, we are seeing just a taste of the redefinition of "terrorist" while citizens are literally being terrorized.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.  While folks are screaming "save the Constitution," the Bill of Rights has been shredded, with little fanfare or notice.  Texas may boast itself of being so outspoken and staunch, but at this point if Texas were a person, it would be Donald Trump.  I hear a lot of bluster, but the reality is seriously lacking fortitude.

State Conceal and Carry Permits are the backdoor destruction of The Second Amendment!  Most folks do not even see it!  Once a permit becomes necessary, the right is already gone.  Not only are we allowing this to happen, we are paying to participate.  While many still believe they are taking a bold stand, the state laws requiring permits that are not recognized by other states have already undermined the Second Amendment in the federal Bill of Rights.  Meanwhile, state issued driver's licenses are becoming "Real ID" and we just keep accepting it all.

Back when I first began this blog and I was just an unknown religious fanatic with a bit of a cynical tone.  I realized folks just found me curious or completely irrelevant, but times have changed.  I'm still relatively unknown, but my observations are relevant.  President Obama definitely brought change, or his puppet masters have . . . Actually, I'll reword that.  The direction of this nation has been set for years, and the moral decline certainly didn't happen over night, but the downward spiral of the social standard has certainly gained momentum.

I keep thinking about the "run away bride" who made national headlines at the same time the abuse in Abu Ghraib became known, the first year of my blogging.     The long and the short of it was, I compared the coverage and potential punishment between the two women.  The runaway bride received hours and hours of media coverage, a fine, 120 hours of community service and 2 years probation.  Cameras were ordered off the post in Abu Ghraib and the female soldier served about 18 months of a 3 years sentence, received a dishonorable discharge, and finished her 3 year sentence on parole.   The runaway bride's record was expunged once she completed her parole, but the crimes seemed so incredibly different for the time of punishment to be so comparable.  Prosecuting craziness and cold feet in a similar manner to war crimes of international significance seemed to be a big step toward a standard of anarchy.

While the ranchers are being held without bail, a SC man who is accused of two murders was allowed to be in some sort of "Home Incarceration Program," has now managed to remove his electronic ankle monitor . . . Last I read, he's still not been found.  A man in Texas, also an alleged murderer, has done the same thing and has still not been found, as well.  Meanwhile, the ranchers are called terrorists undeserving of bond, while having never fired a shot or injured anyone.  The name of the "official" who did shoot and kill LaVoy Finicum is being withheld and protected.  Rather than hiding, one would think an officer who shot and killed a "terrorist" would be hailed a 
hero . . . 

This past year has been heart breaking to watch businesses being destroyed by the sexual agenda, to see a man named "woman of the year," and ranchers imprisoned as terrorists.  There are real terrorists in the world wreaking horrendous havoc, and being allowed into our borders.  Businesses being destroyed out of some sort of jealous, sexual issue, and a man being awarded "woman of the year" is anarchy!  A hard working tax paying man with his hands in the air, being murdered in cold blood, after being ambushed, is anarchy.  Teaching children that math is no longer absolute, is anarchy.  Citizens believing that an election will change this direction only confirms the blindness and will perpetuate the anarchy. . . and it's all legal!

When I think of the words of the Star Spangled Banner, it's so sadly clear that many do not even realize, America is no longer "the land of the free and the home of the brave."

This once powerful nation is now:  "the land of the deceived and the home of the enslaved."

 Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. a Proverb of Holy Scripture

The Real Cost of Inflation

We continue to be told that inflation is minimal, but that is not the case.  Inflation still exists, but it affects things most of us aren't purchasing.  This is the first year in five that good crop and grazing land hasn't gone up significantly.  Most of us aren't buying farmland, but all of us are dependent upon what that land produces, and very much counting on someone to work the land.  The harvest is looking shaky this year, not in the amount, but in the price.  In much of the cropland, the weather has been optimal, but a big harvest may actually bring the price down, while farmers and ranchers have not yet recovered from the years of drought.  Shemitah hasn't even been figured into the equation.

The following is a quote from an article written in 2011, entitled, "High Costs Make it Hard to Grow Young Farmers."
"[Some people are] sitting in New York [and] saying, 'Well, I don't know, I've never even been to Nebraska, but by golly, I'm going to buy some Nebraska land,' " Goss says. "And you have these groups coming together ... that are buying farmland [and] driving up farmland prices to prices we've not seen before."

Goss says even though the Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates low for the next few years, banks simply aren't lending to high-risk first-time farmers.  FULL STORY

Young men with degrees in agriculture can't afford machinery and land.  The equipment required to farm is in the hundreds of thousands and good farmland is selling between $5,000 and $10,000 and acre.   Even at the low figure, a small farm, 160 acres is upward toward a million dollars and that's not enough ground to produce crops to pay for the equipment needed, much less turn a profit.  Most farming households in America have one spouse that works away from the farm.  Some farmers, and there really aren't many farmers left; have inherited their land and rent additional land for crops or pasture, while their spouse works in town.  The numbers look big on paper, but the genuine profit is marginal.

The cost of farmland and machinery, of course affects the cost of groceries, but for some reason the economic reports do not consider these most basic variables into the equation regarding inflation.  To be honest, when I began researching this subject, I expected to find some seriously concrete figures and statistics, but there really aren't any.  Basically, the farmer invests hundreds of thousands of dollars on the hope that he'll make enough to meet his operating expenses and stay in business another year.  Most of the young folks interested in agriculture are already eyeing a deal with Monsanto.  The average age of a farmer working the land is 56 years old, and many of their sons do not intend to follow in their father's footsteps.  Much of American farmland that is operated by independents, is mortgaged or leased.

Farming and ranching is now heading into bigger and bigger operations and we already know, only the big corporations can afford that kind of outlay of investment.  When a farmer can't meet operating expenses, the banks foreclose and that independent operation ultimately becomes just another holding of a conglomerate.   Meanwhile, the food supply becomes more centralized and controlled.   The real cost of inflation is slavery!

Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won`t be desolate."  Torah of Holy Scripture