For your consideration (here also in PDF) :

I, ________________________, do solemnly swear to uphold the principles of a socialism-free society and heretofore pledge my word that I shall strictly adhere to the following:

I will complain about the destruction of 1st Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 1st Amendment Rights.

I will complain about the destruction of my 2nd Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights by legally but brazenly brandishing unconcealed firearms in public.

I will foreswear the time-honored principles of fairness, decency, and respect by screaming unintelligible platitudes regarding tyranny, Nazi-ism, and socialism at public town halls. Also.

I pledge to eliminate all government intervention in my life. I will abstain from the use of and participation in any socialist goods and services including but not limited to the following:

* Social Security

* Medicare/Medicaid

* State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP)

* Police, Fire, and Emergency Services

* US Postal Service

* Roads and Highways

* Air Travel (regulated by the socialist FAA)

* The US Railway System

* Public Subways and Metro Systems

* Public Bus and Lightrail Systems

* Rest Areas on Highways

* Sidewalks

* All Government-Funded Local/State Projects (e.g., see Iowa 2009 federal senate appropriations)

* Public Water and Sewer Services (goodbye socialist toilet, shower, dishwasher, kitchen sink, outdoor hose!)

* Public and State Universities and Colleges

* Public Primary and Secondary Schools

* Sesame Street

* Publicly Funded Anti-Drug Use Education for Children

* Public Museums

* Libraries

* Public Parks and Beaches

* State and National Parks

* Public Zoos

* Unemployment Insurance

* Municipal Garbage and Recycling Services

* Treatment at Any Hospital or Clinic That Ever Received Funding From Local, State or Federal Government (pretty much all of them)

* Medical Services and Medications That Were Created or Derived From Any Government Grant or Research Funding (again, pretty much all of them)

* Socialist Byproducts of Government Investment Such as Duct Tape and Velcro (Nazi-NASA Inventions)

* Use of the Internets, email, and networked computers, as the DoD’s ARPANET was the basis for subsequent computer networking

* Foodstuffs, Meats, Produce and Crops That Were Grown With, Fed With, Raised With or That Contain Inputs From Crops Grown With Government Subsidies

* Clothing Made from Crops (e.g. cotton) That Were Grown With or That Contain Inputs From Government Subsidies

If a veteran of the government-run socialist US military, I will forego my VA benefits and insist on paying for my own medical care

I will not tour socialist government buildings like the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

I pledge to never take myself, my family, or my children on a tour of the following types of socialist locations, including but not limited to:

* Smithsonian Museums such as the Air and Space Museum or Museum of American History

* The socialist Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson Monuments

* The government-operated Statue of Liberty

* The Grand Canyon

* The socialist World War II and Vietnam Veterans Memorials

* The government-run socialist-propaganda location known as Arlington National Cemetery

* All other public-funded socialist sites, whether it be in my state or in Washington, DC

I will urge my Member of Congress and Senators to forego their government salary and government-provided healthcare.

I will oppose and condemn the government-funded and therefore socialist military of the United States of America.

I will boycott the products of socialist defense contractors such as GE, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Humana, FedEx, General Motors, Honeywell, and hundreds of others that are paid by our socialist government to produce goods for our socialist army.

I will protest socialist security departments such as the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security, TSA, Department of Justice and their socialist employees.

Upon reaching eligible retirement age, I will tear up my socialist Social Security checks.

Upon reaching age 65, I will forego Medicare and pay for my own private health insurance until I die.

SWORN ON A BIBLE AND SIGNED THIS DAY OF __________ IN THE YEAR ___.

_____________ _________________________

Signed Printed Name/Town and State

Sign it, sinners.

This would be pathetic if it weren’t so sad.

Poll: Republicans Think Government Should Stay Out Of Medicare

39% of registered voters apparently have no idea what medicare is, or how it is currently structured. Medicare, the paradox of the health care debate, is both the success story to support reform, it is also the curmudgeon used to derail it. Many people claim that the funding problems of medicare are the example of why reform will fail and result in increased costs; yet, the program retains enormous public support from both parties, and neither will even go near the idea of cutting medicare in any way. However, research both internally in the US, and abroad has shown that the costs of health care reform with a public option precursor to a single-payer system, are quite neglible. Even the Congressional Budget Office, who sounded the deficit alarm on the preliminary bill, has recently revised its estimates to a more manageable total cost of $1,042B ($1.04T) over the next ten years. For reference, George W. Bush’s tax cut, which was targeted towards lining the pockets of the richest 1%, adding $1.8T of red ink to the overall debt picture in total over the same ten year period. We can argue about the relative benefits, if any, of tax cuts to the overall economy; the argument about the economic benefits of improving the health of the workers of a population is quite one-sided.

We are given a very simple choice in the coming months, in the same breath that the CBO signaled the debt alarm over the cost of health reform, they reiterate that the long term debt picture of the US is “unsustainable” due to “primarily because of the rising cost of health care.” Without doing something drastic, our country will be bankrupt under our own debt servicing costs within 50 years. By 2050, 100% of the federal budget at reasonable taxation rates, 20-30% of our GDP, will be spent on four programs, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and debt service costs. No military, no NASA, no unemployment, no Department of Education, no farm subsidies, and no federal highway money. The reform of our health care system is no longer an issue of improving a system that is under performing to do our due diligence as stewards of the public good, this issue is an existential threat that is set to bury us, not our children and grandchildren as we were told so many times, this crisis is ours to bear.

Enjoy this little application answering the age old question, just how insane was that Tsar Bomba the russians built.

Just when you thought the google maps API had been leveraged to the max.

Excellent video that visualizes the crisis of our current credit collapse in terms anyone can understand. This is a must watch for anyone who is still wondering how exactly we got into this mess in the first place.

Mad props to crisisofcredit on this one.

Its here! No, its not Santa Claus, or that insufferable Ed McMahon with some gaudy monstrosity of a check, its Ignite Portland 5. The free exchange of ideas from the grassroots will commence anew this evening at the famous Baghdad Theater in SE Portland. Admission is free and there is usually plenty of room.

Bring your ideas and enjoy the great discussions on technology, life, politics, and just about anything.

http://www.igniteportland.com/

I’m starting to wonder if this may be legit… Some guy inherits huge worthless land and assorted junk and decides to turn lemons into lemonande… Part Two, for your viewing pleasure.

With all the fanfare and pomp of a event of its caliber, the Obama experience has descended upon our fair capital. The stink of the previous tenants unable to be removed by simple carpet cleaning and a few coats of paint, the changing of the guard in our storied executive appears to be commencing much like previous transitions, with thinly veiled sniping at one another. With all the tenants of a school yard fight in the sandbox over a coveted toy, the Blair House fiasco illustrated that much like the petulant youngster willing to create a scene to protect their last moments with a favorite toy even to their own public lampooning, few politicians are above the fray of a last minute cheap shot. Regardless of the well-documented fact that when originally requested, the White House erroneously stated that the facility was booked, and then burned through the Rolodex looking for any dignitary they could to fill the vacancy; this kind of last day pettiness  is befitting of the good ole days of scorched-earth partisanship that I had hoped could be relegated to the past.

However that being said, we can take solace in the fact that indeed the only things of consequence to come out of the Bush Administration in its final weeks was in fact partisan sniping. Gone are the days of the Rovian “Ultra-majority,” and the exercise may have also killed the last vestiges of a Reagan Revolution. With an American public greatly distrustful of the much lauded free-market, the supply-side zealots have a long four years ahead of them. Any of the FDR era regulations that were loosened, torpedoed, or plain ignored will require revisiting and revision. To just enact the FDR policies with their much bemoaned flaws would be foolish, an emergency of this magnitude requires a top-down review. We need to both increase regulation where the lack of it is careless, and reduce it where the current regulations are a hindrance. We not only need to prevent this from happening in the future, as well as repair the damage done. Deficit spending to stop the rot is very much requisite, but the US Treasury has no where near the capital necessary to subsidize a full recovery. We need to jump start the engine that feeds, clothes, and houses all of us, and this machine will only function long term if we can get back to a path of sustainable growth. Not these insane serial bubbles, where the only way out of the last crash is to create yet another artificial speculative bubble. Without creating piles of new value, either in products, services, or exportable technology, the US economy could be in for a major contraction.

I have no evny of Mr. Obama in his task, for historically no economy has recovered in modern times from a massive downturn like this barring some enourmous industrial mobilization fueled by deficit spending (read: a war, the bigger the better). Let us all hope for ourselves and our children, that that cycle can be broken here.

I’m encouraged by his enterprising spirit, but dismayed by his complete lack of judgement…

The party hats are scattered on the floor, champaine bottles are askew about the room, and the entire room is covered with confetti. What happened, you ask, why change of course. We The People spoke clearly and loudly in one voice and initiated a sea change that has not been seen in generations. The next day the hangover of change could be felt in the financial markets as another plunge of mammoth proportions ensued. The country had a new government in waiting, who can do nothing but preach of better management to come, as more banks fail, more industries need rescue, and more americans are losing their homes and their jobs. How can we rejoice for more than a moment when the house is still burning down around us. One commentator I saw refered to the historical context of the great depression where Roosevelt was already elected, but Hoover is still in the White House and Americans are shouting at their calendars to hurry up as the banks are failing.

The events of the last month are some of the most important of my lifetime, and I can take comfort in the notion that as Bill Maher put it, Adults are running our country again. Let us hope that when January 20th arrives the country will still have enough tools left to get our economy on the mend before the next decade is spent in a crippling worldwide depression.