This is a dry time of the year, news-wise, as everybody prepares for the holiday season. However, there are a few things going on worth a word or two, mainly the curren tax debate going on in the USA. It's not a good deal, because even though it keeps current tax rates at the same level, the Democrats are loading the bill with all kinds of pork, which will only continue to bloat the federal budget and hasten an economic catastrophe. Plus, tax rates should not be kept the same, they should be cut. And federal spending should follow suit. I think I've posted the following quote before, but it's relevant here: "To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father's has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association--the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it." That's Jefferson. The Democratic Party is obsessed with a "soak the rich" mentality. It's theft, that's all it is. If I put a gun to someone's head and demand their money, we all know that is wrong; it's taking something that I have not earned from someone who has. But, in a socialistic, or quasi-socialistic society such as we have today, if I vote for a Congressman, who puts a gun to someone's head (called the IRS), takes his money, and gives it to me, that suddenly becomes acceptable because it is done "democratically." I'm sorry, folks, but culpable homicide is still homicide, and culpable theft is still theft. The Bible did not say, "Thou shalt not steal--unless a majority in Congress vote for it." The Republican Party will do little or nothing to try to get a better bill than the current one, and don't expect them to push for greater tax cuts in the near future or significant cuts in the federal budget. Federal spending needs to be slashed, not cut. But then, all the current politicians are hoping they will be dead when the reckoning finally comes. That may or may not happen.
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The war talk between North and South Korea has cooled, but not ceased. The public doesn't know what's going on behind the scenes--it never does until the volcano explodes. We had some Defense Security people here this week, and I asked one of them what he thought about the possibility of war. He didn't think there would be one, but emphasized that such was just his opinion. The fact that the government allowed some defense personnel to come to English Village is perhaps significant. Or perhaps not. Who knows what goes on in the minds of government leaders? Except, usually, nothing good.
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Not surprisingly, Harry Reid threw a fit when the "don't ask, don't tell" queer policy for the military wasn't overturned by the Senate. He claimed it was an equal rights issue, which it's not, it's a moral one. Good for the Republicans that they were able to kill the bill. However, the vote was 57-40 in favor of it (it needed 60 votes), so that still tells us a lot about the current moral mindset of the "leaders" of this country. Well, since they are thieves, why not support homosexuality?