November 12 - Free speech not welcome at commission meetings

At November's county worksession, Republican commissioner Peggy Lambert said, "There's no one who believes more strongly that citizens have a right to express their opinion. However, I move that we have public input happen only at work sessions. Commissioners would have over a week to consider those comments. Our regularly scheduled meeting would be a business session only."

Because she received calls about this, it was removed from the December worksession altogether. However it should still be considered in poor taste that a county commissioner would ever think that citizens speech should be suppressed!
 
 
October 22 - Maybe the conspiracy theorists weren't wrong after all

The USA Today speculates that because the value of the American dollar is tanking (thanks to the government thinking it can control the economy), we might all be using the Euro as the global currency of choice.

For years we have heard Alex Jones talk about his belief that we are heading toward a global currency (click here, here, and here) and have always heard the "mainstream" media roll their eyes and call him a nutjob. Well now we have USA Today talking about it. This begs the question; since he is right about this, what else is he right about?
 
 
October 21 - Slimebag Senator begs Obama not to make an enemies list

Contrary to his usual spineless and cowardly actions, the liar Lamar Alexander took a stand and urged Obama not to invoke a Nixon-era tactic of making an enemies list. "Alexander cited as examples the Obama administration threatening to strip the insurance industry of its exemption of federal anti-trust laws, "taking names" of bondholders who opposed the auto bailout, its reported aim to "neuter the U.S. Chamber of Commerce," boycotting Fox News Network and "calling out" of others who oppose it."

Remember a few months ago when the Obama administration asked citizens to report "fishy" comments concerning healthcare?

Be careful what you say, you may be next...
 
 
October 28 - The brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been getting regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency.

Insert conspiracy theory here...
 
 
October 9, 2009 - The Moon, Earth's new landfill

In an effort to create a big mess, NASA intentionally crashed a rocket named LCROSS into the moon. All the news leading up to the event mentioned the crash being visible from Earth but no such spectacle appeared.The purpose was to create a large dust cloud so it could be analyzed for water ice. 

"Even if the LCROSS readings don't turn up evidence of water, that wouldn't necessarily mean the water isn't there", said Michael Bicay, director of science at Ames. "Ice might be distributed unevenly in the crater, and LCROSS might have hit just the wrong place for water."

Don't worry taxpayers; it only cost $79 million. The government will take more of your paycheck for the next crash.
 
 
October 22 - Someone got a Nobel prize who actually deserves it!

No, not Obama (I think we're all scratching our heads on that one), it's Elinor Ostrom, who dedicated her life to showing that, "...politicians and bureaucrats are no nearly as good at solving problems as regular people...there is no reason to belive that politicians and bureaucrats, no matter how well meaning, are better at solving problems than the people on the spot, who have the strongest incentive to get the solution right."

Hear that government? LEAVE OUR PRIVATE PROPERTY ALONE!!
 
 
September 16 - Those who helped Obama get elected will pay the biggest price

"...the young adults who were so vital to President Obama's election are emerging as a significant beneficiary of his top domestic priority, but they are also likely to play a major role in funding any reform."

There is a provision in the health care reform bill that states anyone who elects not to receive health care will be forced to pay $750 - $950 per year. Many of those who opt out of an insurance plan do so by choice...they feel they don't need insurance because of their good health. And it's because of this choice that they may be penalized by the administration. There are mixed opinions among the under-30 crowd as to whether or not this particular health proposal is a good idea, but the underlying question that has yet to be answered - where in the Constitution does it authorize the government to involve itself in the doctor-patient relationship?
 
 
September 24 - Blount Countians are too stupid to solve their own problems or control their own land

At least that's what the Blount County Commission believes. Why else would they vote to transfer control of your land to the Storm Water Department? They don't trust you to use your land properly or to work with your neighbors to solve any land-use issues.

Wendy Pitts Reeves quoted Abraham Lincoln as saying, "If men were angels there would be no need for government." and used this to justify her vote to support seizing your property rights. What Ms. Reeves, and Mr. Lincoln, seem to overlook is the fact that the government is made up of people who are just as subject to greed, selfishness, and corruption as the rest of us. It seems Ms. Reeves as well as the rest of the commission believe government to be morally superior to American citizens.

Yep, you guessed it, it's time to clean house!!
 
 
September 18 - Don't even ask unless you're willing to pay

"Tennessee cities, counties, and other public agencies...have spent $5.3 million over the past three years on registered lobbyists to monitor legislation and push important initiatives, according to the libertarian Tennessee Center for Policy Research...The group...says governments lobbied to increase their power to tax and spend without oversight from the public."

It is all too commonplace for the government to spend millions of your tax dollars to lobby other governments in Nashville and Washington. Gone are the days when the government was actually accountable to American citizens unless, that is, you have millions of dollars to give them. It's disgusting how corrupt our government has become. Time to take it back!
 
 
September 23 - Flavored cigarettes are banned, no they're not, yes they are!

"The federal ban on flavored cigarettes, imposed by the same law that authorized the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products, took effect [September 22nd]."

FDA agents went down to Alabama and told an owner of a tobacco store that the ban included cigarillos. Another store owner was told to remove every flavored tobacco product that "looked like a cigarette" but didn't know themselves what that meant.

After receiving conflicting reports from the FDA on what a cigarette is, one of the FDA's lawyers stated that if consumers believe a product is a cigarette, then the law defines it as one regardless of how it's labeled. So I guess we should give cigarettes a different name so the government will leave them alone!