May 20, 2009 - Who's vaccinating YOUR children?
According to the article, "[Studies] found that children who had received the flu vaccine had three times the risk of hospitalization, as compared to children who had not received the vaccine." And here you were thinking you were doing the right thing and protecting your child from a horrible illness. It seems that yet another recommendation from the government (CDC) has gone awry. I wonder if they'll quit promoting the vaccine the way they took fluoride out of our water...wait a minute!
The topic: What is an American?
April 12 - If you do not think like one of us, you are not one of us.
The original purpose of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was to keep us safe from outside threats. Little did we know that "outside threats" included thinking that is contrary to what the government wants you to think.
A recently released DHS report states the need to suppress violent extremist groups. These groups are defined as "...those that are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely." It also states that the DHS will be working with state and local partners over the next several months to determine the level of "right-wing" extremist activity in the U.S.
Folks, this is your government.
April 17 - Does anyone remember where I left my car?
This has been going on for some time and was brought up at the last county commission meeting: the sheriff's office lost 36 police cars and has only performed internal audits in which, wouldn't you know, the inventory numbers add up. Jim Folts of the Citizens for Better Government has done an excellent job of documenting all these inconsistencies. But according to the sheriff and mayor these are "...frivoulous or baseless..." complaints that "...distract...from our duties."
Isn't the primary duty of a public servant to be accountable to the citizens? Apparently not in Blount County.
April 17 - Dave Bennett and Morgan Keegan - bff
Mr. Dave "no-cost to the taxpayers" Bennett has been under fire recently for some creative accounting. He has worked with the county's financial advising firm, Morgan Keegan, in swapping current fixed-interest loans to variable-interest loans to allegedly save the county money. However according to a New York Times report, this is a very risky move which might not be such a good deal after all.
What's even more interesting in all this is that not only does Morgan Keegan advise Bennett, they also handle these financial transactions. According to Bennett, Morgan Keegan "...has been paid nothing for acting as the county's financial adviser..." but has been "...paid $1.4 million since 1999 for handling the transactions..."
Looks like these transactions are more profitable for Morgan Keegan than they are for the taxpayers of Blount County.
April 17 - Newsflash! Government cannont be trusted with citizens' privacy!
Thanks to the Republican Congress and President, we are now burdened with the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Under this law communications received from, or going to, foreign countries would be subjected to monitoring, or so we were told. Obama and the Democrats argued that this was a gross violation of an individual's privacy (even though Obama supported amendments to FISA which legalized this kind of surveillance). Now it seems the National Security Agency (NSA) has been keeping tabs on some domestic communications in addition to international communications.
And if this wasn't enough, there is a bill titled the "Cybersecurity Act of 2009" which would grant to the president the power to limit or shut down internet traffic to private networks.
And you just thought the bad guys would be affected by this...
April 8 - If you want to modernize, you must federalize
The bill: HR 875. The name: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009.
It seems Connecticut Democrat Rosa Delauro thinks that ALL farmers and ranchers should be subjects of the state. ANYONE who transports food for sale would be vulnerable to unreasonable search and seizure (now where have I seen that before?). At anytime and anyplace the government can randomly take a farmer's products or records as part of the inspection.
Refusal to register: $1 million.
Refusal to comply: $1 million.
Killing local farms: priceless.
March 19 - Great Smoky Mountains Greenway Land Confiscation
You may think, as a private citizen, you know best how to use your land, but you'd be wrong. The Blount County commission voted on March 19th to join a "Great Smoky Mountains Regional Greenway Council". Their purpose is to create a greenway from Knox County all the way to the Great Smoky Mountains. This may sound nice, but this will be created at the expense of private land owners. What's worse is the suggested ways to increase support for these is to "Integrate your effort into your local governmental body by developing a political/governmental advisory committee." This suggestion bypasses consulting landowners completely and makes it all too apparent that we the people hold no power over our own property. And, this greenway has already begun...
March 23 - I didn't think we were paying enough for potatoes anyway...
The recent omnibus spending bill that President Obama signed into law a couple of weeks ago contained alot of things...bad things. Alongside billions of dollars of more pork spending, which we're almost numb to, there is also a ban on Mexican trucks delivering products into America. While this might seem harmless, the Mexican government sees this as una bofetada en la cara. So their response is to increase tarrifs on exports to America, which are mostly agricultural in nature, and to decrease imports from America which may affect the unemployment rate. $5 apples anyone?
March 24 - Let's just skip that pesky 1st Amendment altogether
A group named "Citizens United" produced a 90-minute documentary film titled "Hillary: The Movie". Apparently this movie might make people think poorly of Ms. Clinton, so the Supreme Court has taken it upon itself to judge whether or not this is "political speech" that can be regulated by the McCain-Feingold campaign law. Their verdict might impact the scope of free speech restriction...hard to believe this is even being considered in a free? country.
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