"Now Is The Time For All Good Men To Come To The Aid Of Their Country"

“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.” A phrase any typing student knows well. Where did it come from? From what I have gleaned from the almighty internet is this: The original phrase came from Patrick Henry as, “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party.” Then, again, I also found that it was nothing more than a phrase from Charles Keller, a typing teacher. Either way, it makes for a resounding cry to any patriotic person from any nation.

Phrases from the past, from such noble historical figures such as Patrick Henry, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill, William Wallace, Robert Bruce, Plato, Socrates, Alexander the Great, etc., are fodder for anyone wanting to incite patriotism, energy, fanaticism, or even common sense from a group of people. (Wow! That was a long sentence.) These, as were all great historical figures, were people worth quoting. These were great men and women that accomplished great things. But, does it really take quoting a great historical figure to bring everyday people into the fold?

What about those people that are normal, every day, working-class people that have a good head on their shoulders? I have had people give good advice that no one has ever heard of. Some of the best knowledge comes from those that don’t have a college degree, that may not even have a high school diploma. I knew a man once that hadn’t even finished the eighth grade that had more common sense and usable knowledge that it was incredible. I would have traded all my formal education for a fraction of his ‘street smarts.’

You see, it isn’t education that makes a person smart. It is the knowledge gained from life that counts. A college degree shows that you have formal education in a certain area. You may know accounting forward and backward, or engineering, or political science, or medicine and not have an ounce of common sense. As an example, just look at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Here is a woman that supposedly graduated quite high in her class from a major college with a degree in economics. When she opens her mouth, what comes out shows that she has absolutely no idea about real life, history, or common sense. I actually feel sorry for her at times. I’m not AOC bashing. I am using her as a great example of how formal education means nothing when it comes to living.

I have a friend that turned me on to a certain author. He brought over a book and told me that he thought I might like it. I’d never heard of this author, but I read it. It was a great read. Since that time, I have bought almost every book this author has written. Why? I have read this woman’s words because she writes about life, about how hard it can be, about how anyone can overcome any obstacle if they just persevere. “Over, under, through, or around. There is always a way.” The funny thing about it is that when I went to Barnes and Noble to buy her books, I found them in the – ROMANCE section. I’ve never read romance novels. I was surprised, to say the least.

Wondering who that author is, are you? Well, let me say this: this woman has had a hard life, she was abused as a child and as a wife, she is dyslexic, she came from a poor family, she has attained wealth and fame in spite of all she had against her. In her novels, she writes of overcoming adversity and betrayal. “We are nothing more than life’s whipping boys, but we continue to fight because of the ones we love.” Through her characters, she tells a story of how a person can be more than what the believe; that life isn’t fair but that, no matter what, we must continue to live, and things will get better.

The author: Sherrilyn Kenyon. Her books: The Chronicles of Nick, The League, The Dark-Hunters, The Dream Hunters, and The Belador Series.

Here is an example of how an everyday person can inspire anyone. This is not an advertisement for Ms. Kenyon or her books, although I do recommend them to everyone. This woman has overcome great hardship to achieve great things. She isn’t a great political figure, social justice figure, community organizer, or historical figure. She is just a common woman with a story to tell. Throughout her books are life lessons worth learning; especially in the Chronicles of Nick series.

You see, there are people that haven’t gained notoriety that are quite knowledgeable in life. Some of these people have little formal education. It is LIFE that teaches us the most. If you don’t have some form of common sense, then life will beat you down. That is the problem in today’s world: all it takes is a lot of money or knowing someone in power and you don’t have to worry about a lot. Look at any political party in any nation and you can see that common sense is not at the top of their agenda.

The days of patriotism, commitment, loyalty, and common sense are over. Today is the day of feelings; how a person feels about any given subject is what is important. What the individual wants is more important than what the community needs. Special interest gets the venue, not common-sense policy. It boils down to where politicians can gain more power; and it isn’t just here in the United States.

“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.” A great quote, even if it is just a typing exercise. It’s just too bad that more people don’t take it to heart. This quote isn’t just about patriotism. It is about life. United we can achieve anything. Divided, we will fall to whatever comes along. Not just as a nation but, also, as normal, everyday people living together in a world that is hell-bent to destroy us.

Families need to get back to being families. Friends need to get back to being loyal and having each other’s backs. Communities need to get back to helping each other. “The good of the many outweighs the good of the few.” Too often the few demands more than the many can accommodate. When a minority’s wants are put before the needs of the majority it puts undue pressure on everyone. As can be seen in today’s world, minorities are fast becoming the influencers of policy regardless of the consequences of those policies. Political correctness is destroying the freedoms that every person should be enjoying. Families are no longer together, friends turn into enemies, communities become individuals hiding behind locked doors.

Maybe that great quote should be changed just a little. Maybe, instead of ‘the nation,’ or ‘the party,’ it should read, “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their neighbors, their families, their friends.” Whether it be local, state, national, or global, isn’t it time we came to the aid of those we care about? Isn’t it time we got out of the idea that the individual is more important than the community?

I’m not talking about opening our borders to anyone and everyone that wants to come to the US. I’m not talking about the working people paying more and more taxes to support those that are unwilling to support themselves. I’m not talking about giving up inalienable rights because of another becoming offended. I’m talking about making sure that those inalienable rights are available to everyone wherever they are. Maybe if the people of the world would just let each individual be who they are it would be a better place to live. Let the LBGT community be gay. Let the hunters hunt. Let the vegans eat their veggies while the omnivores eat whatever they want. Let people worship the way they please without demanding the oppression of other’s beliefs. Don’t demand that everyone think and believe the way you do.

It’s a big world that is becoming smaller every day. There are a lot of people living on this little rock in space. As the Beatles once said, “Let it be.”

Don't Be A Dick to Truck Drivers

First, there were regulations on hours of service. A truck driver could only drive so many hours before having to rest for so long. When I started driving way back in 1986, I could drive 10 hours then had to rest for 8. Now, that 10 hours of driving could be divided any way I wanted, as well as the 8 for rest, effectively making it where I could drive up towards 24 hours if I worked it right. What made it good was that we had paper logbooks. If I couldn’t get it done on time following the HOS (hours of service) rules, I’d just get a new book and have 70 more hours to work with. We couldn’t, and still can’t, work more than 70 hours in 8 days.

Thanks to Werner Enterprises and the advent of the Electronic Log, along with the change in HOS where we couldn’t work more than 14 hours after starting our clock, it’s much harder to work those extra long days and make those extra miles. And when you get paid by the mile that can really affect the paycheck. Now, the FMCSA is instituting a new rule to the ELD mandate – if a truck moves more than 5 mph it automatically goes onto the DRIVE line. What this means is: if I am on a DOT mandated 30-minute break it could possibly put me back ON DUTY and the time I had already spent on break doesn’t count. When a driver is on a tight schedule, and most of us are, that can make us late to a pick-up or delivery.

That is just part of what a driver puts up with. Along with the tight DOT mandated rules, a lot of companies are now employing Collision Avoidance Systems and inward-facing cameras. What the CAS does is tell a driver when he is too close to the vehicle in front of him and if he gets too close it will slam on the brakes. Any driver that has any experience at all knows how far away he is from the vehicle in front of him and knows how long it will take to stop in case of emergency. I know that I don’t need to have some computer software tell me where I am on the road. It is for those inexperienced drivers that shouldn’t be operating a bicycle much less an 80,000-pound vehicle. Oh, yeah! This little piece of equipment is also tied into the ELD software, so it is also a tattle-tell to the company about how you’re driving.

The inward-facing camera is, in my opinion, an invasion of privacy. I live in my truck. That camera shows everything that is going on inside the cab and the sleeper (if the sleeper curtains are open). Companies will say that it is to protect the driver and the company in case of an accident. What it does is show what the driver was doing in any given incident. If I touch the center or fog line, my camera will record an event. If I hit a pothole and jar the truck hard it will record an event. If I swerve to miss an object in the road it will record an event. Any recording can, and will, be used against me. I could be lighting a cigarette, taking a drink of coffee, anything and that is a distraction and used against me. If I’m looking out my side window at my mirrors – yep, distraction.

The laws regarding cell phones is another part of it. I must have a hands-free unit to talk on the phone. I have no problem with that. I cannot text and drive – no problem there. BUT, if I pick up my phone to hit a number to call, if I touch my phone to talk into it (so I am not texting and driving) and the camera records an event of any kind that is used against me. Now, include the CAS that just might slam on the brakes because of a road sign on a curve in-line with the radar on the front of the truck the camera will record an event. It all works together against the driver. All in the name of ‘safety.’

Think about this for just a second: every day I must inspect my truck to make sure that everything is roadworthy. Every day, before I even start my truck. That is DOT regulation. If I don’t and I get pulled behind a scale and inspected, they check my logs and I get a ticket for not following the rules. Do you check your vehicle out every day to make sure that there is nothing hanging off it, that all the lights work, that there aren’t any leaks? I highly doubt it. It doesn’t matter anyway. You don’t have to do that. Your POV (privately owned vehicle) doesn’t have to be roadworthy to be driven down the road. Mine does.

In the unfortunate case of an accident, guess what, I get a drug test. It doesn’t matter who is at fault, either. I am forced to pay out of my pocket for a drug screen to make sure that I am not doing drugs or drinking while driving. Do you? Nope! You can be high as a kite and as long as you can act straight you will get by with it. It is almost impossible for a commercial driver to get by with doing drugs or drinking on the road. We are subject to RANDOM drug tests. That means that we can get pulled over for no reason what-so-ever and given a drug test. Yeah! Makes my day when that happens because I don’t do drugs.

With all that being put out there for you to ponder, here’s so more for you to think about: most drivers are on a tight schedule. We have only so much time to get from point A to point B. There is no give most of the time. A lot of us try to drive about 5 mph OVER the speed limit (which is allowed in all states) so that we can make our pick-ups and deliveries on time and still have time to actually eat, shower and sleep. I don’t know about a lot of these newbies out here on the road but I have never had the time to eat right, sleep right, shower every day, or even take the time to have a healthy emptying of my colon.

When I’m trying to get somewhere it never, ever fails that some POS in their little powder-blue Prius decides to cut me off, slow down in front of me, not let me pass, etc. It NEVER fails. I’ve had old men drive 10 mph UNDER the speed limit in front of me then, when I try to get around them, they speed up so I can’t just to slow down again when I get back behind them. I’ve had people pass me on the right on the shoulder just to hit the brakes a quarter mile down the road to make a turn. This, my private citizen friend, is interfering with interstate commerce. It is interfering with me delivering the goods that YOU buy.

With three lanes of traffic there is a hierarchy of where to be. The far-right lane is for grandma and those that are lost. You know, the s-l-o-w drivers. The center lane is for those that are doing the speed limit or a little more, keeping it going. The far-left lane – hammer down! This lane is for those that are in a definite hurry to get nowhere fast. If there is a line of cars half a mile long behind you and no one in front of you – YOU ARE IN THE WRONG LANE! Move the hell over to the right. Don’t impede traffic because you are a self-appointed speed cop. Yes, it takes a truck a ways to get up to speed but, after we get there it’s balls to the wall. We will probably be going faster than you if you only go the speed limit. Don’t pass us while we’re getting up there just to slow us down once we get to road speed.

Remember this: there is absolutely NOTHING that you have that hasn’t been hauled in some form by a truck. Your car was delivered to the dealer by a truck. That cell phone that you’re using to report a driver for being rude – hauled to the store by a truck. The clothes you wear, the food you eat, the TV you watch, the desk you sit at, the equipment you operate, everything in your life was hauled by a truck at some point. Everything. And you want to screw with a driver because you don’t want to be behind him because you think he’s going to slow your dumb ass down. Let me tell you something, cupcake. I have to be there. You have nowhere to go with all day to get there. You could have started earlier to get to work. You don’t have to be first to the stoplight. That truck is what keeps the WORLD going. Without trucks, the world stops.

I really don’t care if you like trucks or not (especially in California, New York, Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois). Commercial drivers have more laws to follow than you could imagine. We are regulated more than most industries. We don’t get paid near enough to be gone from our families for days, weeks, or months at a time and put up with the crap that a lot of personal drivers give us. If you honestly believe that trucks are dangerous and shouldn’t be allowed on the road then stop buying things. Don’t go to Mike’s Mini Mart and get a 4-pack of Red Bull and carton of Marlboros. Don’t run over to Walmart and buy that new T-shirt that has the picture of Iron Maiden on it. Don’t shuffle off to Fred Meyer and get groceries. That new iPhone has no place in your pocket. The PS4 and all the games that go with it need to be forgotten. ALL these things are hauled by a truck.

Professional drivers are tired, over-worked, under-paid, stressed people. There are bad drivers out there to be sure. I’ve run into a lot more of them in the past few years. Too many ‘schools’ are pushing through people that shouldn’t be allowed to operate a bicycle in a wide-open field. We, the old-timers, are still the White Knights. We are still the professional drivers that would love to stop and help a stranded driver, a hitchhiker, someone who’s broken down on the side of the road. We can’t. We don’t dare. It’s too dangerous for us, it could make us use up valuable time off our tight clocks. It doesn’t mean that we don’t want to, we just can’t do it anymore. Why? We can’t because there are too many people in POVs that would kill us, literally.

Think about what you’re doing while on the road. It isn’t rocket science to operate safely and courteously on the highways of the nation. If a semi-truck is being rude to you it’s probably because he’s been treated pretty badly by several POVs that day. It’s easier for a car to slow down and regain speed than it is for a truck. You are not going to be delayed very long by staying behind a truck for a mile or two. We’re governed at a slower speed (this means we can only go so fast and no more – usually between 63 and 70 mph) so you can always get around us if need be. You are not the center of the universe nor are you more important than anyone else. Be aware. Prepare. If the sign says that a lane is closed in two miles, move over now, don’t wait till the last few feet then force your way in because you got a few cars forward. If your exit is coming up, get in the right lane half a mile or more before it, don’t wait till your almost past it.

A Very Sad State of Affairs

First of all let me get this out of the way: I stated at the very beginning that if Donald Trump wavered I would be one of the first to call him out. As you all know, very well, I call out the liberals constantly because I have a very conservative political view. That being said, I will get into the reason for this article.

The past week has been pretty… exciting? Bashar al Assad allegedly gassed his own people with Siran gas, one of the worst, because he’s just an asshole like that. Trump, not having drawn the line but not letting some Russian backed dictator cross it, used fifty nine Tomahawk missiles to level one airfield that the Syrian dictator (and the Russians) were using within hours afterward; this being done while our President was having a state dinner with the President of China. Rex Tillerson was in Russia speaking with his counterpart, Sergei Lavrov and then actually got to talk with good old Vlad Putin, himself.

Now, to top that off, our friend in North Korea decided to test more nukes and the Donald sent a few Navy ships toward the Korean peninsula as a show of force. Having LittleMan Sydrome, Kim Jung Un, the North Korean midget in charge decided to threaten the United States with nuclear war if we so much as fired one shot into his country.

Wow! Just….wow! Nothing like making history or watching it happen before your very eyes; I now know how the colonists felt as the Founding Fathers decided to declare our independence and then war against England.

Is it the end of times? I doubt it. Even though the North Korean midget in charge is a crazy bastard that would actually fire nuclear warheads at one of the two most powerful nations on the planet, I don’t think China would allow it. Although, it doesn’t seem as though China has a whole lot of sway over what Kim does anymore.

So, with all that out of the way, as a side note, if you want to get the shit kicked out of you just fly United Airlines on an overbooked flight. It isn’t enough that you get groped and prodded and interrogated and treated like you’re an Islamic Terrorist by the TSA in the airports, now you get to be treated like that on one of the biggest air carriers. Gotta love America.

Now to get to the heart and soul of what I want to say. This isn’t gonna make any liberal happy. President Trump did exactly what he should have done by tossing some explosives at Syria. I think he may have overdone it a little but, the thought was right. He did what King Obama should have done when the midget crossed HIS red line. Instead, the King decided to hang back and let the little bastard do what he wanted.

Did the Donald do anything to start WWIII? Nope. Hate to tell you this, folks, that war started on September 11, 2001. Even with the controversy (conspiracy?) of exactly what happened that fateful day as the World Trade Center fell, that was when this bloody war started. I know that I have a hard time believing the good ol’ government that it was Islamic Terrorists given HOW the buildings fell and that in the beginning there was actually no airplane in the wall of the Pentagon. That notwithstanding, the war started with George W. Bush against Saddam Hussein.

Now, with the downfall of the almighty Clinton Empire, the liberals are waging a war of their own against fellow Americans because they didn’t get their way; even the Congress is involved within their own hallowed halls, liberals against conservatives. Damn that Donald Trump! How dare he win a rigged election against him. Hillary was supposed to win so that she could finish off turning this country into a Socialist State.

First was the Russian hacking that, by the way, COULD have been our own Intelligence Community pretending to be Russian hackers. Then it turned into Russian collusion with the Trump Team. Then, lo and behold, came attacks on Team Trump associates. Liberal attacks at every level. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reclusing himself from overseeing investigations against the Trump Team then Devon Nunez reclusing himself from the same for the same reason – liberal allegations of biased investigating. Yeah, the war is in full swing and the liberals are flinging everything they can at the conservatives. Unfortunately, it seems as though the libs are in the lead by a league and the conservatives keep holding back.

It kinda makes a person wonder about what is going on in Washington. Is the Donald really ‘draining the swamp’ or is the swamp swallowing his administration one position at a time without any defense against it?

Why is the surveilling of Trump Tower a year before the election by the Obama Administration not being thoroughly investigated with hard evidence that it did happen while the Russian collusion is being beaten into the ground with all the Intelligence Community saying there is absolutely no evidence of it? Why is the Clinton Foundation not being investigated? Why is the Hillary email scandal a thing of the past, forgotten amongst the liberal outcry against the conservatives? Are the conservatives in DC really wanting to lose in 2018, 2020 and beyond?

There are more questions than answers in the world today. Why is Vlad so intent on supporting Assad when he knows that the Syrian dictator broke international law by using chemical weapons against his own people? Why is Kim Jung Un playing big man against an adversary that could wipe him off the face of the Earth? Why does Mexico get all pissed because Trump wants to build a wall to stop illegal immigration when they won’t allow Americans to illegally enter their country? Why do Americans want illegals to stay, no matter if they commit violent crimes against Americans?

The biggest question is this: why do we have to ask these questions? Isn’t the government supposed to be doing a thorough investigation into all things illegal that I’ve asked about? Why isn’t the Congressional committees demanding the ‘evidence’ that Susan Rice left with her unmasking scandal? Why won’t the FBI cooperate with Congress on this? Is the swamp so dense and thick that they don’t care about the law when that law is broken against the conservative party?

Yes, my friends, the war has already started. The evidence is there for anyone to see if they look with open eyes instead of a closed mind. World War III and a Civil War are going on at this very minute, this day, this month, this year and will continue as long as we, the People, allow it to. The question about this is what can we do about it? We are only a country of pampered children that want given to us what our parents and forefathers had to work hard for, fight and die for. So, what can we do? QUIT PLAYING BY THEIR RULES. I’m not advocating a violent rebellion such as the Founding Fathers had to resort to. I’m talking about not doing what the elitists want. Quit fighting about policy. Quit fighting about platform. Quit fighting about civil rights that aren’t being ignored. All these things are just distractions that have been bought and paid for by the richest of the rich.

You really think that Black Lives Matter started out as a terrorist organization bent against law enforcement and the establishment? I doubt it. Do you really think that all these gay rights activists really think that the LBGT community doesn’t have equal rights? There will always be discrimination by some but the majority of the people don’t adhere to such practices. Do you really think that keeping illegal immigrants in this country is really helping us out? Do you really think that we should bring those refugees into the country when there are places in their own region that could house and protect them better while staying with their own culture? The only refugees that WANT to come here are the terrorists and you are inviting them in.

All these things are orchestrated acts to keep us distracted from the real world and what is going on. There will always be war, discrimination, bullying, differences of opinion and viewpoint. Nothing can be done about that. What can be done is forgetting about all the shit that is being shoved down our throats and look behind the scenes to see what is actually going on. They don’t want us to get along. They love us to fight each other. That keeps them in power. OUR TIME IS NOW! Join the passive rebellion and quit doing what they want.  Liberal, conservative, socialist, communist, dictator or freely elected leader, it doesn’t matter, we are all being blindsided by an evil terrorist organization more secret than any other before. We are all just pawns on their chessboard and we are willingly entertaining them.

Open your eyes. Open your mind. Choose what you want. Fight on your feet for real freedom or die on your knees subjugated by the elitists. It’s your choice. 

Capitalism versus Socialism

Capitalism versus Socialism - that is the big debate these days. Here it is, 2017 and we have to debate the pros and cons of two different economic platforms? Hasn’t history taught us anything? First of all, we need to know what the definitions of these are so let’s go to my favorite dictionary, The Oxford American Dictionary.

Capitalism: n. a system in which a county’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit. Synonyms: private enterprise, free enterprise, the free market, private ownership. Antonyms: communism.

Socialism: n. the theory that a country’s land, transport, industries, etc., should be owned or controlled by the community as a whole. There are no synonyms or antonyms listed.

Since the antonym of Capitalism is communism, I’ll put the definition of it here also.

Communism: n. 1 a political system in which all property is owned by the community. 2 a system of this kind based on Marxism.

Marxism: n. the political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, which formed the basis for communism.

So, as you can see, Capitalism is a free trade system which promotes economic growth and Socialism stagnates growth. If you don’t believe that, you’ve been living under a rock for the last hundred years. The American economic system is set up on Capitalism, one of the reasons why this country has become the world power that it is. We have created more wealth for private individuals than any other country in history. Take a look at John D. Rockefeller, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Joseph Kennedy, and a host of others that built great fortunes through capitalism. If the government had controlled their industries do you really think they would have built such empires? No.

Now, let’s take a look at other countries such as Russia, China, Korea, etc. The economies of these countries, Russia before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the separation of the Russian states, are government controlled. The people are extremely poor, underfed, worked jobs that paid little and the economy suffers. People cannot speak out against the government and, in the case of China and North Korea, communication is censored. The people cannot access social media or interact with other countries. Why? Because they would learn of the freedoms that capitalism and a free enterprise system has. They would rebel against government control, as happened during the Bolshevik Revolution and then when President Ronald Regan made that famous statement, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

The liberal left in America today wants a more socialistic system put in place. They want government controlled healthcare, government controlled industry, government controlled thought (political correctness is government control of your thought processes), government control of whether you can own a firearm, etc. The left would love to see the government in control of every aspect of our lives. They will, of course, deny this claim. If you think about it, honestly, what is their platform? Political correctness, gender neutrality, open borders, anti-religion, anti-Semitic, dependence on government in the form of welfare, pro-choice, labels on people of differing lifestyles, color, national origin, and many other socialistic programs. They protest against capitalism and free enterprise, freedom of expression (except of their own ideals), protecting our borders, illegal acts being punished (in the case of illegal immigration even rewarded with money and the same rights and privileges given to legal immigrants and natural citizens), etc.

The left scream that people that have worked hard for their money don’t deserve that money and should give it to the poor; some even say the poor deserve it because those rich bastards stole it from them. Is there corporate greed? Of course there is. Should people be paid an honest day’s wage for an honest day’s labor? Of course. What isn’t said in all these tirades is that those people getting paid those low wages can’t even count change; they are uneducated and have no motivation to progress in life in any way, shape or form. They live their little lives doing drugs, drinking, and getting tattoos without thought of where the rent or utility bill money is going to come from; after all, society OWES them a living so they wait for the welfare check.

Are there those that do try to improve their lives, are just stuck in a rut that they can’t get out of? Yes, in a way. There are more opportunities open in this country to improve a person’s life than anywhere else in the world. A person just has to have the motivation to seek them out. Dr. Ben Carson is a fantastic example of this. A boy raised in poverty that rises above his environment and becomes one of the world’s finest neural surgeons. You can’t tell me there aren’t more pros than cons in a capitalistic society.

The liberal left won’t claim victories like Dr. Carson. They would rather scream racism, homophobia, xenophobia, white privilege, etc. The left promote victimhood, not triumph against all odds. The labels they put on people are symbolic of socialism. It fuels the flame toward that stagnation and destruction of growth and wealth. If they can keep people divided and fighting against each other, sooner or later, capitalism will be overcome by socialism and then, finally, communism. If you were paying attention to the definitions you will see the opposite of capitalism is communism and, by definition, socialism ultimately will become communism.

Do the liberals have some good ideas? Of course they do. In the 1960’s it was the liberals that stood up against racism (I never have understood that term…after all, we are all ONE race – the human race). Since that time, racism (which will never disappear any more than school bullying will) has been almost done away with. Well, unless you listen to the liberals. They need things like racism to keep their agenda going. Gay rights is another good example. The problem with all these things is that if it weren’t for the liberals screaming ‘special people’ there wouldn’t be any problems in today’s world. Everyone, regardless of color or orientation or national origin, have the same rights and privileges as anyone else. Are there those that disagree with this? Yes, but they are the minority. Are there laws against same sex marriage? No. In fact, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that state-level bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.

What about climate change and/or use of renewable energy? Climate change is a big debate today. Is it because of humanity or just the cyclic nature of the Earth, itself? My opinion is the latter but the liberals seem to want to blame humans. As for renewable energy, this should have been started long ago. Wind, solar, water energy is renewable and doesn’t damage the Earth in any way. Why industry waited so long to start to explore this is totally unknown to me other than it went against big business (oil and coal) and would cut into those corporate profits. (Yes, I am very liberal on that. I believe in capitalism but not greed.) The problem isn’t that liberals have bad ideas; they have bad ways of promoting those ideas. They demand a government controlled way of doing it through legislation instead of a private way of doing it where people will actually grow and make money. Socialism/communism versus capitalism.

The United States of America, a country not yet 250 years old, set up a government that was for, by, and of the people. We were a country that developed an experimental government. Now, because of liberalism, that government has grown and grown until we now have a government that has a country. We are no better than any other country. Socialism is on the rise. Our Democratic Republic is fast becoming a Marxist society. The liberals seem to think that the Constitution of the United States was written as a guideline instead of as the Law of the Land. The only time the Constitution is right is if it is in their favor. I honestly believe that left to their ideals, the Constitution would be done away with and the Communist Manifesto or Mein Kampf would become the new law. The left absolutely hates capitalism and whole-heartedly embraces socialism. Without it, they would not exist.

I, for one, will rely on capitalism to continue to make this country great. I will fight the liberal agenda toward socialism/communism every step of the way. I will stand up for America and the rights and freedoms that my forefathers fought and died for. 

The Red Cap of Castle Glen

It was a dark and stormy night, the wing howling through the trees like the dreaded beansidhe and the rain falling in torrents making it difficult to see anything. Holding his hand up to his face, trying to keep the rain out of his eyes, Ben trudged on toward his destination. A destination that he feared more than the night creatures that kept watch over him. The words of his father kept going through his mind, “Fear does not exist. Danger is real but fear is a choice.”

Fear was all he felt this night. It wasn’t a choice. It was overwhelming. The old man in the village had told him to make this journey, this night, or his family would die a torturous death. Only the creature that lived here in the Black Forest could change their fate. This creature that no one ever survived seeing, much less bargaining with.

Suddenly the woods opened up and the old castle ruins came into sight. No one ever came here, especially at night. There was a stillness in the air now. No wind whistling, even the rain had stopped. Moonlight shone down upon the ruins almost like a spotlight on a celebrated actor on stage. The shadows, deep around the battlements and portcullis, almost formed an evil face on the façade; a face that threatened anyone that would dare venture near. Ben looked upon the sight with more trepidation than he had ever felt before. Thinking only of his family’s safety, he started across the overgrown garden.

Closing the distance between the safety of the forest and the portcullis of the castle, Ben slowly gained some semblance of courage. The creature that resided here would surely kill him on sight but if that was the price he had to pay, he would pay it gladly. Mary, his wife, and Angus, his baby boy, would survive if he could strike a bargain with the Red Cap. The old man had told him that reciting Scripture or showing a cross would make the creature disappear but that is not what he wanted. He needed help. The old crone had placed a curse on his family, one that would kill them slowly and painfully. Magick is a strange thing. The old man had told him only a Red Cap could reverse the spell she had used. The only problem with that is Red Caps hated humans and would kill them on sight.

He didn’t understand what it was about this night, at this time, that would keep the Red Cap from killing him, least of all, get him to help. Ben had never heard of a Red Cap that could do magick but the old man was adamant about this. The moon was full, true, and that was a magickal time and it was during Samhain, the time when the veil between worlds was thinnest. Hopefully, these things would protect him and bring him victory.

Entering through the massive, broken oak doors of the main hall, Ben straighten his posture and called on courage he had not known he had. Looking left and right then up the grand stair, he called out, “Red Cap! I come for your help. Show yourself to me.”

From the darkest corners came an echoing reply, “Why should I not kill you? A human, walking into my home is fair game. If I show myself, I shall surely tear your innards out of your body.”

“I do not believe you will. I come to bargain. The crone has cursed my family. The old man told me you were the only one that could help. Show yourself so that we may discuss the terms.”

“Terms? Are you mad? There are no ‘terms’ and there are no bargains. The old man lied and the crone must have had good reason. Why should I help you? You are nothing to me.” The voice was behind him and much closer than before.

Fear, once again, set upon Ben. With shaking knees and wavering voice, he turned to face the evilness that lived here. Out of the darkness the creature emerged. It was then that the young man knew that he, indeed, had been tricked. The hairless old man that came forward from the shadows smiled. His razor sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight and his claws clacking together were not near as frightening as the executioner’s axe that he dragged along the floor behind him.

Raising the axe and laying it upon his shoulder, the Red Cap stared at the frightened young man. He knew the boy was terrified, just as all humans were when they saw him. Smiling he spoke again, “I frighten you and yet you stand there. Why do you not run?”

“I have no reason to live if you do not help me. My family will die. Without them, I have nothing.”

“Even so. I should tear you apart and scatter your guts around the room. Yet, you intrigue me.” Uncharacteristically, the creature stood back and, scratching his chin, pondered why he had not killed this human already.

Samhain, the time of year when the veil between worlds is thinnest and creatures enter our world from the other side, is a magickal time. When the moon is full during the season it is especially so. The old man had not tricked the boy, he knew that this night, of all nights, was the only time in a thousand years that a Red Cap was incapable of killing. This night, at this time, midnight on All Hallows Eve with a full moon made the most evil creature to haunt the Scottish countryside unable to rend any victim. The only night that Ben would be able to barter for his family’s lives.

“What do you have to bargain for?”

“I have gold, livestock, food. Whatever you desire, I will find it.”

“I have no need of anything. I live, I kill. That is all. What would I do with riches or livestock? Food I can get. Is there nothing that you will give to me, willingly, to save your loved ones?” Looking at Ben with menacing eyes, belying the horror beneath his words, the small, evil creature continued, “There is only one thing that I desire in this world and that is to kill.”

Understanding finally came to Ben. The Red Cap wanted him to willingly give up his life to save his loved ones. Fear, guilt, shame all came at once. He was afraid to die and felt guilty that he was not brave enough to give his life for someone else. The shame of his cowardice overwhelmed him. Turning to flee from this wretched creature and crumbling ruin, he stopped at the broken oak door.

Turning slowly, Ben smiled. “I will not bargain my life. Without me my family will die anyways. But, I will bargain with yours. You will cast your magick and save their lives or I will take yours from you.”

Never before had anyone ever lived through an encounter with a Red Cap. Even if they survived by running away they would still die within twenty four hours. Now, this boy was threatening the life of this evil sprite, one of the vilest of creatures. Was he mad?

“Nae! Ah willnae dae it. Ye cannae make me.” The small creature belied his uncertainty, glancing around the dark room.

With a speed and strength he had never known he possessed, Ben was across the room and had the small creature on the floor, knife across his throat. “I will.”

The night was drawing to an end. Soon it would be dawn and the veil would close, the magick lost. Pushing harder against the Red Cap’s throat, Ben demanded, “Do it! Do it now or die!”

With blood starting to trickle down out of the blade’s cut, the Red Cap relented. Closing his eyes he mumbled in ancient Celtic, so low that Ben could barely hear, the spell to break the curse. Opening his eyes, all he said was, “It is done.”

Rising from the floor and releasing him, Ben wiped the blood from his knife. “If you have tricked me, if my family still dies, I will return and fight you.”

“You will lose. No one ever survives me. I have not tricked you, they will live. And you and I will meet again. Soon. I will exact my revenge on you.” With that, he disappeared just as the sun shone through the empty windows; laughter echoing through the ruins.