Inter arma enim silent leges

For this post, I am not going to talk about the latest issues or problems that the world is facing (at least, not the main issue(s) the media has decided is important for us to care about at this very moment). This has been a huge issue not too long ago and I feel that it is too important to let it fall off of our radar screens.

Although the Latin phrase above is translated as "For among arms, the laws fall mute", I am going to use the more modern interpretation of this classic phrase "In times of war, the laws fall silent." Cicero, from Roman times, coined the phrase and it holds true today.

As many of you know, I am a Republican and a supporter of the war(s) that the U.S. is currently engaged in. I am also one of the very few (and I mean very few) general supporters of President Bush. He has done decent things, some of which have gone without press releases and the typical political "look at me" stunts that BOTH sides are guilty of doing. Do not get me wrong though, please, he has done some Stupid and idiotic things that make you go "Really?" but then again, everyone has had some of those moments. I consider myself a "realistic conservative" (that's right, a new catch phrase for my conservative compadres) in that I actually listen to the other side, try to understand where they are coming from, looks at all the facts and then make my opinion. My bias is always there and I make no attempt to hide that but we all have our bias, even those who claim they are just giving facts and are unbiased. With that said, I am also a staunch believer in this country's greatness… or at least the greatness we could be.

Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the American people and Congress have been signing away our freedoms and our moral integrity in the name of National Security. We allow the Government to listen in on us, we are more than willing to take off our shoes and submit to personal searches so we can "freely" move about the country and world (while following other countries' immigration laws, of course), and allow the country to increase its use of torture on individuals. I can support limited torture (non-physical and non-sexual humiliation torture) on those who are actually bad guys and terrorists but I cannot support and am outraged at the use of both physical and psychological torture on people. What really gets me pissed is the fact that we do this not because they have information or they are guilty of something, but because they might have information. We torture people to see if they are guilty of something that we can then use to justify more torture. Why?

We do not do that. We are the United States. We treat enemy soldiers with respect, humanity, and compassion. We are supposed to be treating our prisoners of war like we expect and demand our citizens be treated. We give all persons, citizens or not, access to a fair trial and judicial process (as fair as it can be given Humankind's suckiness at being fair). After three years of being locked up, we have "enemy combatants" still locked up without having any access to lawyers, family, or even a hearing to let them know why they are being held. Why? We place any name that may have a link to terrorism on a no-fly list, even if that name includes those who are known NOT to be associated with terrorists. Even after we know they are not terrorists, we leave the name on there because of the chance that they will let one slip by (yet we still put inmates to death when DNA proves someone else was there). Why?

Everyone deserves to be treated fairly and in a humane way. All of us are, after all, endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The next line of that great document provides justification to alter or even overthrow a government in certain cases. I do not think we are at the point. Far from it. But we need to be wary because we do not want to be the last ones left. I am reminded of Martin Nummular, a German pastor who opposed the Nazis. "In Germany they came first for the communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionist and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me and by that time there was no one left to speak up."

In times of war, humanity ceases to be evolved or even compassionate. We allow the laws to fall silent and for that we should all be ashamed.

Meat is Murder! (Tasty, Tasty Murder)

It seems that we cannot turn on the TV, open a newspaper, or open our cell phones (with the internet, of course) without seeing some story about how messed up our economy is and that another financial institution is about to go under. If you continue to read on, I have no doubt you will see another story about how the government is going to take over or is in talks to take over that failing institution. We have spent several hundred billion dollars already rescuing mortgage and financial "giants" to prevent them from going under.

In one instance, the government provided assistance for a $30 billion buyout by Morgan Stanley of one of its "competitors" in the financial world. What the outrageous part of that "assistance" was is that Morgan Stanley put up a measly $1 billion while you and I, okay, it is really the Chinese that did, put up $29 billion. Really? The government provided over 96% of the funds and we allow this other institution to buyout its competitors? At the same time of all of these rescues, the government decided not to rescue Lehman Brothers, which had to file bankruptcy because the government would not secure a loan. It can be assumed that unlike the other bailouts, the foreign markets were not as heavily invested in Lehman's and so, it could be allowed to disintegrate without allowing a foreign major investor (China) from losing billions of dollars that could force them to stop buying U.S. Debt.

Last week, the government bought out AIG and took that institution, the world's largest insurance company by the way, over and nationalized it. Since when is it the role of Government to rescue and bail-out bad businesses that have made even worse decisions in the world of business. Let's face it, this is a (semi) capitalist world and business natural selection should be allowed to play out. Now, don't get me wrong, the Government should not sit back and practice the Hoover style Laissez-faire economics and allow the U.S. and world financial system to collapse. That would effectively ruin all governments (to the joy of lots of people, I suppose). The bailouts, most of which I do not agree with, are only treating the symptoms and not the cause of this collapse. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was very cleverly set-up so that its funds would be so well insulated and protected from market collapse except in the case of a financial perfect storm. Well, we entered that perfect storm and their wide distribution of funds now required the US government to re-nationalize those institutions.

Of the bailouts, I agree, mostly, with the AIG takeover. Not because of the significance of the institution or its importance in the world market but because of how it was structured. The US Government, you me and the Chinese, is now able to get 80% of the stocks and become a major shareholder. This means that we now have a ventured interest in the success of this company because we are part owners. This means that, assuming the market stabilizes and bounces back in the next year or so, the profits that these companies make (in good economic times) will provide a new stream of revenue for the Government because we own 80% of the stock. These companies have and can make a fortune and since we bailed them out, we deserve a piece of the pie. This is the Government thinking of new ways to provide a stable new source of revenue that will allow us to start to reduce our reliance on deficit budgets. New Non-Tax revenues are a vital component of a stable government balance sheet and more governments, Federal included, should start running their business like just that… a business.

Now, I know this is not the answer to all of our problems. We still need to prevent this from happening in the future and in the mean time, if a vital institution is about to fail that would further destroy the market, then by all means Government… Intervene. Just do so smartly and continue to look "outside" the box for long term solutions, not short term bailouts of businesses that were, for the lack of a better word, STUPID.

What a difference a week makes

Well, my second vacation of the year is now over and it was fantastic. I now have just one left this year before I go on a vacation drought. Tannan, Whitney and I took a road trip (I love Road Trips) to Montana to see our Vet friend Bret. Montana was, in some ways, completely different than what I thought it would be and also the same... very confusing. We arrived to 87 degree weather and saw that change to cool but very, very windy, to a threat of snow. Talk about weather. I love San Diego but it would be nice to have some weather outside of the 360 days per year of partly cloudy/sunny weather.

The trip was fun and I cannot wait to do it again soon. I have posted some pictures below and will post more. I will also get back to my somewhat political blog style but in the mean time, decided to share the love. See ya!

Here is a picture of Tannan and Whitney outside of Bret's House as we wait for him to arrive home.

Here is a picture of the start to a Montana Sunset looking outside of Bret's house.

Here is Tannan and Bret settling an argument during fajitas night.

After the snow and on Tuesday, we went to Bannock, a ghost town. Here I am standing under the gallows where 17 people died (I think it was that few).

Help, We're in Jail! From inside this jail, you can really only see one thing... the Gallows!

On Saturday Night we went to the Rodeo. This was, after all, Montana's biggest weekend. We decided to dress up and put on some Cowboy hats, although Tannan's is a cowboy hat that he bought in Thailand.

Since we were in Montana, we decided to take part in a Montana original... a bag of beer. (Yes, you actually by a bag of beer... brilliant).

After the rodeo, they close two blocks of downtown Dillon and suspend the open container policy. It was odd walking past cops while drinking booze in the middle of the street. The people in the back are slightly intoxicated while the old couple up front (Tannan and Whitney) were not. To be fair, some of us (myself and another person who shall remain nameless) were a little more intoxicated than others.