I'm Tired - Viral e-mail of the Week

I’ll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I’ve worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven’t called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn’t inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there’s no retirement in sight, and I’m tired. Very tired. I’ll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I’ve worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven’t called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn’t inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there’s no retirement in sight, and I’m tired. Very tired.

I’m tired of being told that I have to “spread the wealth around” to people who don’t have my work ethic. I’m tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.

I’m tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to “keep people in their homes.” Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I’m willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the leftwing Congresscritters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them—with their own money.

I’m tired of being told how bad America is by leftwing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the religious freedom and women’s rights of Saudi Arabia, the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Gay people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela. Won’t multiculturalism be beautiful?

I’m tired of being told that Islam is a “Religion of Peace,” when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family “honor;” of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren’t “believers;” of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for “adultery;” of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur’an and Shari’a law tells them to.

I believe “a man should be judged by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin.” I’m tired of being told that “race doesn’t matter” in the post-racial world of President Obama, when it’s all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of US Senators from Illinois. I think it’s very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less in an all-knowing government.

I’m tired of a news media that thinks Bush’s fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama’s, at triple the cost, were wonderful. That thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress, that picked over every line of Bush’s military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his, that slammed Palin with two years as governor for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever.

Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn’t vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I’m tired of being told that out of “tolerance for other cultures” we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I’m tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore’s, and if you’re greener than Gore, you’re green enough.

I’m tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don’t think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I’m tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana. Update: People have written to tell me I'd have more sympathy if this was close to me. It is exactly having seen the destruction of alcoholism and heroin addiction in my own family that makes me pretty intolerant of people who are willing to destroy the people around them to indulge themselves.

I’m tired of illegal aliens being called “undocumented workers,” especially the ones who aren’t working, but are living on welfare or crime. What’s next? Calling drug dealers, “Undocumented Pharmacists”? And, no, I’m not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic and it’s been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I’m willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person who can speak English, doesn’t have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military. Those are the citizens we need. Update: A few people have taken this to indicate some bias against Catholics, based on events 400 years ago. While I think they are either too touchy or fail to understand, I was only trying to say that I have zero problem with Catholics wanting to come to the US, but that I have great concerns about Muslims, as a good % of them do want to kill me, or force their religion and moral code on me.

I’m tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years—and still are? Not even close. So here’s the deal. I’ll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we’ll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear. UPDATE: It has rightly been pointed out to me, several times, that I should have included Canadian, Australian and New Zealand troops here. My apologies for slighting these gallant allies of freedom.

I’m tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers—bums are bi-partisan. And I’m tired of people telling me we need bi-partisanship. I live in Illinois, where the “Illinois Combine” of Democrats and Republicans has worked together harmoniously to loot the public for years. And I notice that the tax cheats in Obama’s cabinet are bi-partisan as well.

I’m tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I’m tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I’m tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn’t have that in 1970, but we didn’t know we were “poor.” The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I’m real tired of people who don’t take responsibility for their lives and actions. I’m tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination, or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I’m damn tired. But I’m also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I’m not going to get to see the world these people are making. I’m just sorry for my granddaughter.

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts state senate. He blogs at www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com Update: Someone attached a picture of Robert D. Hall, an actor, to some versions and forwarded it on, saying that I was on CSI. We are two different people, and I am not an actor--unless you count running for public office.

The Tenth Amendment - Our Rights Taken

The sovereignty of the states and the people has been taken from us by our own federal government. The intent of our founding fathers is best seen in the 10th Amendment to our Constitution in the Bill of Rights. However, these words ring hollow as our modern era leaders have found ways to circumvent our sovereignty and render the 10th Amendment meaningless.

When this country was formed by our founding fathers, they had a great debate over the form of our government and if power should be concentrated in the state government or the federal government. These great men decided that our country shall consist of united but sovereign states free to govern as they see fit as long as they did not violate the rights of their citizens as enumerated in the constitution.

This concept was reinforced with the release of the Bill of Rights and the 10th Amendment in particular which reads as follows:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States are reserved to the States, or the people.

The federal government has gotten around the true form of our government and the true intention of the constitution by the following Section of the Constitution

SECTION 8. - Powers of Congress The Congress shall have the power 1. to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States:

Provide for the general welfare of the United States is the catch phrase for our current federal government. General welfare has been defined to mean all aspects of our lives. With this phrase and definition there may well have been no limits put on the federal government. As long as they are looking out for our general welfare they can do anything thru taxation.

Education is a prime example of how the federal government taxes away our rights and freedoms. Say the federal government taxes an average of 10% of all American's income for education. Then they tell us if we want our money back we must educate our kids to their standards. We need that 10% to properly educate our kids so the states and the people must give up their sovereignty to get the funds. The federal government hasn't required us to give up our powers but thru taxation has effectively taken away our freedom to educate our kids as we see fit.

Reread the 10th Amendment printed above. Do you believe the intent was to limit the role of the federal government in our lives? Or do you believe our founding fathers wanted the federal government to overtax our incomes and return our own money in the form of bribes for acting in a way that the federal government sees as proper?
Use your common sense. If the words and intent in the Bill of Rights are subverted thru loop holes contradictory to its intent, then have we not lost the meaning of the words which govern our lives?

Our leaders hold up the Constitution and proclaim its virtues as they redefine the words and intents to their goals. They are using the constitution as a tool for their own follies.

Note: The following text is a transcription of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution in their original form. These amendments were ratified December 15, 1791, and form what is known as the "Bill of Rights."

Amendment ICongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Amendment IIA well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Amendment IIINo Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. Amendment IVThe right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Amendment VNo person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. Amendment VIIn all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. Amendment VIIIn suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. Amendment VIIIExcessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Amendment IXThe enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Amendment XThe powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the peopleLinks to Historic Documents:

The Declaration of Independence
The Constitution of the United States of America
The Federalist Papers
The Magna Carta

President Bush Knocked Down the Twin Towers - NOT!

30 March 2006 by Kevin P. Ryan
Bush Knocked Down Twin Towers - NOT!

Actor Charlie Sheen has questioned what caused the fall of the Twin Towers and is calling for a new independent investigation of the attack. Sheen has a problem believing the government version of events, suggesting that the biggest conspiracy theory was put out by the government. Some internet conspiracy theorist suggest that the Bush administration might have been responsible for the attacks on 9/11 to create a reason to go to war with Afghanistan and Iraq with the goal of helping Bush administration friends in the oil industry.

Don't believe your eyes! We all watched video of jetliners hitting each of the Twin Towers and then we watched in horror as 56 minutes latter the second tower fell only to be followed by the first tower falling soon after. Sheen stated that 19 amateurs with box cutters taking over four commercial airliners feels like a conspiracy theory. So I guess you were watching fake video of the planes crashing into the Towers. Or, maybe the government placed the hijackers on the plane and then used remote controls such as those used in predator drones to crash the planes into the intended targets.

The conspiracy nuts tried to involve me in this story. Cyber Gazette is a side profession for me. I am a self employed structural engineer and my name matches a professional who worked at Underwriters Laboratory named Kevin Ryan who was questioning if the heat produced by burning jet fuel could have brought down the Twin Towers. Two conspiracy theorists and a journalist contacted me through my Ryan Design Group Structural Engineering Consultant website thinking that I was the same Kevin Ryan that was questioning the governments version of events.

They praised me in their e-mails for my courage to blow the whistle on the government conspiracy and they were anxious to talk to me to discuss my findings that jet-fuel combustion would not melt steel and there must be some other cause of the collapse. The reporter called me directly and I explained to him that I was not the Kevin Ryan that works for Underwriters Laboratory. I did let him know that I was a structural engineer and although I had nothing to do with the WTC investigation, I felt that he should be careful not to align himself or write a story based on information gathered in conjunction with these two conspiracy theorists.

The reporter asked me what my concerns were and I explained to him that even though steel melts at temperatures of around 3000 degF, the strength of steel is greatly reduced at lower temperatures. For example at only 800 degF the yield strength is reduced to 77% while at 1200 degF yield strength is reduced to 37%. I also explained to the reporter that the damage caused to the building by the jet impact could have redistributed the loads to the point of bringing some of the undamaged member close to 100% of their capacity and any small reduction of strength from elevated temperatures could have brought on failure of those members.

Then I explained that since I was not part of the investigation, we could just use logic to understand what happened at the Twin Towers without having any engineering knowledge, just common sense. The visual facts are that both Towers were hit by jet airliners that caused extensive damage but did not cause the Towers to collapse. Since both Towers survived the impact, common sense would tell you that they would have continued to stand indefinitely even in their damaged condition until some other condition or loading worsened their situation. It might be possible for one tower to be damaged by impact to just within 99% of its capacity and then randomly collapse a short while later. But to expect two towers to be hit just right so that they both were damaged to 99% of capacity is not logical. Therefore an outside factor must have increased the loading or decreased the capacity of the damaged towers to cause the collapse.

I noted that the smoke rising from the towers was for the most part going vertically indicating that the wind was light on that day, so wind could be ruled out as causing the collapse. There were no reports of earthquakes on that day. But what we could see were raging fires on both towers. Knowing that steel strength is reduced with increasing temperatures and seeing no other outside source of loading to cause the collapse, it only takes common sense to realize that the fires were the final straw that caused the collapse of the Twin Towers.

To believe otherwise would require one to believe that some nefarious conspiracy was concocted to set off explosives in both buildings to finish the job. I told the reporter that this theory is nutty and he should reconsider writing a story suggesting such a thing.

I also sent an e-mail to Underwriters Laboratory warning them how their name was being used in a conspiracy theory but never heard from them in return. Finally I sent an e-mail to the conspiracy theorist explaining that I was not the hero that they were searching for. I also let them know that steel strength is greatly reduced at temperatures much lower than the point at which it melts. They were very disappointed in my response to their inquiries but dismissed my information outright since I was not the Kevin Ryan that was a part of the investigation.

In doing research for this article, I have since learned more information of interest. I previously did not even know if there was a Kevin Ryan that worked at Underwriters Laboratory as the e-mailers could have been making up their story. But as you can see from the reference links to the right, Kevin Ryan did publish a letter of concern on the issue of jet-fuel causing collapse of the Towers.

However, his finding is not inconsistent with the events of the collapse. In the latter report by NIST (also linked to on the right) jet-fuel is not attributed as the source of the ongoing fire. The jet-fuel would have burned off in a short amount of time. The ongoing fire is attributed to the flammable contents of the Twin Towers and to a lesser extent the contents of the jetliner.

The bottom line is that we all watched on TV that day and we all saw the fires that raged up to the point of the building collapse. So Kevin Ryan�s test at Underwriters Laboratory could have shown that the jet-fuel did not cause the collapse while at the same time the Twin Towers collapse was caused by fire. Of coarse the conspiracy theorist only pick the facts that support their theories and ignore what the rest of us understood by just using our common sense.

Let�s look at some of the other claims by the conspiracy theorist and see if there are reasonable explanations to counter their arguments.

One claim is that when the towers collapsed you could see the windows shattering out from the top floor down as though explosive charges were set off. However, if the building collapsed in one quadrant first, this sequence would cause the building to torque, distorting the exterior frame. The steel is ductile and would yield under this torque to some degree, but the glass set within the exterior steel frame is not ductile and would shatter as the frame distorts.

Another claim is that Explosions in the basement of the Towers at the time of the jetliner impact are consistent with high explosives being set off and not consistent with jet-fuel traveling down the elevator shafts and exploding as the government claims. If the jet-fuel did not cause the explosions then how did the explosions occur at the exact same time as the jetliner impact. Witnesses indicated they smelled kerosene which is what jet-fuel is. Jet-fuel falling over 70 stories down an elevator shaft could easily become vaporized by the fall making it very explosive. If high explosives were used to help bring down the building then why didn�t the building come down immediately?

A concern of Charlie Sheen is that 19 hijackers with box cutters couldn�t hijack 4 planes. In the plane that went down in Pennsylvania, the passengers were allowed to speak to loved ones before the crash and verified that events went down as documented. To believe otherwise would require you to believe these passengers were lying to their families right before their deaths.

WTC building 7 collapsed into itself as though it was destroyed by a controlled demolition. If the center columns of a building fail first, the collapse of these columns will pull the surrounding columns in towards them as they collapse. It doesn�t matter if these columns failed by a controlled explosion or other causes.

There are many other ridiculous claims that are not worth the time rebutting because to believe them you would have to believe that there are hundreds of people in the government, military and private sector working together to fool the American people while not allowing a single leak amongst themselves.

But a more interesting aspect of this story is how we have reached a point in our country where some of our citizens have become so hateful of the President that they can not be objective in analyzing circumstances that effect our lives. Have we become so partisan and divided in this country that we assume the worst in each other even when common sense seems to indicate otherwise? Has politics become a street fight where any tactic is acceptable because the ends justifies the means?

Have we become a country of people who vote for whomever will protect our own self-interest by whatever tactic is necessary, instead of a country based on common principles of freedom with personal responsibility, of hard work and self-reliance? President Bush did not murder 3000 of our fellow Americans for his own personal gain. Anyone who thinks otherwise is reflecting on their own shortcomings and personal biases.

Find my web portal page

Here is an article from pc magazine on what makes a good web portal.

Web Portals Make a Comeback

I believe my webportal is excellent and links to the best site and features on the internet. What do you think?


United State Cyber Gazette

Cyber Gazette Cyber Blog

First post on Cyber Gazette Cyber Blog.
Have no idea how to blog.
Hopefully this blog will help me learn