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Mike Rogers New Article Out on Lew Rockwell

I Visit Islamic and Fascist Countries
The NY Times would not be pleased. Article by Mike Rogers.
http://lewrockwell.com/rogers/rogers256.html

Write Down Your Goals to Achieve Them!…

“Life is difficult as it is so let us be good to each other.” – C.S. Lewis

Today, I’d like to take a moment to highly recommend a book that has helped me greatly since the first time I read it and that is Brian Tracy’s Goals!

I write down my top 10 goals everyday! Inspired by the author of Goals! Brian Tracy (I also recommend another Tracy book, Focal Point)

In Goals! Tracy talks about how, if you are to succeed in life that you need to write down your goals in order to be able to achieve them. “Sure!” Everyone thinks this but I know few who actually do write them down. Trust that writing them down does help your sub-conscious to actually remember and activate your brain to achieve the goals you set forth for yourself.

I write down my goals everyday in the morning when I wake up and, not only does doing so help me to achieve them, it also helps me to relax and stay much more focused. Who doesn’t want to stay more focused in this day and age when our “in-box” includes, for most people, several e-mails accounts that are constantly filling up as the day goes by and consistently altering our priorities? Or an Internet world filled with Social Media like Facebook, Mixi (in Japan) and Linkedin accounts (among others) to attend? Twitter and Pick, are no longer for just sending messages to your friends, but they too, have been co-opted into the business world and your boss orders you to use them, or blogs and SNS, to get the company message out…

How in the world can anyone get ahead of the pile in the “in-box”?

The book promises that you will “Get everything you want, faster than you ever dreamed.” Sounds like grandiose claims but let me point out that writing down your goals and purposes is like having a sort of road map to where you want to go. When you write them down, they enter your subconsciousness, they cause your inner brain to focus upon the Law of Attraction. If you do not write down where you want to go – if you do not have a map – then how will you know where you are going?

The publishers write:

Why do some people achieve all their goals while others simply dream of having a better life? Bestselling author Brian Tracy shows that the path from frustration to fulfillment has already been discovered. Hundreds of thousands–even millions–of men and women have started with nothing and achieved great success. Here Tracy presents the essential principles you need to know to make your dreams come true.

Tracy presents a simple, powerful, and effective system for setting and achieving goals–a method that has been used by more than one million people to achieve extraordinary things. In this revised and expanded second edition he has added three new chapters addressing areas in which goals can be most rewarding but also the toughest to set and keep: finances, family, and health.

Using the twenty-one strategies Tracy outlines, you’ll be able to accomplish any goals you set for yourself–no matter how big. You’ll discover how to determine your own strengths, what you truly value in life, and what you really want to accomplish in the years ahead. Tracy shows how to build your self-esteem and self-confidence, approach every problem or obstacle effectively, overcome difficulties, respond to challenges, and continue forward toward your goals, no matter what happens. Most importantly, you’ll learn a system for achievement that you will use for the rest of your life.

One of my goals are to become a multi-millionaire. Laughable? Maybe. But at least I have a road map and I am consciously working on that everyday…

And I really do have proof! I have evidence that Tracy’s philosophy and ideas in Goals! work. I have shown myself that actually writing down goals are critical to achieving them. And my proof stands in something that, for me, is much more important than the Rat Race and making money: it’s being the best dad I can be.

It used to be my #1 priority was, “To make $15,000 a month…” then, one day, when I got a flash of irritation at something my son did – then thought about that flash later on – I realized that the most important thing for me was not money. By far the most important thing for me was to be a great dad.

Now my #1 priority goal that I write everyday is; “I am a kind, loving and patient father and husband today and everyday” (with today’s date added).

Folks, trust me. This really works! Since starting this habit, I have caught myself several times with a flash of irritation at my son – that before would have caused me to get angry or upset and maybe raise my voice – but since I started writing down everyday my goal of being patient and kind, my mind recalls that goal immediately and has killed that flash of anger instantly its tracks.

Why ruin what could be a good learning opportunity and great memory with an out burst of irritability? What for? Life is too short to be getting upset at the small stuff all the time.

As the great writer C.S. Lewis wrote in Chronicles of Narnia, “Life is difficult as it is so let us be good to each other.”

Try reading Brian Tracy’s Goals! Write down your goals everyday. You’ll be glad you did.

(This article was inspired by a meeting I had with a most interesting fellow named Roger Marshall. Thank you, Roger!)

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マイク・ロジャースはアメリカのテレビのニュースでインタビューされます。
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Cannot Compare USA and Japan – A Reader’s Letter

Concerning my most recent article at Lew Rockwell, “Gun Control and Japan” in which I wrote;

“Is directly comparing Japan’s gun laws and crime rate with the USA a good and logical comparison? Does this make sense? Are the progressives bringing up a point that is difficult to argue against? Can we make an apples-to-apples comparison using Japan against the USA?

The answer is no. Unfortunately for the progressives, we can’t sensibly make that comparison and I want to show you why it’s absurd to even consider it. The only things that might make sense in a Japan versus USA comparison might have to do with economics, automobiles, love of sushi and baseball (and I’m not so sure about the baseball part). If we are talking about gun control, crimes, or even universal health care, Japan and the United States are two animals that are as different as night and day…

…I think it must be pretty obvious to anyone who thinks about it when talking about gun control and crimes (or even universal health care) comparing the United States to Japan is like comparing a steak barbecue to a slice of fish.”

The response to that article was very good with only one person telling me that I am a moron (thanks dad!). But I did get one letter from a reader that really touched my heart. It struck me as a sort of whimsical (for lack of a better term) look back at a better time in America, though it is not stated so directly. In fact, this letter reflects my thinking (and chagrin) about the United States today.

Dear Mike,

As you are fully aware, it is not “fair” to compare two countries. It isn’t even fair to compare two different US regions or even two US states, even when they share boarders! It isn’t even an even ground when comparing a population of one state…before the devastating influx of illegals, but before that was the change in immigration policies.

What we are able to compare with just about any two countries is the government vs. the people. While culture and mindset may be different, most people groups, if left “alone,” are much more interested in their family group, basic needs being met, and their culture/arts. Unfortunately, governments with power and money (debt) behind them, will not allow this to happen. The love of power and control is inherently evil.

I remember how much better life was years ago, even when the societal decent had been in motion. Our moral compass had not been totally removed. In every society since Adam, evil has been present, but at least in those years, there was still a societal veneer to cover up the ugly sewer life. Today, the veneer has been removed and people are embracing and celebrating filth and sewer scum as if it were natural and edifying.

I find it hard to believe with the influence of media upon all modern societies that the Japanese culture has not been affected by it. The changes are probably manifested differently. The US culture was probably “less restrictive” and already “under attack” than the Japanese culture in the early part of the 20th century. (Was the women’s movement already underway in Japan as in the US starting with the “flapper” era?) War(s) is the quickest way to societal change. Those who “developed” the war(s) won, and those who were the patsies–all those who participated– lost the war–no matter what the “history” books say. Society as we knew it was over, but most people didn’t notice the slow decent into the abyss until now. It is probably too late. It is a very sad thing.

Mrs. R

Yes. It is a very sad thing. Too bad too few people seem to realize it… It is, indeed, far too late.

“I remember how much better life was years ago….” Whatever happened to that wonderful place I lived in so many years ago in my youth?

Thank you, Mrs. R. Thanks for the mail and thanks for allowing me to go back to my youth for even a few seconds.

Japan is One of the Best Places to Live in the World Reason #4: You Call This Crime? Man Steals $6 Chocolate, Hits National News!

You read that headline correctly.

In Japan, last night on the headlines of the world’s biggest newspaper, the Yomiuri Shimbun; a newspaper that was established in 1874 – that has over 13.5 million newspapers delivered daily, ran a Headline News story read about a 44-year-old man who stole some Valentine’s Day chocolate because, “He wanted some.”

Yes. They have Hershey Kisses in Japan!
(And on Valentine’s Day, the girls give guys the chocolate!)

Now, this isn’t just a story about why Japan blows away most of the rest of the world when it comes to a lack of crime, it also is a story about the general psyche of people in this country.

But first, here’s a quick and simple translation of the story:

The Yomiuri Shimbun headlines read;

“Man claims, after stealing chocolate, ‘I wanted some.’”

On the 16th of this month, police in Sendai in Miyagi prefecture arrested a 44-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of theft.

According to the police statement, at about 2:40 am on that day, the suspect was in Miyagino City in the vicinity of an apartment where a 31-year-old civil servant lived and saw some Valentine’s Day chocolate and other items in a vinyl bag hanging from the handlebars of a bicycle owned by the civil servant. The chocolate had a value of ¥550 (about $5.93 USD). When the suspect took the chocolate, the 31-year-old civil servant gave chase and subdued the suspect.

Upon being asked why he stole the chocolate, the suspect was quoted as saying (testifying), “I wanted some chocolate!”

Feb. 17, 2013, Yomiuri Shimbun

Now, people are often asking why Japan is a better place to live than, say, the United States and it’s often difficult to point out specifics as to why. When it comes to crime, Japan is miles away safer than just about any western country in the world. But this little anecdote shows us a glimpse of something very important that is difficult to put a finger on:

What the level of crime is in this country that this sort of story could even hit the newspapers. And we’re not talking about some local newspaper here. We are talking about a national newspaper that has a circulation of 13.5 million copies daily.

This sort of crime would never make any major newspaper in the USA…

Also, one more thing about the Japanese… And this too is an intangible, but they are generally shy and humble people… Where I come from, Los Angeles, I hear it is a badge of honor for head bangers to get arrested and have a criminal record. Not in Japan. In Japan, a criminal record is a shameful thing. Shameful for that person and very shameful for the family.

I think when most Japanese hear this story they think, “Stealing is a crime! He should never do that!”

I think, “Poor guy.” Heck, if that were my chocolate, he stole it and I chased him and caught him and he meekly said, “I just wanted some chocolate…” I probably would have felt sorry for the guy and gave him some….”

Poor guy indeed.

How to Win at Life! – Positive Thinking Will Create Your Own Luck! The Joy is in the Action!

About one year ago today, I wrote a blog post entitled, “Winning at Raffles, Bingo and Winning at Life Are Exactly the Same! Here’s 5 Simple Tips on How to Win at All of Them!” I know that it must have been about one year ago today because last night was the annual Bingo tournament at the local international school again and, just like last year, my son won again… In fact, he won four times out of twelve games. Granted that there’s six to eight winners every game, so out of twelve games, there’s a total of about 72 prizes… But in an auditorium of 700~800 people and most people playing more than two or three bingo cards, the odds of winning four times in one sitting are pretty minuscule.


A family that can spend time together having fun is winning at life!

That wasn’t his record, though, one time he won five times in one sitting.

Anyway, from that blog post a year ago, “Winning at Raffles, Bingo and Winning at Life Are Exactly the Same! Here’s 5 Simple Tips on How to Win at All of Them!” I wrote:

Winning at raffles, bingo and winning at life are very, almost eerily, similar and I’d like to talk to you about that today. I think, if there is anything that I have been a massive success in my life at is that is being able to convince my children that they will win. I have shown them that the way to win is by first believing that you will win. I have even convinced – may I suggest that I brainwashed – my third daughter into believing that she would conquer “incurable” forth stage cancer.

But before I go into theory and philosophy more, allow me to continue with telling you about the past and our “luck” and wins in all sorts of games and winning at bingo. Two years ago, we won the very top prize of a vacation to Okinawa that included hotel and airfare. Yesterday, he won the trip to New York. In February of this year, he won a gift certificate worth several hundred dollars at a very famous store in Tokyo. Last year, he won five times out of a total of 12 games or so in one tournament. Think about that; there are seven hundred people all competing at bingo trying to win the prize. To win once is enough to bring wide smiles and cheers to anybody’s face. But he won five games in one night! That must be a record. Every time my son won, people were astounded. By the forth time he won, everyone was clapping for him. By the fifth time, people were verbally shouting, “That’s incredible!” “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Yesterday, again, when my son won the first time, people were laughing and saying, “There he goes again! He always wins!” By the time he won the second, third or even forth time, people seemed dumbfounded. Actually, I was sitting across from my son and watching him. He came awfully close to winning another six times or so. A few times, he sat with a card that almost immediately had four numbers in a row waiting for his final number to be called. But the numbers didn’t come. A few times, the announcer called and called out another dozen numbers or so, until someone else finally called out “Bingo!”

My son, after winning the four times, was going after a record-breaking (at least for him) sixth time.

Now, how does winning at bingo and winning at life relate to each other?

Well, I hate sounding like a salesman, because I’m not selling you anything, but I’m here to tell you right now you can become one of those lucky people…

There are two really important things that you need to understand about becoming one of these lucky people. One is understanding what exactly it is that we are doing and its purpose in our life; and the second part is how these things affect your entire belief system. These two go hand in hand.


A happy kid who actually believes… This is the true lesson I want to teach him about life… Who cares about trinkets?

The first part about understanding what it is that we are doing is, perhaps, the most important part. Today, we’re using bingo as an example, so let’s go with that. Think about this; is winning at bingo the best part of going to bingo? Is winning everything? I don’t think so.

At bingo, I meet friends and other parents and always smile and shake their hands and say, “Hi!” We are all at bingo so, of course, the subject quickly turns to bingo. I always try to be extremely positive and say, “I always win!” They laugh. They don’t believe me (the ones who knows us well don’t laugh). Invariably, they all say the same thing,

“I never win.”

They say this with a voice of exasperation and defeat. Poor folks. They are totally and completely missing the point. They are really missing the boat in the bad lesson that they are unknowingly teaching their children subconsciously. Get this: I suggest to you that they are teaching their children defeatism and a losing attitude.

I can imagine this family in my head; after “losing” at bingo (I mean they don’t win a “prize”), they hop in the car and go home. Dad and mom and kids are sad because they “didn’t win.” When they get into the house, dad takes off his coat and gives out a very loud sigh. “We lost again!” He says.

Is that any way to teach your children how to win? Is that anyway to teach your children how to be positive?

Here is what I always tell my son before we play bingo;

“Remember the best part of bingo is not in the winning, it is in the doing. Just being able to be here playing bingo is winning. This is fun and it is a wonderfully exciting time we spend together. Just by being here, we have already won. So smile and let’s have fun!”

It is. Playing bingo with my wife and son is a great memory and it is so very much fun.

I tell my son this because I want him to be a winner. I want him to understand what “being a winner” truly is. This sort of thinking, this positive attitude, actually, I learned from an old Zen Buddhist saying,

“The joy is in the action, not in the result.”

Can you understand this concept? The joy is in the action, not the result. Get it? I think people who truly love to paint or fish or golf, etc., can understand this. For the painter, a beautiful work is nice, but the true value and joy is not the finished painting, it is in the action of painting. For the fisherman, of course catching a fish is fun, but the true joy is standing there alone in front of nature and contemplating life – the joy is in the doing; for the golfer, the winning score is interesting, but soon forgotten; the real joy is in the day and the time considering the play. For all of them, the real value is in the action, not in the result.

This is what is meant by, “The joy is in the action, not in the result.”

Now, do you understand why, whether or not my son wins a big prize (a trinket), he knows, he believes and knows in his heart that he is a true winner? Can anyone deny that, regardless of prize, that we won merely by being able to go and play together and enjoy this moment together on our short time on this earth?

So, people do not win a trinket! Think about it; how many others are suffering? How many families would love to visit bingo together as a family but one child is ill in the hospital with a deadly disease? How many people in this world can’t enjoy even having shoes upon their feet? Yet these families can come to the bingo event with their children and enjoy a wonderful exciting time together! Spending this short fleeting time with ones children while you can is winning in every sense of the word.

If your kids are healthy and you have the time to spend with them at a school function playing Bingo, or even reading a book together then, trust me, you have already won….. You are alive. You are together. You and your child are healthy? You are a winner.

So remember, my friends, what winning really is. Is it getting a package of trinkets or tickets to go somewhere or is it spending a lovely time together and giving your child your complete and total self and your dedication and time?

So for this Sunday morning, look at your children. Do you have a happy and healthy family? Yes? Then remember, that whether it is a bingo or a raffle or a drawing, or whatever; if your children are healthy and you are spending a fun time together with them, that alone makes you a grand prize winner in life! Never forget that.

So smile and say, “Yes! I won!”

Some people will scoff at this (they have a losing attitude). But let me ask you to consider this question: There are two children. They both have to go to school. One wakes up in the morning and says, “I don’t want to go to school. School is no fun.” The other wakes up and says, “I want to go to school. School is fun.” Which kid gets good grades at school? Which kid becomes successful at school? Which kid is positive, is popular, gets the best girlfriend or boyfriend and becomes class king or class queen?

Simple, isn’t it? It is the old chicken and the egg problem. Which came first? The kid liking school or the positive attitude? Which came first? Hating school or the negative attitude? And how did these children get these attitudes?

How do these attitudes affect our belief system? How can we change these attitudes? And, if we have children, how can we stop teaching them bad attitudes and start teaching them beneficial ones?

I think it is obvious how these attitudes affect our belief system. In the example above, do you want to be like the father above who comes home exasperated and continually expressed doubt and a defeatist attitude to himself or his children, or, do you want to be the person who understands that the joy is in the action and not the result?

Again, yesterday, before bingo started, I met a few people who claimed that my family always wins and that their family never wins. Again, I said to them what I always say,

“With saying that, it is very difficult for you to win. Imagine the Wright Brothers! Do you think they could have flown in an airplane had they not believed they could fly? Don’t you think that everyone told them it was impossible? If you think you won’t win, isn’t that a sort of ‘self-fulling prophesy’?

Many people told the Wright Brothers that, “If god had meant man to fly, he’d have given man wings.” But the Wright Brothers didn’t listen. They believed and their belief made them succeed. Do you think they could succeed if they didn’t believe? Everyone knows the power of positive thinking!

Take the story of Jesus walking on water. In my thinking, man cannot walk on water; it is impossible. But, I believe that this story about Jesus is not literal. What I believe it represents is Jesus preaching faith and belief (read: the power of positive thinking). Of course man cannot walk on water. Walking on water is impossible. But! If man believes that he can accomplish the impossible, then he can.

That’s what the story about Jesus walking on water represents to me… So can man walk on water? No! That’s impossible, but in Matthew 14, Jesus walked on water and accomplished the impossible. See what I mean? The story of Jesus walking on water seems a parable to me to mean that if you believe, if you really believe, you can move mountains….

Gee, moving a mountain is impossible too… But people do that too!”

Believe and you can win! It doesn’t matter if it’s something as silly as bingo or a raffle… But believe and be positive and you can win at much more important things like life, love and success.

And now, from that former post, here’s tips on concrete things that you can do to turn your situation around and make things better STARTING RIGHT NOW:

From today, here’s five things that you need to do to start on the track to believing that you can win at bingo and win at life:

1) Write down on three pieces of paper the saying, “The joy is in the action, not in the result.” Tape one of the pieces of paper to the refrigerator and tape one in your car where you see it constantly and the last one in your wallet. Think about that phrase a lot. Repeat it out loud whenever or wherever you can.

2) Get a dollar notebook and start writing down your top 10 goals for your life and do it everyday! Here’s how.

3) Wake up in the morning and the first thing you MUST do is think: “Smile! Today is going to be a great day!” If you can’t remember to do this by yourself, then write it in large red letters on a piece of paper and tape it to your bathroom mirror.

4) Start using the Law of Attraction and positivity to create a good self-fulling prophesy to help you. Here’s how.

5) Start greeting everyone you meet with a happy and healthy “Hello!” or “Good Morning!” Stop sounding like you are dead to the world. If you greet people with an un-energetic salutation then you sound like you are losing. Stop it immediately. Everyone is searching for positive people. You should be that person. Instead of being “dark” and absorbing light like a sponge, you should give out light. People are attracted to light.

And, number six, OK, I said there’d be only five, so sue me…

6) Call your mom or dad or kids and tell them you love them and do it RIGHT NOW! Don’t hesitate! Or, better yet, give them a great big hug and tell them yourself how much you love them and how beautiful they are. Realize that today is a fantastic day and you all are the luckiest people in the world… (Oh, and of you do go to bingo, take grandma… She’s lucky, right?)

Some people read this and think that I am a very lucky person. I am. But I’ve been through two divorces, a war with cancer, family members dying in bizarre car accidents, worrying about work as we all do (nothing special)… I’ve been through a lot of difficult times… But you know what? I never forget something special; I know that projecting negativity will just make things worse; I know that projecting positivity, in the face of great challenges, is creating a good outcome for myself and my loved ones through the power of the Law of Attraction. I know that, by being happy and thankful that I create a better situation for you and a better situation for myself.

Remember my friends, “The joy is in the action, not in the result.”

Stay happy. Stay positive. Spread positivity. You already possess the greatest prize of all.

————-

NOTES: More tips on winning at life, being more positive and a better parent:

One Easy Step to Becoming a Better Parent and More Successful at Life

Pocket Notebooks – the Secret of Millionaires and People Won’t Listen

How to Stop Worrying so much and Become More Successful at Life

Make Your Own Success

One Easy Step To Becoming a Better Parent and More Successful at Life

Power of Positive Thinking and Self Fulfilling Prophesy

Positive Thinking: The Story of A Guy Who Defeated 4th Stage Cancer – Two Sides of the Positive/Negative Thinking Coin

Disgusting Discrimination at a Wedding! Don’t Do This at Your Wedding!

A while back I posted an article that the PC crowd took offense to and that had to do with discrimination. Please refer to: Gaijin Gourmet: Need a Drink & Yakitori in Shibuya? I Got a Fantastic Place! I said that people are free to discriminate any way they please on their own private property – a restaurant, bar, store, etc… are all private property by the way. (If you don’t believe me, consult the law – there’s a big difference between “public property” like a government office and “private property” like your home and a place of business)… What I mean is that, if my mom and dad own a restaurant, they have the right to refuse service to anyone they please; after all it is their place!

Some people seem to have difficultly grasping this concept of public versus private property. They think that if a restaurant is open to the public, that means it is public property. No. It isn’t. It is private property and the owners or management have a right to refuse service to anyone they choose…

The dimwitted ones who want to force the law to open up places where they are not welcomed are the ones who truly need to have their heads examined, why would they want to go into some place where they aren’t wanted anyway? That’s nuts!

Imagine if there were a militant motorcycle bondage gang club that was “No Females or Heterosexuals Allowed” and the dress code required black leather jackets and pink hot pants. Would I insist that they allow me entry? (I only own polka-dot hot pants) No, I wouldn’t. Why would I even want to go in there? It’s their private property. I should leave them alone to do as they wish ON THEIR PROPERTY and I’ll go to another establishment where I am welcomed, thank you!

In the case in Japan, the restaurant had a sign that said, “No troublesome foreigners allowed.” This is quite different than “No foreigners allowed!” I think it is obvious that what these English “challenged” folks (Gotta be PC, ya know!) wanted to write was, “Foreigners who come in here and fight will be kicked out!” (They don’t need to write a sign like this in Japanese for the Japanese because for one, Japanese rarely fight in public and two; this is Japan so the staff will not have a problem saying in Japanese laguage to a Japanese person, “If you don’t leave, we’re calling the police!” The waiter and busboy and girl staff most probably don’t have the grasp of English language – or any other language besides their own – to tell non-Japanese speaking people to leave; that’s why they work at minimum wage in a restaurant; they are not highly educated!

Even so, some very confused foreigners took offense to this nonsense and were insulted…

Instead of being insulted, they should use their brains more and understand that their PC correct “anti-discrimination” (lack of) logic is so completely subjective as to make no sense whatsoever.

You can read more about it here in: I Discriminate: I help the handicapped, I am kind to old people and give my seat to them and to pregnant women.

Today’s short post is from my good friend Aaron Egon Moser. It is about a wedding he went to and how he was shocked at the discrimination shown (Aaron is Jewish) to some others.

Enjoy!

Disgusting Discrimination at a Wedding by Aaron Egon Moser

I was invited to a wedding a while back and was appalled at how discriminatory the bride was. If I knew then what I know now, I may not have attended.

For instance, I had no idea that when she was searching for a mate with whom to procreate, the most basic of all human functions, she eliminated all women from contention. More than half the people in the world had no chance of marrying her. Outrageous.

Then I heard that of the group that was eligible, she discriminated against homosexual men.

And then, to my horror, she struck off every, single man who wasn’t Jewish.

And if that was not enough, men under 5’7″ were summarily dismissed as well as guys who weren’t gainfully employed.

Males who lived outside of a 25-mile radius of her present home? Gone.

Smokers? Fuggetaboudit.

At the end of the day, only one person was left standing out of the billions that also needed a mate. How’s that for discrimination, huh?

There ought to be a law against this sort of blatant discrimination!

Incredible! I’m sorry that you had to suffer through such an experience, Aaron. Perhaps if you seek some counseling, you’ll be able to overcome the trauma of this event.

Thanks for letting us know about this. I’ll write to my congressman, er person, and let him/her/them/it know.

God bless. I will pray for you (in a secular fashion, of course).

Driver’s Licenses Have Zero to Do With Safe Driving: They Are a Back-Door Tax!

There’s a discussion about drunk driving going on amongst my friends now. I think drunk driving laws are ridiculous and should be struck from the books. Why? Because pre-crime is not a crime. John maybe driving after two beers or ten beers and be perfectly fine. But if the cops stop him they can arrest him for some arbitrarily set number on a Breathalyzer test. That’s crazy. Still many people think “drunk driving” should be a crime… If they haven’t hurt anyone, how can that be a crime?

I think people have some very strange ideas these days.

A while back a friend wrote to me about some subject and claimed that he had the weight of the United Nations on his side of the argument. When I didn’t reply, he insisted that the UN were proof positive of the truth in his beliefs. He challenged me. I responded that I had no respect at all for the United Nations and wrote, “The UN has zero credibility in my book and I think it is a tool of US imperialism… Witness how the UN supported the US in the American invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan…”

I hate voting too, but at least in a local election, you do get to vote. Did you vote for your UN representative? Nope. The UN is just like the EU: a bunch of unelected bureaucrats that have zero to do with my life and absolutely no authority to pass laws and dictate to us what we should or should not do.

But I digress. Here I’m talking about the strange ideas people have… I should be talking about licenses and taxation…

A guy wrote to me the other day who is pro-gun control. He wrote, “If you need a license to drive, then why don’t you agree that you need a license for a gun?”

See what I mean? VERY strange ideas! I wrote back,

“You might be surprised but I don’t agree at all. I don’t think you need a license for a gun JUST as I don’t think you need a license to drive a car…. I don’t even see for a moment why anyone needs a license to drive at all. Licenses are hidden taxes, don’t you know that?

Just like I don’t see why there are laws for wearing seat belts or wearing helmets when riding motorcycles. We know that wearing seat belts can save a life in a car accident but if some guy doesn’t want to wear a seat belt, then what business is it of yours or mine? It most certainly is not the government’s business either. And it definitely is not a reason to tax you or me more money to put more cops on the road to stop drivers who drive without their seat belts on. If Tom, Dick or Harry want to drive without a seat belt, then let them. I don’t care and it is none of my business…

Drivers licenses have zero to do with protecting the public. Haven’t people figured that out yet? Drivers licenses and license fees (for passports, filing papers, dogs, cats, fishing, open fire, killing bugs, you-name-it, etc.) are all merely a form of taxation.

Just to illustrate how f’ing ridiculous drivers licenses are AND to point out how they have NOTHING to do with safe driving and EVERYTHING to do with another form of taxation, let me tell you the story of 人力車 (man powered vehicle) or what westerners call, “Japanese rikishaw” (rickshaw) – you know the old style carts that were used in Japan long ago that were pulled by one skinny Japanese guy running in front?

Well, my friend, it used to be, when rickshaw were quiet prevalent on streets and alleyways in Japanese towns and cities, one needed a license for each rickshaw…This went on for a hundred years! There was even an organization (probably filled with retired cops) who handled the licensing of these vehicles all in the name of protecting the public (as if some guy could out run the cops in some high speed chase with his unlicensed rickshaw!) Now that these rickshaw are NOT popular and NOT in much use, there is no requirement for licensing, though the rickshaws still exist! If the licensing procedure for rickshaw were for safety of the public, then this procedure would still be in practice. But it is not. This proves that the licensing was merely to fill government coiffures.

“Oh, but that was Japan!” You say? Check your US and UK history and find the EXACT SAME story about horse drawn carts in the cities up until about 1910 or so.”


Rikishaw in Malaysia… Yep. They all had license plates!

That was discussing rickshaw to get people to see that no matter the geographical zone, government will always look for new ways to tax… Did you know that you need a license in Japan to be a sushi chef? You can bet that if the sushi restaurants in the USA were so popular and on every street corner, to become profitable for the government to increase taxes on them (businesses are already taxed up to the gills as is) then they’d lump on another tax for slicing fish if they could do it…

And that’s the way it is, folks. If, someday soon, flying vehicles become popular and there’s one in every garage, do you think that the government will be licensing them for our safety? No way! They will license them because they will see it as just another profitable revenue stream. Just like fining people for driving without a license, no seat belts, no helmets, burnt out lights, out of date stickers on their car, blah, blah, blah….

Would you get behind the wheel of a dangerous vehicle that could kill you if you didn’t know how to drive one? I doubt it… (and “dangerous vehicle” goes for automobiles and flying cars)… No one would drive without practice and the fact that we still have 2.9 million people injured in accidents annually (the number of accidents is MUCH higher than that) shows that the current system leaves much to be desired.

If someone wishes to risk their life by driving without a seat belt or driving drunk, then that’s their problem…There is no reason why you or I should be taxed in a effort to implement some sort of pre-crime prevention scheme. In America on average, nearly 12,000 people die every year in DUI-related accidents. 900,000 are arrested each year for DUI/DWI and a full 1/3 of those are repeat offenders.

Get that? The cops are out arresting almost 1 million people a year for drunk driving… I wonder how much that is costing us in tax dollars? And, yet, still with all these arrests, 12,000 people die, and 300,000 of those arrested are repeat offenders! Obviously this doesn’t work too well; it wastes tax dollars and doesn’t stop the problem.

I’d guess that we have an alcoholism problem that needs to be addressed. That is, a health problem here, folks. Not a problem of locking up people.

And on top of that, drunk driving is not even the biggest cause of traffic accidents. Drunk driving is only responsible for 30% of all fatal crashes. Here are the six most common causes of car accidents.

Anyway, this is not an argument for decriminalizing drinking and driving. That subject is much better covered here. This is just a post to show that licenses (for driving, dogs, animals, etc.) are a form of taxation. Once people can accept that truth, then we can go on to discuss the next issues.

He Who Laughs Last, Laughs Best! Dow at 14,000 and People Laugh About the Gold Price? Ha!

Some people have been teasing me and saying “the Dow is at 14,000. where is your gold price? Ha!”

Really? Let’s compare apples to apples, my friends:

Gold/Silver Exposes 2007 Dow $14,000 v. 2013 Dow $14,000

“…what does Gold tell us about the recovery of the top in the DOW?

In 2007 it took 20 ounces of Gold to buy 1 stock in the Dow index.

In 2013 it only takes 8.3 ounces of Gold to by 1 stock in the Dow index.

The Dow is off 58% from its 2007 high in terms of Gold.

What does Silver tell us?

In 2007 it took 1056 ounces of Silver to buy 1 stock in the Dow index.

In 2013 it only takes 439 ounces of Silver to by 1 stock in the Dow index.

The Dow is off 58% from its 2007 high in terms of Silver.”

Need physical gold or silver and living in Japan?

Where to buy physical gold in Japan

Time is Running Out! Buy Silver & Protect Yourself & Your Family!

Also refer to: Stocks Will Go Higher if We Keep Printing Money where you can find this excellent quote about the stock market rally