What the Tea Party Means to Me

I would like to comment on the spin about the Tax day Tea Parties. It's interesting to see news reporters say these rallies were funded by rich republican businessmen or the Fox News Channel. If rich businessmen were giving out checks I never got mine...and while I love the Fox channel, I haven't had time to sit and watch a program in weeks. Nobody MADE me go to a Tea Party, in fact it was difficult to find the locations and in the end I missed two closer rallies on my way to Seattle, and passed two of my sisters, who, unknown to me, were going to a rally nearby.

So what does this tax day mean to ME???? Just this:
Do not spend my tax dollars to overthrow my constitution!

I'm all for lowering the taxes for those who pay them, but frankly, MORE people should pay, not less. Every American should pay some taxes. If you are on welfare you should see on your check that some of it 'went back' in the form of taxes. Removing people from the tax roll is dangerous. Once more than 50% of the people pay no taxes, then the rest of us who do become their slaves. Democracy will give them the power to take everything you've got, while it lasts. The earners and producers and innovators are punished, and the whole thing will fall like a house of cards.
So, LOW taxes, but taxes for all.

Seattle Tax Tea Party

Today we took two of our daughters to the Tax Tea Party in Seattle. Here are some pictures.

Here I am with two of my daughters. My husband is not pictured because he took the photos. The family that protests together.....

Freedom is beautiful!

Here we are leaving the area, with the nice horseys behind us.

Here's a closer look at the other side of my sign...

If you read this you are already GUILTY

...Of Right Wing Extremist chatter. Why?

Because I support and defend the constitution this country was based on. Because I am a religious person, have a right to own a gun, and favor LEGAL immigration and protecting the innocent unborn, I am now on the Homeland Security watch list I guess.

But the the truth is, if Obama actually believed and intended to uphold the oath he took in January, he'd be on the the watch list too.

Please read Michelle Malkin's great article about the recent Homeland Security info along with excerpts of the document .

I'm going to the local Tea party tonight. Hopefully I'll have some pix to post later.

Day of Silence

Every year the Gay, Lesbian, Straight network takes over our local high school in the form of the 'Day of Silence' protest. Students who wish to show solidarity remain silent all day to symbolize how gay people have had to be silent for so long.
What bothers me about this event is the support, announcements and complete involvement of the school staff and administration. In past years teachers even participated, writing the assignment on the whiteboard and refusing to speak to students. Now the administration has instructed teachers that they must still teach, but the students are still bombarded with propaganda from the national GLSN group that is supporting the school GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) club. There is a lot of tension between students. Often those who don't participate are called bigots and haters.
We are told that this event has nothing to do with the seperation of church and state, etc.
My Feelings... If students want to come in and be silent then that's their choice but when the school prominently supports it with announcements and it becomes the topic of every class discussion I am strongly opposed to the disruption.
The LDS students in our area will often make plans to wear their Sunday best to school when they have a temple trip that night, or, for example, many did the day after our prophet Gordon B. Hinkley passed away. This was a private show of support among themselves. They did not have their beliefs broadcast over the intercom or church history or the meaning of temples taught in every class.
The acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle is the acceptance of sin, iniquity, and the moral destruction of society. Our children have to wallow in this filth yet a Christian prayer group at school has to go outside of the school to the flagpole to pray- even in the rain, every morning (the LDS kids are at seminary during this time).
Somehow the school board doesn't see the relationship, because of course, sexuality has nothing to do with religion.
Despite the innundation, many of the local religious and conservative children have grown stronger. The uproar last year (beginning when the Gay and Lesbian group tried to hijack Martin Luther King day) led to the founding of a local Student Conservative Club. Students have also honed their skills in sharing their beliefs and religion.
Last year about a third of the students stayed home on the Day of Silence. The school administration should not be supporting this protest, and as long as they do I will give my children the option of staying away.

Happy Easter

It's not spring break. It's not the Easter Bunny. It's not eggs and candy.
What is it?
It is the Savior who suffered and died for each of us, as a gift of love from God.
He saw our faces and our names and our lives and our pain.
My life has been far from perfect. I know that some of that suffering was for me.
But I try and live a good life. I try and live my life in such a way, that as our lives came before the Savior's eyes, my life and efforts could give Him one moment of pause and relief amidst the anguish and suffering of milions of sins.
My family is the most tangible reflection of my Savior's love for me.
Spend some time on this holy Easter day with those you love.

Executive Pay

I completely oppose any kind of salary cap on CEO's and top executives. If a company thinks someone is worth the money, they should be able to pay whatever they want to hire that them. There is a high value on business experience, insight, and successful risks and rewards that Washington will never understand, because most of the politicians and lawmakers have never been in the private sector.
If a company is paying said executives too much, then they will have financial problems that will lead to their ruin. You can't continue to pay execs those large amounts if they don't produce. Sometimes you see a company purchased and ran into the ground while the execs loot the wealth of that company.
The failure of that company should be the result. Government loans or bailouts should not be given to those who have already proven that they can't run a company. People may loose jobs as a result, but there will be other jobs, and the human resources in our country should flow to the solvent companies that are well managed and producing what the customers want.
Targeted taxes and retroactive taxes on executives are a horrible thing. They interrupt the contract that was made when hiring the talent. You may not like how much money someone is getting in their bonus, But that was the deal. Once the government, President or anyone else starts changing the rules as we go they create an uncertainty where businesses don't dare operate. There is enough risk in business without navigating the shifting sands of government intervention all the time.

If contracts become unstable the eventuality is that all decisions will be settled by those with political pull. Then our great country will be no better than a two bit banana republic.

You're Not Alone

I know that in my last post I joked that we don't live in a free country. While it seems increasingly so, I know that this is one of the most blessed countries on earth and God enabled this country to succeed in order to create the safe harbor for the gospel to be restored, and for that I am grateful. Lets just hope we can keep it that way.
The more we allow our freedoms to erode away, the closer we come to losing our freedom of religion. I know that the outcomes of the decisions of national leaders are already known to God and that his purposes will be fulfilled. But the desire in my heart to protect our freedoms and fight for the liberty and agency of the American people must have also been planted there by the Creator.
So, while I feel very strongly about the direction our country is taking, I don't quite know how I fit in to all of this. I try to stand up for my values, defend the family, and be a good example. Sometimes I think the best I can do is let other religious conservative people know that they aren't the only ones out there.

On another note, there are renewed plans to make Ayn Rand's classic novel, 'Atlas Shrugged', into a motion picture. That's an exciting prospect. Some of the names being tossed around to play Dagny are Julia Roberts, Charlize Theron, or Angelina Jolie. I almost think a newcomer would be better, but it will definitely take some acting skills, so maybe that's not possible. After my initial doubt, I think Jolie would be the best of the three. Theron has a cutsie quality that's hard for me to get past and Hathaway seems too 'soft'. Dagny needs to be tough, thin to the point of being a little wirey, and gorgeous doesn't hurt, as long as that look of sheer determination can get through. As far as men, Antonio Banderas would be great for Fransisco d'Anconia, but he may be too old. For Henry Reardon some all American looking guy, a Kevin Costner type, but again too old. Maybe Rupert Penry Jones, but if he's not American enough then I'd give him the part of the pirate Ragnar Dannesgold. Here's some more suggestions from another blog I came across....

The book itself is a protest against government meddling in private business and how this leads to the defeat of the human spirit. I think in that sense it is an important portrayal. While I do not agree with the atheism and extra-marital relationships in the book, it is what it is, and I would still highly recommend it to those who haven't read it yet. If you don't have the time for a novel of that size, her short novel 'Anthem' is a quick read, and though different, it could be a good place to start with Ayn Rand.

You Can Have My Incandescent Lightbulb When You Pull it Out of My Cold Dead Hand

I've started my stockpile. No, not just food. This week I bought an eight pack of good ol' GE light bulbs in addition to my regular supply. You see, since the USA is no longer a free country the government has passed a law requiring a switch to compact fluorescent bulbs by 2014. Now I think when government decides to no only crush an industry but also dictate consumer choices in this way, it has definitely gone too far. But let me back up....

When I was a young newlywed my hubby was stationed in Japan. When he brought me home to our apartment one of the first things that I noticed was the sickly flickerings of the fluorescent light in the living room when he hit the switch. It took a few minutes to reach its full capacity and cast its cold gleam across the room. It was then that I knew that this Japan we had been taught to admire (in the 70's and 80's), and told that they would overtake us and surpass us, did not have our standard of living. It was the first of many proofs of the greatness and innovation of the American people.

I have never liked fluorescent bulbs. They distract and irritate me. When I hear people, usually men, discussing the upcoming law deadline, they say women hate it because they don't look good in fluorescent light. Well that's pretty shallow and uninformed. There happen to be many people who are experience physical or mental distress under fluorescent bulbs. I'm one of those people. I am hoping if I go on the record maybe I can get some kind of a waiver.

Now they say the new light bulbs cycle so fast that the human eye can't detect it. Well, we all know if you can't see it then there's no way anything can harm you.

I have tried the compact fluorescent bulbs. Hubby bought two. One of them went in the kitchen, where we had about five other regular recessed lights. I couldn't stand it and took it out two days later. I told him it would have to be used somewhere else in the house where I wouldn't see it. The other one went in the garage, where I rarely go. but if I do go in there I have to wait now for it to 'light up'.

Our fluorescent bulbs did not last any longer than the old bulbs. They were burned out within 14 months. Now, I didn't have time to call a hazmat team like your supposed to, I just put them in the trash. But CFL bulbs have mercury in them. So if they do break, children and pregnant women are supposed to leave the room. Someone wearing protective clothing (like we all keep handy) is supposed to clean it up. Just hope it doesn't break over carpet....if it does, DO NOT Vacuum. This could release harmful mercury into the air. You must cut out the affected section of carpet and dispose of it. I'm not kidding. I don't think most of suburbia is ready for this type of responsibility. But I'm pretty sure those who made the law hate suburbia anyway. And love the three headed fish that mercury pollution leads too.

What about Christmas lights? Will they be banned too? Shoot, I didn't stock up on those yet. And don't tell me about LED lights. If you put those up at Christmas you seriously need to reassess your life. Ick. Maybe as a Halloween decoration, but they are worse than fluorescent. They seem to actually take away light. Gone will be the warm cozy glow of grandma's house on Christmas eve.

We live in a wonderful country full of science and invention. Do we really need to take steps backwards? CFL's and LED lights do NOT last longer, they aren't safer, they definitely aren't cheaper. So why force them on us? It's nothing but another sacrament to the altar of liberalism.

Well, some of us aren't buying your liberal crap.

Lynnae Loves Liberty

For months I have been avoiding political topics on my other blog because I didn't want it to stray from it's arts-and-literature content. It's my happy place and a respite from the daily onslought.

So today I start a new blog to capture my conservative ideas, dreams, and fears. I love this country and do not like to see our freedoms eroding away.

Some say the Capitalist system is not 'fair' because some people can afford a better standard of living than others. Some can't afford the more expensive products on the grocrey store shelves. Some people have a difficult time accessing quality healthcare. Some children's families fail them and they become wards of the state.

I say inequalities are everywhere and there are many definitions to the word 'fair'. Socialism is not fair either.

It is true that some can not afford a high standard of living. Under socialism everyone's standard of living will be brought down.

It is true some can't afford the more expensive products on the shelf. Under socialism those shelves will be depleated for the entire public.

It is true some people have a difficult time accessing quality health care. Under socialism no one will have high quality healthcare. It will be illegal to seek better and illegal to provide better.

It is true some children's families fail them and they become wards of the state. Under Socialism everyone is a ward of the state.

I do not believe Capitalism is the perfect system, nor do I believe Capitalism is the best name for our system. Freedom, liberty, and democracy are all better names. Capitalism refers only to one aspect of a dynamic system. But the fact that we have a mutually agreed on 'contract' ie: the value of a dollar, makes us a stable economy where individuals can interact with other individuals with some assurance of security.

Some leaders of businesses and corporations may be dishonest or unethical....But some political leaders may be dishonest and unethical also, and a dishonest businessman has a greater chance of reaping a negative result do to loss of customers. A dishonest polititian will only entrench himself further.